Instructor: Charles Geier, Ph.D.
Email: Charles.Geier@uga.edu
Office
hours: By appointment
Office location:
River’s Crossing, Room 015
My
Zoom link
Class time: Tuesdays, 9:35am - 12:25pm
Room: Dawson 379
This course provides a broad overview of major methodological considerations in the social and behavioral sciences. The course focuses on general principles and perspectives of social science research. Topics include foundational concepts across the behavioral sciences (e.g., ethics, sampling, measurement, logic of hypothesis testing, etc.), and the evaluation of specific methodologies (e.g., experimentation, observation, surveys, etc.). Practical research considerations are also covered, as well as unique and contemporary considerations for developmental science.
As with all graduate courses, engagement and participation is essential to the success of the course. I expect students to be present, engaged, and active contributors to course discussions. Every student should come prepared to discuss reactions to weekly readings, questions that they may have about course content or issues covered in readings, and ideas for applying course/reading material to their own program of research. To facilitate better class discussions, each student is required to post a comment to the class discussion forum by midnight the night before class on at least 8 occasions throughout the course of the semester. This can be a brief question(s), comment, request for clarification, or reaction to the readings and/or someone else’s post. You will receive more information about this. 75 points will be devoted to participation in class.
Students are expected to be engaged and prepared for class each week. This includes reading and thinking critically about all weekly readings BEFORE the class on which they are listed on the schedule. The success of this course depends on students’ preparation and willingness to engage in open, honest, and respectful dialogue with the instructor and each other. Classroom conversations are expected to be civil, open-minded, and accepting of others’ opinions. Criticism and disagreement are to be expected and are part of a productive learning environment. Any disagreements should be approached respectfully and resolved in a constructive manner.
Students will be graded based on their performance on a series of several assignments throughout the course of the semester. These assignments will require students to apply material discussed in class/readings to actual research examples. In general, assignments will also be used to facilitate progress on final research proposals that are due at the end of the semester. More information will be provided at the time that each task is assigned. There will be 3 assignments worth 25 points each throughout the semester. Work will be graded based on clarity, completeness, and ability to think critically, creatively, and resourcefully about the topic at hand. Quality and precision of writing is extremely important, and students should attend closely to all details of their written work.
Students will be required to submit a final research proposal at the end of the semester. This will be an opportunity to propose a project directly in the student’s content area of interest. This will resemble a NIH grant proposal and will have a strong emphasis on proposed methodology of the project, including sampling and recruitment strategy, data collection modality, and analytical plan, as well as strong conceptual and practical justifications for these decisions. Proposals will be evaluated based on the impact and significance of the proposed work, the appropriateness of all aspects of research methodology, and the clarity of writing. Final proposals are worth a total of 100 points. 80 points are devoted to the written portion of the proposal. 20 points will be devoted to an in-class presentation in which this final proposal is presented to the class. You will receive more information about this presentation later in the semester.
There will be 3 additional proposal checkpoints throughout the course of the semester. These include a brief concept presentation (10 points), a proposal draft (20 points) and a review of a fellow student(s) proposal (15 points). This process will help to facilitate cross-dialogue amongst class members, provide valuable feedback for students, and offer an opportunity to gain experience with the process of both giving and receiving collaborative feedback.
“I will be academically honest in all of my academic work and will not tolerate academic dishonesty of others.” A Culture of Honesty, the University’s policy and procedures for handling cases of suspected dishonesty, can be found can be found at: https://honesty.uga.edu/Academic-Honesty-Policy/. All academic work must meet the standards outlined in “A Culture of Honesty” found at: http://honesty.uga.edu/.
If you plan to request accommodations for a disability, please register with the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The DRC can be reached by visiting Clark Howell Hall, by calling 706-542-8719 (voice) or 706-542-8778 (TTY), or by visiting http://drc.uga.edu.
UGA Well-being Resources promote student success by cultivating a culture that supports a more active, healthy, and engaged student community. Anyone needing assistance is encouraged to contact Student Care & Outreach (SCO) in the Division of Student Affairs at 706-542-8479 or visit https://sco.uga.edu. Student Care & Outreach helps students navigate difficult circumstances by connecting them with the most appropriate resources or services. They also administer the Embark@UGA program which supports students experiencing, or who have experienced, homelessness, foster care, or housing insecurity. UGA provides both clinical and non-clinical options to support student well-being and mental health, any time, any place. Whether on campus, or studying from home or abroad, UGA Well-being Resources are here to help
The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) grants students certain information privacy rights. FERPA allows disclosure of directory information (name, address, telephone, email, date of birth, place of birth, major, activities, degrees, awards, prior schools), unless a https://reg.uga.edu/_resources/documents/imported/FERPARequestForRestriction.pdf is submitted to the Registrar’s Office.
| Assignment | Points |
|---|---|
| Participation | 75 |
| HW 1 | 25 |
| HW 2 | 25 |
| HW 3 | 25 |
| Proposal Checkpoint 1: Concept | 15 |
| Proposal Checkpoint 2: Draft | 20 |
| Proposal Checkpoint 3: Review | 15 |
| Final Paper | 80 |
| Final Paper | 20 |
| TOTAL POINTS | 300 |
| Letter Grade | Percentage | Points |
|---|---|---|
| A | 93-100% | 278-300 |
| A- | 90-92% | 269-277 |
| B+ | 87-89% | 260-268 |
| B | 83-86% | 248-258 |
| B- | 80-82% | 239-247 |
| C+ | 77-79% | 230-238 |
| C | 73-76% | 218-229 |
| C- | 70-72% | 210-217 |
The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. It is likely that this will happen at some point(s) over the course of the semester. I will do my best to notify students in a timely manner and update the syllabus whenever a major change has been made. Please understand that many things happen over the course of the semester that may necessitate deviation from the schedule below. Please be patient, flexible, and understanding of these circumstances, and I will make all efforts to communicate clearly regarding these changes. A current version of the course calendar and readings will always be posted on the course ELC site.
We will cover a wide range of topics in this course, broadly organized around the following themes: 1. Foundations in Research Methods 2. Measurement and Data Collection 3. Research Design 4. Professional skills 5. Advanced topics & Contemporary issues
Date, week, topic
**Specific readings and assignments per week TBA