This course will use collaborative project-based learning to serve as a bridge between introductory and upper-level research courses by helping students develop skills in reading, understanding, analyzing, and discussing empirical research in the social sciences. This course will include readings from a focused area of research within biological psychology and psychology, such as attention, learning, memory, decision-making, spatial cognition, language, sensation and perception, developmental neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and neuropsychology.
Prerequisite: PSYCH 2110 Research Methods in Psychology, HHP 4800 Research and Statistical Methods, COMM 3500 Research Methods, SOC 3930 Quantitative Research Methods or SOCWK 4650 Research Informed Practice.
PSYCH 2110 Research Methods in Psychology (4 hours)
A course designed to introduce, apply, and evaluate the basic research methods of psychology. Emphasis is placed upon problems of research design and analysis in the laboratory and in natural settings. Students conduct investigations applying various designs and methods building skills in interpreting findings and in written communications.
Three lectures and one lab per week.
Prerequisite(s): PSYCH 1010/PSYCH 1010FYW Introduction to Psychological Science and PSYCH 2100 Psychological Statistics.
(Normally offered each semester.)
HHP 4800 Research and Statistical Methods (3 hours)
Research and Statistical Methods is designed for senior-level HHP majors to develop an understanding of the research process and the rationales for basic behavioral statistics in the field of exercise science. This class will focus on the creation of a research proposal for exercise science and on developing reading, writing, and practical skills to interpret and conduct research.
Prerequisite(s): HHP 1320 Introduction to Allied Health and junior standing, or permission of the instructor.
(Normally offered each semester)
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Discourse Instructive
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Writing Instructive
COMM 3500 Research Methods (4 hours)
This course is designed to help students understand, use, and evaluate the quantitative, qualitative, and rhetorical methods Communication scholars employ to investigate and write about their scholarship. Application of each method will be achieved via a semester-long case study conducted at a Lincoln nonprofit organization. Additionally, by reading a variety of social scientific research articles, students will understand how operational definitions, theories, research questions and hypotheses, a literature review, and data analysis work together to support written research reports or proposals. The semester will culminate with an original scholarly research report using appropriate APA style. This report will also be presented in a public forum.
Prerequisite(s): Sophomore standing and COMM 2300 Communication Theory (may be taken concurrently) or permission of instructor.
(Normally offered each semester.)
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Writing Instructive
SOC 3930 Quantitative Research Methods (4 hours)
In this course, students are introduced to quantitative research methods commonly used in social science research: survey research, experimental design, secondary analysis, and evaluation research. Emphasis is on survey research, including project design, questionnaire construction, sampling, data collection, statistical analysis, and formal presentation of results. Key elements of the course are learning to ask researchable questions and formulate testable hypotheses.
Prerequisite(s): SOC 1110 Introduction to Sociology and any Statistics course (SOC-2910 is preferred.)
Normally offered each fall semester.
SOCWK 4650 Research Informed Practice (3 hours)
Students will be introduced research methods used in generalist social work practice. Course content emphasizes critiquing research methodology, including data collection, sampling and analysis. Students will engage in a single-subject design study where they will identify and implement an intervention and evaluate its outcomes for practice effectiveness. Students will explore ethical and anti-racist research practices and the application of evidence-based practice to improve policy and social service delivery. Prerequisites: Full admission to the social work program, or permission of the social work program director and a statistics course.
Prerequisite(s): Junior standing, SOCWK 1150 Introduction to Social Work, full admission to social work program, and one of the following Statistics courses: SOC-2910 or PSYCH 2100 Psychological Statistics or ECON-2100/ BUSAD 2100 Business and Economic Statistics or MATH 1300 Statistics.
(Normally offered fall semester.)
Archway Curriculum: Essential Connections: Writing Instructive