>===== Original Message From Jeff Ricker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>My questions: Is statistics a prerequisite for research methods at your
>school? What are the arguments in favor of this? What are the arguments
>opposed to this?
Here, it is a prerequisite only for Psych majors. Non-psych majors can enroll
in research methods without having taken stats first. Requiring the Psych
Stats class would prevent most of our non-majors from enrolling, and they
would be sorely missed. Many of them come from Biology, and most are excellent
students.
It really isn't hard to teach methods without a focus on statistics, at least
not in my experience. Beyond the simple descriptive stats that the students
already know how to calculate, the main value of statistics is in assessing
the viability of chance as a plausible explanation for the obtained results.
There are so many other important elements of the research process to cover
that -- even without any discussion of inferential stats -- I don't lack for
things to talk about in a 15-week methods course.
--Steve
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Stephen M. Smith
Department of Psychology, NGCSU
Dahlonega, GA 30597
706-864-1890 706-864-1674 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://168.30.200.21/~ssmith/index.htm
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