This unit (APS2040) of study aims to further develop students' ability to conduct social research. In particular, the unit aims to provide students with the skills required to undertake research using quantitative research techniques. On completion of this unit of study, students should be able to understand the potential uses of quantitative methods, recognise appropriate applications of analyses of variance and regression procedures, analyse data, and interpret and communicate outcomes collected from both univariate and multivariate research designs. Students will apply a range of standard SPSS analysis techniques.

Unit details

Location:
Footscray Park
Study level:
Undergraduate
Credit points:
12
Unit code:
APS2040

Prerequisites

APP1013 - Psychology 1B

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Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
  1. Discriminate between and identify appropriate statistical techniques for different social research designs and data;  
  2. Formulate and articulate appropriate statistically testable hypotheses;  
  3. Demonstrate use of SPSS to accurately compute statistical analyses;  
  4. Interpret statistical output from SPSS and evaluate output in relation to formulated statistical hypotheses; and  
  5. Summarise and report statistical findings (in accordance with APA reporting guidelines) to demonstrate analytic skills in solving quantitative research questions.  

Assessment

Assessment type Description Grade
Test Online theoretical test (20 mins) 5%
Exercise In-class online practical exercise (60 mins) 20%
Report Report on statistical analyses (1,800 words) 60%
Test In-class online theoretical test (60 mins) 15%
Report consists of write up of two statistical analyses - hypothesis statements, assumptions testing and results summary statement including APA table.

Required reading

Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics 5th ed.
Field, A. P. (2018)
London Thousand Oaks, California SAGE Publications

SPSS survival manual 6th ed
Pallant, J. (2016)
Sydney: Allen & Unwin

Where to next?

As part of a course

This unit is studied as part of the following courses. Refer to the course page for information on how to apply for the course.

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