Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences · Psychology · Undergraduate
Course Objective
The primary objective of this course is to introduce students to the fundamental logic and stages of the scientific research process. The course aims to equip students with fundamental knowledge and skills on how to plan, conduct, and evaluate research. By learning the nature of scientific knowledge, developing research questions and hypotheses, selecting appropriate research designs, and basic data collection techniques, students will gain the ability to critically evaluate scientific research.
Course Content
This course begins with an introduction to the fundamental concepts of scientific research. In the following weeks, we will cover how to formulate a research question and hypotheses, two of the most important steps in any research process. Literature review techniques will then be used to understand existing knowledge and lay the groundwork for research. The fundamental building blocks of research, variable types and levels of measurement, will be examined. The relationship between the population and the sample, different sampling methods, and their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed in detail. The concepts of validity and reliability, which determine the scientific value of a study, and strategies for enhancing these qualities will be discussed. We will introduce basic research designs frequently used in psychology and explain the situations in which these designs are used.
Required Resources
Shaughnessy, J. J., Zechmeister, E. B., & Zechmeister, J. S. (2015). Psikolojide Araştırma Yöntemleri (İlyas Göz, Çev.). İstanbul: Nobel Yayınları.
Büyüköztürk, Ş., Akgün, Ö. E., Demirel, F., Karadeniz, Ş., & Çakmak, E. K. (2015). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri.
Recommended Resources
Eldoğan, D., Korkmaz, L., Helvacı, E., Yeniçeri, Z. ve Kökdemir, D. (2015). Akademik Yazım Kuralları Kitapçığı (4. Baskı). Ankara: Başkent Üni.
Özlem, D. (1990). Mantık. Notos Kitap.
Popper, K. R. (2017). Bilimsel araştırmaların mantığı. Yapı Kredi Yayınları.
Explanations
Please find the syllabus uploaded in the materials section.
Course Learning Outcomes
- Students can define the basic principles and concepts of scientific research.
- Students can identify a research problem and develop a research question and testable hypotheses related to it.
- Students can develop a theoretical framework for their own research by reviewing relevant literature.
- Students can distinguish between the types of variables and levels of measurement used in research.
- Students can explain different sampling methods and select a sampling method appropriate for the purpose of the study.
- Students can assess the validity and reliability of a study.
- Students can identify basic research designs used in psychology and analyze studies that use these designs.
Core Area Distribution
Teaching Methods
Assessment & Evaluation
ECTS / Workload
| Activity | Quantity | Duration (h) | Total Workload |
|---|---|---|---|
| Course Duration (Including Exam Week) | 16 | 3 | 48 |
| Out of Class Study Period | 16 | 6 | 96 |
| Midterm | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Quiz | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Assignment | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Practice | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Course Schedule
| Week | Subject | Preparation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Epistemology, Language, Logic, and Science I | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 1 |
| 2 | Epistemology, Language, Logic, and Science II | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 2 |
| 3 | Research Question and Hypothesis | Büyüköztürk et al. (2013) Chapter 2 |
| 4 | Variable, research question and hypothesis | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 13 |
| 5 | Types of Variables and Levels of Measurement | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 11 |
| 6 | Sampling Methods I | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapters 4 and 5 (Relevant Sections) and Büyüköztürk et al. (2015) Chapter 3 |
| 7 | Sampling Methods II | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapters 4 and 5 (Relevant Sections) and Büyüköztürk et al. (2015) Chapter 3 |
| 8 | Mid-term exam | Course Slides |
| 9 | Validity and Reliability | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapters 5 and 6 (Relevant Sections) and Büyüköztürk et al. (2015) Chapters 4 and 5 |
| 10 | Research Designs in Psychology I: Observation and Survey | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 4 |
| 11 | Research Designs in Psychology II: Experimental Designs I | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 5 |
| 12 | Research Designs in Psychology III: Experimental Designs II | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 5 |
| 13 | Research Designs in Psychology IV: Mixed Designs | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 8 |
| 14 | Research Designs in Psychology V: Single-Subject Designs and Repeated Measures | Shaughnessy et al. (2020) Chapter 9 |
| 15 | General Review | Course Slides |
| 16 | Final Exam | Course Slides |