Psychology 339 Online
David M. Lane
Introduction to Psychological Statistics
May 24 through July 16

Psychology 339 is a distance learning/online course. Students will be given assignments that they will complete and e-mail to the instructor for grading. Students questions can be asked by e-mail and will be answered by the instructor, normally within one working day. The course will be self paced; it is possible to finish the course before July 16th. A newsgroup or forum (such as Delphi Forum) will be set up for students to discuss questions and issues related to the course. A live chat room for students will be set up if there is sufficient interest.

This course covers the analysis and interpretation of data emphasizing statistical methods used most frequently in psychological, educational, and medical research. The focus is on the application of statistical methods rather than their mathematical bases. Computer methods of data analysis will be covered. Students taking the course for three credit hours will learn how to use several of the web-based statistical analysis facilities for data analysis. Students taking the course for four credit hours will, in addition, learn how to use the SAS JMP IN statistical package available for both Macintosh and Windows from Duxbury Press ((408) 373-0728 ).

Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites. However, you must be admitted to the Rice University Summer School to take the course.

Requirements
There will be 15 reading assignments and associated problems, a mid-term exam, and a final exam. Both exams will be open book. Students taking the course for four credit hours will receive additional assignments on computer-based statistical analysis.

Textbook and Course Resources
The textbook for the course is the HyperStat Online portion of the Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics. The simulations, case studies, and data analysis lab of the Rice Virtual Lab will be used extensively.