There is a person at the University Of Missouri (Columbia campus) who teaches a class designed around this idea. I don't have more info. It was in an alumni mag. I believe he was in math, not psych. Michael B. Quanty, Ph.D. Psychology Professor Senior Institutional Researcher Thomas Nelson Community College PO Box 9407 Hampton, VA 23670 Phone: 757.825.3500 Fax: 757.825.3807 -----Original Message----- From: Serdikoff, Sherry L. [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2000 3:08 PM To: TIPS Subject: Real Life Applications Hi folks. In my research methods class this semester, I'm trying to place more emphasis on why it is important to understand the nature of scientific research even if they do not plan to pursue careers where they will be conducting research. In order to make the point personally relevant for each student, I'm thinking of including some sort of assignment that requires each to identify instances of real life events where having an understanding of research methods can make a difference. At first I was thinking of requiring the instances to be ones with errors (e.g., asserting causation based on correlational data) or what I tend to think of as "sneaky" statements (saying "No drug has been shown more effective than XYZ" which people tend to interpret as "XYZ is the most effective" which of course is not necessarily the case). But, now I'm thinking of including any kind of examples like understanding TV commercials (knowing what it means when they say a particular drug had a series of side effects but no more than a sugar pill) or news reports (understanding the margin of error in a political polls). My question is this. Before I start from scratch, does anyone know of or use anything like this that they'd be willing to share? Trying to not unnecessarily reinvent the wheel --SLS +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + _----_ Sherry L. Serdikoff, Ph.D. + + * * School of Psychology + + * O O * James Madison University + + * * MSC 7401 {)__(} + + *(. .)* Harrisonburg, VA 22807 (oo) + + \ / E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -o0o-=\/=-o0o- + + \/ Telephone: 540-568-7089 + + FAX Number: 540-568-3322 + +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
