Kingsborough Community College
The City University of New York
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Syllabus
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BEH 71: Behavioral Science - Conducting Research - 4 credits, 6 hours
(Fall)

Course Coordinators: Professor Diane Bennett, Professor Charles Smith (718) 368-5295

Course Overview:
This is the second and concluding semester of the Behavioral Science Research Methods course offered at Kingsborough through the auspices of the College Now program. In this semester students will continue the process of developing and implementing their original research projects. Class instruction will include the topics of research design, data collection, descriptive and inferential statistical theory and techniques, use of the SPSS software package, and proper presentation protocols for research reports. Students will formally present their research in a final paper that will conform to the formatting conventions of either the American Sociological Society (ASA) or the American Psychological Society (APA).

*The specifics of the course content evolve in response to issues that emerge as students develop their projects. Thus, the scheduling of topics listed in this syllabus is subject to change as the semester progresses.

Required Texts:

Russell K. Schutt, Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1996)

The course assignments and their grading weights are summarized as follows:

All written assignments must be typed and submitted in duplicate. E-mailed documents must be either in Microsoft Word format or saved in Rich Text Format (the latter is an option under the "File Type" drop down menu in most word processing programs).

Students must do the reading in advance of the class meeting!

Important: Bring in a flash drive with you to class to save work done in computer lab.

NOTE: ALL WORK MUST BE SAVED ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, ON A DISKETTE/FLASH DRIVE, AND IN AN E-MAIL ATTACHMENT TO YOURSELF WHICH MUST BE ACCESSIBLE FROM THE COMPUTER LAB.

If you want feedback on the final version to be sent into Intel, then YOU MUST BEGIN E-MAILING US BY NOV. 1st. YOU MUST E-MAIL TO ALL ADDRESSES PROVIDED ON THE FRONT SHEET OF THIS SYLLABUS.

The final paper must conform to the standards of a formal research paper; this will all be explained in class. The deadline for submission to the INTEL contest is Nov. 19th by 8:00 p.m.

In order to meet this deadline we need to work together in a concentrated and efficient way, meeting the stated sub-deadlines as detailed below.

A major theme of the semester will be the process of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. We will be using the SPSS statistical analysis program.

YOU MUST EMAIL ALL THE WORK TO YOURSELF AND ALSO SAVE IT ON YOUR HARD DRIVE AT HOME! I.E., YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 2-3 SOURCES ON WHICH YOU SAVE YOUR WORK AND HAVE IT BE EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO YOU AT ALL TIMES!!! * You cannot afford to waste any of the classes before the paper is due.

Another focus of this semester's work will concern stylistic and formatting issues for the research paper. In addition, we also need to be aware of the application process requirements for the INTEL contest. You will all receive formal contest applications. These need to be filled out with your mentors as soon as possible.

You are required to enter your data and do analysis at home as part of your weekly assignments.

Course Schedule

*HW is due via e mai/blackboard every Tuesday before class that week on Thursday!

Session #1 - 9/18

What's in store for this semester
Finalize and Distribute Questionnaires
The unfinished business-IRB Approval etc.
ASA and APA writing formats-Work on Litreview
Measurement Scales & Levels: Nominal, Ordinal, Ratio & Interval

Session #2 - 9/25

Literature Review Due
Continue & Finish up discussion of Descriptive Statistics
Computer Lab: Intro to SPSS - Getting Started; Using Help

Session #3 - 10/02

Individual and Group Instruction
Begin work on Intel application www.societyforscience.org--App Website
Continue with Descriptive Stats.
Answering questions
Computer Lab: SPSS - Entering and defining variables

Session #4 - 10/09

Individual and Group Instruction
Computer Lab: SPSS - descriptive analysis; creating tables, charts & graphs

Session #5 - 10/16

Individual and Group Instruction
ASA and APA writing formats
Basic concepts of Hypothesis Testing
Computer Lab: SPSS

Session #6 - 10/23

Individual and Group Instruction
Computer Lab: SPSS

Session #7 - 10/30

Individual and Group Instruction
Computer Lab: SPSS

Session #8 - 11/06 - Intel Application Complete

Introduction and completed sections of final paper due
Individual & Group work
Answering Questions on Intel Application
Computer lab: SPSS
Individual and Group Instruction
Computer Lab: SPSS
Final Details on Intel Application

Session #10 - 11/13

Individual & Group Instruction
Computer Lab: last minute analyses
This is the last meeting in the Lab before your projects are to be mailed out to Intel. Due before midnight tonight!! Tying up the Loose ends
Final version of paper due
Return of all books

Session #10 - 11/20

FINAL WRAP UP