This text was designed to be as comprehensive as possible - without overwhelming the beginning researcher. The principles of experimentation and the skepticism of the scientific approach are concepts that are new to students and run counter to their commonsense notions about causal inference; for most psychology students, mastering experimental methods requires making a quantum leap from their original ideas about psychology as well as challenging them to learn an entirely new language. This text has been designed to address these issues and provide practical solutions to them. It was written with flexibility in mind for the instructor as well. Each chapter can stand on its own, and instructors can select text assignments to match individual course content.
Part 1 Introduction
Part 2 Method
Part 3 Results: Coping with Data
Part 4 Discussion