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Unit of Study STAT2002 - Quantitative Methods in Psychology (2023)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Unit type

    UG Coursework Unit

  • Credit points

    12

  • Faculty/College

    Faculty of Health

  • Placement

    No

  • Enrolment information

    Students should have basic mathematical skills equivalent to Year 10 Maths. Students should have basic computer literacy and familiarity with a spreadsheet program, such as Excel.

Unit description

A basic understanding of the concepts underlying hypothesis testing is provided, with emphasis upon the normal distribution and central limit theorem. Equips students with a range of quantitative data analytic techniques (correlation, z-test, single-sample t-test, between groups t-test, and repeated measures t-test) utilised in psychological research.

Unit content

  1. Descriptive statistics
  2. The normal distribution and measures of association between variables
  3. The logic of null-hypothesis testing
  4. Two-sample dependent and independent means t-tests
  5. Threats to validity and interpretation of null-hypothesis testing
  6. Modern approaches to quantitative research

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Coffs Harbour
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Term1
Gold Coast
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Online
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Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

calculate basic descriptive statistics on a variety of real-world data sets

interpret measures of association between continuous variables common to psychological investigation

select and perform appropriate hypothesis tests for simple experimental designs

interpret and communicate the results of analyses using appropriate conventions in psychology

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
  • Howell, G, 2016, Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences, 9th Ed., Cengage Learning, Boston, MA.
Prescribed Resources/Equipment

  • Students need to purchase, or have access to, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). If purchasing SPSS, the "Base Grad Pack" is sufficient for this unit. This pack retails for approximately $50 and can be downloaded for free before license purchase.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.