Psychology 2801F-650
WESTERN UNIVERSITYLONDON CANADA
Department of Psychology
Summer 2026
Psychology 2801F Section 650
Research Methods in Psychology I
1 Calendar Description
This course will introduce students to the variety of ways to conduct research in psychology.
Topics to be covered include the scientific approach to testing psychological theory; ethical
issues in psychological research; developing and planning research projects; basics of
measurement; survey research; best practices in research conduct.
Antirequisite(s): Psychology 2830A/B, Psychology 2840F/G, Psychology 2855F/G,
Psychology 2856F/G, Health Sciences 2801A/B, the former Psychology 2800E, the former
Psychology 2820E.
Antirequisites are courses that overlap sufficiently in content that only one can be taken for
credit. So if you take a course that is an antirequisite to a course previously taken, you will lose
credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course.
Prerequisite(s): At least 60% in 1.0 credits of Psychology at the 1000 level; a passing grade
(i.e., at least 50%) in Data Science 1000A/B and a passing grade (i.e., at least 50%) in 0.5
credit of Year 1 Math from among the following courses: Calculus 1000A/B, Calculus
1301A/B, Calculus 1500A/B, Calculus 1501A/B, Mathematics 1225A/B, Mathematics
1228A/B, Mathematics 1229A/B, Mathematics 1600A/B, or Applied Mathematics 1201A/B.
Students without Data Science 1000A/B may enrol with 0.5 credit of Applied Mathematics
1201A/B and 0.5 credit of Computer Science 1026A/B with a grade of at least 60% in each.
Students who have completed Statistical Sciences 1024A/B (or other introductory statistics
course in addition to 0.5 credit of Year 1 Math) instead of Data Science 1000A/B may enrol
after completing an introductory programming class from the following list: Computer
Science 1025A/B, Computer Science 1026A/B, Computer Science 2120A/B, Data Science
1200A/B, Digital Humanities 2220A/B, or Engineering Science 1036A/B. Data Science
2000A/B may be substituted for Data Science 1000A/B for students entering the program
with 1.0 credits of Year 1 Math courses.
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your
Dean to enroll in it, you will be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your
record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the
event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
Online Course. 12 weeks. Exams will be held in-person on campus.
2 Lecture Hours; 2 Laboratory Hours; Course Weight: 0.5
2 Course Information
Instructor: Dr. Corey Isaacs
Office Hours: via Zoom by appointment
Email: cisaacs3@uwo.ca
The best way to contact me is by email. Please include “Psych 2801” in the subject line and
send emails only from your Western email account. I will always do my best to respond to
your email within 48 hours (Monday to Friday), but during busy times it may take a little
longer.
Time and Location of Classes: Lectures and lab modules will be completed asynchronously
online, and exams will be administered in-person at Western University. Lecture videos will
be released on OWL every Sunday and will remain available for the remainder of the course.
Labs will be open from Monday to Friday of the respective weeks, with the corresponding
assignment due by that Friday.
To complete this course, students must have a reliable internet connection and computer
that are compatible with online learning system requirements.
3 Course Materials
This class uses an open textbook that is free to download:
Price, P. C., Jhangiani, R. S., & Chiang, I. A. (2015). Research Methods in Psychology (2nd
Canadian Edition). Simple Book Production.
You can read the textbook or download it in your preferred digital format at this address:
https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/
If you prefer your textbook in a physical format, you can print the book at one of Western’s
libraries: https://www.lib.uwo.ca/services/printingandphotocopying.html
Some lessons include additional readings that can be found on the OWL course website.
4 Course Objectives and Learning Outcomes
This course introduces the ways in which research is conducted in psychology. We will
consider a wide range of alternative research methods, including observation, archival
research, questionnaire surveys, case studies, and experimentation. We will also consider
topics closely allied to research design, such as ethics, report writing, and data presentation.
In addition to providing training in research techniques needed for third- and fourth-year
psychology courses (e.g., Psychology 4850), it is expected that Psychology 2801F/G will
contribute significantly to the development of scientific thinking skills that students can
apply to their future careers and in everyday life.
5 Evaluation
The evaluation and testing formats for this course were created to assess the learning objectives
as listed in section 4 and are necessary for meeting these learning objectives
The course requirements, with relative weightings in the determination of final grades, are:
• Lab Assignments 25%
• Research Proposal 30%
• Midterm Exam 15%
• Final Exam 30%
Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay
component (i.e., earn a grade of at least 50%) to pass the course.
Lab Assignments (25%):
*This assessment has built-in flexibility. It is exempt from the academic consideration
policy.
For each lab module, you will complete and submit a corresponding lab assignment. Each lab
assignment will be released on OWL on a Monday along with that week’s lab module, and it
will be due on Friday at 5:00 PM of the same week (see schedule below). It is your
Learning Outcome Learning Activity Assessment
Depth and Breadth of Knowledge
• Find and interpret original empirical
research.
Lab modules,
research proposal
Lab assignments,
research proposal,
exams
Knowledge of Methodologies
• Evaluate the appropriateness of
different methodological approaches
for specific research questions.
Lectures, readings,
lab modules,
research proposal
Lab assignments,
research proposal,
exams
Application of Knowledge
• Generate your own research ideas and
hypotheses.
• Critically evaluate original empirical
research.
Lectures, readings,
lab modules,
research proposal
Lab assignments,
research proposal
Communication Skills
• Communicate accurately, clearly, and
logically, using the discourse of the
discipline of psychology
Lectures, readings,
lab modules,
research proposal
Research proposal
Autonomy and Professional Capacity
• Ensure that research adheres to ethical
standards.
Lectures, readings,
research proposal
Research proposal,
exams
responsibility to check that you have uploaded the assignment correctly.
Research Proposal (30%):
*You may use the ‘undocumented absence’ option on this assessment.
The culmination of your work in the labs in this course will be a research proposal. The paper
should introduce a research problem and explain why it matters, provide a review of the
relevant literature, hone the research problem into a testable research question, and describe
how you would go about addressing that question empirically. Your paper should be five
double-spaced pages long (excluding title page and reference list) and written using APA
format.
Exams (45%):
*The Midterm Exam is the designated course component that is exempt from the
‘undocumented absence’ academic consideration policy.
*Final Exams are always exempt from the ‘undocumented absence’ academic
consideration policy.
This course includes two exams, which will be administered in-person on the Western
University campus. Exams will cover material from both the readings/listenings and the OWL
lessons (see Section 7). The midterm exam will cover lessons 1 - 4 and the final exam will
cover lessons 5 - 11.
Policy on Missing Coursework
Laboratory Assignments:
There are five lab assignments that you will complete over the course of the term. We will
drop your lowest lab assignment score, which means that you can miss one assignment
without penalty. Each of the remaining four assignments will count toward your grade.
Assignments are due at 5:00 PM on Friday of the week they are assigned. There is a 24-hour
grace period for assignment submission that lasts until Saturday at 5:00 PM, at which point
the submission portal will close. If your assignment has not been completed and
correctly uploaded by the time the assignment portal closes, it will receive a score of 0.
It is your own responsibility to check that you have uploaded the assignment correctly.
Research Proposal: The research proposal will be due at 5:00 PM on Friday, July 24. Late
submissions will be penalized at 10% per day, including weekends. You may use your single
‘undocumented absence’ for this deadline, which will extend your submission deadline by 48
hours. Approved academic consideration requests on the basis of illness or other extenuating
circumstance will extend your deadline according to the duration of the approved academic
consideration.
Exams: Students who fail to write an exam at the scheduled time will receive a grade of zero
unless they receive academic consideration from their Academic Dean’s office.
There will be a makeup midterm exam at 12:00 – 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 6. If a
student is absent from both the midterm exam and the makeup exam with permission from
their Academic Dean’s office, that portion of their course grade may be reassigned to the final
exam.
There will be a makeup final exam at 12:00– 2:00 PM on Saturday, August 8. Students
will need to receive academic consideration from their faculty to write the makeup final
exam.
Important Notes About Grades
Because this is an essay course, as per Senate Regulations, you must pass the essay
component to pass the course. That is, the average mark for your written assignments must
be at least 50%.
The Psychology Department follows Western’s grading guidelines:
https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/general/grades_undergrad.pdf
The expectation for course grades within the Psychology Department is that they will be
distributed around the following averages:
70% 1000-level to 2099-level courses
72% 2100-2999-level courses
75% 3000-level courses
80% 4000-level courses
In the event that course grades are significantly higher or lower than these averages,
instructors may be required to adjust course grades. Such adjustment might include the
normalization of one or more course components and/or the re-weighting of various course
components.
Policy on Grade Rounding
Please note that although course grades within the Psychology Department are rounded to
the nearest whole number, no further grade rounding will be done. No additional
assignments will be offered to enhance a final grade; nor will requests to change a grade
because it is needed for a future program be considered.
6 Assessment/Evaluation Schedule
Times indicated in this course outline and on the OWL course website are listed in London,
Ontario local time (i.e., Eastern Time). If you are in a different time zone, you'll need to adjust
your deadline times accordingly to ensure you don't miss exams or assignment deadlines.
The listed dates/times are tentative and subject to change; you will be notified via
Brightspace of any changes to the course schedule.
Exam Relevant Material Date/Time
Midterm Exam Lectures & readings from
Lessons 1 – 4 Saturday, May 30 @ 12:00 – 1:00 PM
- Makeup Midterm Exam Saturday, June 6 at 12:00– 1:00 PM
Final Exam Lectures & readings from
Lessons 5 – 11 TBA (July 27 – 30)
- Makeup Final Exam Saturday, August 8 at 12:00– 2:00 PM
Lab Assignment Topic Worth Dates
1 Writing a Research Proposal 5% May 18 – 22
2 Generating Research Questions 5% June 1 – 5
3 Theory 5% June 15 – 19
4 Methods & Data Visualization 5% June 29 – July 3
5 Peer Review 5% July 13 – 17
Research Proposal 30% Friday, July 24
7 Class Schedule
Dates Lesson Readings/
Listenings Lab Module
May 4 – 8 Introduction --- ---
May 11 – 15 Psych as a Science Chapter 1 ---
May 18 – 22 Your Own Research I Chapter 2
Introduction &
Writing a Research
Proposal
May 25 – 29 Your Own Research II Chapter 2 ---
June 1 – 5 Research Ethics Chapter 3 Generating
Research Questions
June 8 – 12 Theory Chapter 4 ---
June 15 – 19 Open Science Ep. 4 of Four
Beers Podcast
Theory
June 22 – 26 Measurement Chapter 5 ---
June 29 – July 3 Interpreting Graphs Presenting
Stats in Graphs
Methods & Data
Visualization
July 6 – 10 Survey Research Chapter 9 ---
July 13 – 17 Professional
Development --- Peer Review
July 20 – 24 Research Proposal:
Final Draft --- ---
8 Academic Integrity
Scholastic offences are taken seriously, and students are directed to read the appropriate
policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following
Web site:
https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergr
ad.pdf.
Possible penalties for a scholastic offence include failure of the assignment/exam, failure of
the course, suspension from the University, and expulsion from the University.
Statement on Use of Electronic Devices
No electronic devices or other aids will be allowed during examinations.
Plagiarism Detection Software
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the
commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of
plagiarism. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in
the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently
submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently
between Western and Turnitin.com.
Use of AI
The use of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT to produce written work is not permitted
unless permission is granted by the instructor for specific circumstances. Any work
submitted must be the work of the student in its entirety unless otherwise disclosed. When
used, AI tools should be used ethically and responsibly, and students must cite or credit the
tools used in line with the expectation to use AI as a tool to learn, not to produce content.
AI Policy for Psychology:
Responsible use of AI is allowed in Psychology. This includes using AI for brainstorming,
improving grammar, or doing preliminary/background research on a topic. AI is not to be
used in place of critical thinking.
The misuse of AI undermines the academic values of this course. Relying on AI to create full
drafts or fabricate sources is prohibited. You are ultimately responsible for any work
submitted, so it is highly advised that you critically review your Generative AI output before
incorporating this information into your assignments.
If you use AI, you must clearly explain its role in your work. All written assignments will
require an AI Usage Statement, in which you will indicate what tools you have used, what you
have used them for, and (broadly) how you have modified this information. Assignments
without an AI Usage Statement will not be accepted.
Violations of this policy will be handled according to Western’s scholastic offense policies.
Multiple-Choice Exams
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams will be subject to submission for
similarity review by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns
that may indicate cheating.
9 Academic Accommodations and Accessible Education
View Western’s policy on academic accommodations for student with disabilities at this link.
Accessible Education provides supports and services to students with disabilities at Western.
If you think you may qualify for ongoing accommodation that will be recognized in all your
courses, visit Accessible Education for more information. Email: aew@uwo.ca Phone: 519
661-2147
10 Absence & Academic Consideration
Academic Consideration:
https://registrar.uwo.ca/academics/academic_considerations/index.html
11 Other Information
• Office of the Registrar: https://registrar.uwo.ca
• Student Development Services: www.sdc.uwo.ca
• Psychology Undergraduate Program:
https://www.psychology.uwo.ca/undergraduate/index.html
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Health and
Wellness@Western https://www.uwo.ca/health/ for a complete list of options about how to
obtain help.
Please contact the course instructor if you require material in an alternate format or if you
require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you.
If you wish to appeal a grade, please read the policy documentation at:
https://www.uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/academic_policies/appeals/appealsundergrad.pdf. Please
first contact the course instructor. If your issue is not resolved, you may make your appeal in
writing to the Undergraduate Chair in Psychology (psyugrd@uwo.ca).
Copyright Statement
Lectures and course materials, including power point presentations, outlines, videos and
similar materials, are protected by copyright. You may take notes and make copies of course
materials for your own educational use. You may not record lectures, reproduce (or allow
others to reproduce), post or distribute any course materials publicly and/or for commercial
purposes without the instructor’s written consent.
