Activities and Demonstrations

Lab Activity: Caramel Apples and the single sample t-test (SPSS)

This is an activity (created by Dr. Maya G. Sen) that has has students collect data that they analyze (by hand and with SPSS) using a single-sample t-test. They compare the weights of a sample of Caramel Apple Pops to the population mean (i.e., the advertised weight). Materials NeededEnough Caramel Apple Pops for everyone (including […]

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Exemplar Study: Can You Accurately Judge Romantic Interest? (Mixed Design)

This study sought to determine whether a third party could discern romantic interest between two strangers. To test this, male and female observers watched video clips of speed-dating situations to determine the individual speed dater’s level of romantic interest toward the speed-dating partner. Participants observed clips of different lengths (10 vs. 30 s), and from

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Exemplar Study: Must Be Love on the Brain (Within-Subjects/Repeated-Measures Design)

This research focused on the brain functioning of people in love. Participants who rated themselves as being intensely in love, viewed a photo of their beloved, did a distracter task, and then viewed a photo of a neutral acquaintance while researchers took functional magnetic resonance imagery (fMRI). Each participant repeated the procedure six times. When

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Exemplar Study: Can Using Obscenities Make You More Persuasive? (Multigroup Design)

This multigroup experiment examined the use of an obscenity on thepersuasiveness of a pro-attitudinal message and on perceptions of thecommunicator. Participants watched one of three versions of a video inwhich the speaker advocated lowering tuition at another university. In thefirst version, the speaker used the word “damn” at the beginning of themessage. In the second

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Exemplar Study: Social Exclusion and Prosocial Behavior (Multigroup Design)

This article indicated that being excluded from social groups leads todecreases in prosocial behavior. Participants received either no feedback on apersonality measure or one of three types of false feedback that indicated afuture full of rewarding relationships, loneliness, or unfortunate accidents.Participants receiving the social exclusion feedback were unwilling tovolunteer for further lab experiments and, after

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Exemplar Study: Tipping in Restaurants (Two-group Design/Simple Experiment)

To evaluate the effect that a helpful message from a server might have on restaurant tips, the server either wrote a message about an upcoming dinner special on the back of the dining check or left it blank. Dining parties who received a check with the helpful message tipped a higher percentage of the final

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Link: Spurious Correlation Examples

A website dedicated to creating charts depicting ridiculous correlations (like the one in the picture–clearly we must stop putting Nicolas Cage in films!). You can also pick two variables of your own from a list including topics like: interesting causes of death, sunlight by state, marriage and divorce rates. A great way for students to

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Practice: Measuring Dependent Variables: Types and Scales of Measurement

This is a brief in-class practice activity (created by Raechel Soicher) to help students review different types of measurement for dependent variables as well as identify scales of measurement. Raechel recommends teaching about the different ways to measure a dependent variable before giving students the opportunity to review using this brief worksheet. She provides definitions

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Lecture Slides: Calculating the t-test for Independent Means/Samples (Does Eating Spinach Make Your Stronger?)

The goal of this PowerPoint is to work through the step-by-step process of hand calculating a t-test for independent means. The slides start with an explanation of the formula involved and then a sample problem is presented. It is designed for you to have the class solve the problem along with you as you advance

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Lecture Slides: The Pepsi Challenge (Factorial Design Demonstration)

In this demonstration/activity (with PowerPoint slides) eight student volunteers have the opportunity to provide taste ratings for soda.  Instructors would need to provide cups and soda (usually a 16 oz bottle of each type of soda is enough). Type of soda can vary, but students seem to like the Pepsi vs. Coke dynamic. Another fun

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Lecture Slides: Arousal and Attraction (Two-Group Design Demonstration)

In this demonstration/activity (with PowerPoint slides) students are randomly assigned to a high or low arousal group based on the last digit of their social security number. Those in high arousal condition believe they will give a short speech on a randomly selected topic. Those in low arousal condition believe they will merely listen a

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Design & Data: How Do You Know If You Are Truly Helping? (Program Evaluation)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide Applying Your Skills in the Real World: How Do You Know If You Are Truly Helping? Analyses Included: Single Sample t-test; t-test for Independent Means; Creating a Mean; Descriptive Statistics (Central Tendency)   Dataset Syntax Output BONUS – STUDY 1: How Can We Reduce Underage Drinking?

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Design & Data: Which Therapy is Best for Treating Eating Disorders? (Mixed Design and Mixed/Repeated-Measures ANOVA)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide Which Therapy is Best for Treating Eating Disorders? Analyses Included: Mixed ANOVA/Repeated-Measures ANOVA Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: Do Others Help or Hinder Performance? Analyses Included: Mixed ANOVA/Repeated-Measures ANOVA Dataset Syntax Output The Data Analysis Guide contains all of the following: Design Summary (for the chapter study

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Design & Data: Do Pick-up Lines Really Work? (Factorial Design and Two-Way ANOVA)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide “I Lost My Phone Number, Can I Borrow Yours?” Do Pick-up Lines Really Work? Analyses Included: Two-Way ANOVA Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: Do Tattoos and How You Dress Influence Whether Someone Will Help You?   Analyses Included: Two-Way ANOVA; Descriptive Statistics (Frequencies) Dataset Syntax Output The

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Design & Data: Can Watching Reality TV Shows Be Good for Us? (Within-Subjects Design, t-test for Paired/Dependent Samples, and Repeated-Measures ANOVA)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide Can Watching Reality TV Shows Be Good for Us? Analyses Included: t-test for Dependent Means/Paired Samples t-test; Repeated-Measures ANOVA Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: Does Talking Lead to Distracted Driving? Analyses Included: Repeated-Measures ANOVA Dataset Syntax Output The Data Analysis Guide contains all of the following: Design

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Design & Data: I’m Feeling Hot, But Is the Earth Hot, Too? (MultiGroup Design and One-Way ANOVA)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide I’m Feeling Hot, But Is the Earth Hot, Too? Analyses Included: One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Post Hoc test and Planned Contrasts; Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha); Chi-Square (Test of Independence) Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: Can Motivational Lyrics Reduce Pre-performance Anxiety and Improve Actual Task Performance? Analyses

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Design & Data: Texting, I Can’t Get You Out of My Mind (Two-Group Design and t-test for Independent Means/Samples)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide Texting: I Can’t Get You Out of My Mind Analyses Included: t-test for Independent Means Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: How Does the Experience of Stress Influence Feelings toward One’s Relationship? Analyses Included: t-test for Independent Means; Creating a Mean; Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha)  Dataset Syntax Output The

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Design & Data: Is Going Greek a Good Idea? (Survey Research and Correlation)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide Is Going Greek a Good Idea? Analyses Included: Pearson r correlation; Descriptive Statistics (Frequencies; Central Tendency); Scale Reliability (Cronbach’s alpha); Creating a Sum Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: What Contributes to College Satisfaction? Analyses Included: Pearson r correlation; Multiple Regression Dataset Syntax Output The Data Analysis Guide

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Design & Data: How Do Parents Respond to Their Child’s Public Tantrums? (Observational Research/Descriptive Statistics)

Key Topics and Links to Files Data Analysis Guide The Many Forms of Discipline in Parents’ Bag of Tricks Analyses Included: Descriptive Statistics (Frequencies; Central Tendency); Inter-observer Reliability (Cohen’s Kappa); Inter-observer Reliability (Pearson’s r); Creating a Mean; Creating a Median Split; Selecting Cases Dataset Syntax Output BONUS: Dyads at Diners (How often and how much

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Lecture Slides: How Personality Differs across the United States (ANOVA Review)

These slides (created by Dr. Jessica Hartnett) discuss a one-way ANOVA example from published research examining if different parts of the United States exhibit different personalities. In her blog post about it, she includes a link to a Time magazine article about the study, CSV and Excel versions of the dataset. Here is a blog

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