Community Paychology
Psychological Statistics
Proseminar in Community Psychology
Spring 2003-04, Autumn 2004-05
Because of our societal concerns about the rising rate of social problems, the application of psychological knowledge and methods has grown tremendously in recent years. Psychologists have begun to do research and offer policy recommendations on many real-world problems and social issues, including health care, environmental issues, legal issues, educational and mental health concerns, the mass media, and life in organizations. Aside from testing and expanding the limits of basic psychological processes as they apply to current social problems, a more recent approach entails the design and evaluation of interventions intended to ameliorate or even prevent such problems. Amid the iniquities and social upheaval during the 50s and the 60s in the U.S., the field of community psychology was born in 1965 at the Swampscott Conference near Boston, Massachusetts to provide an action-research approach to social issues. This course has been designed to provide a rigorous and intensive survey of theories, methods, approaches, and issues in community psychology. This course will provide students with opportunities to develop and refine thinking and research skills in investigating social-community issues (e.g., drug and alcohol abuse, community and domestic violence, child abuse, etc.) from community psychological perspectives. The emphasis will be placed upon prevention in various community settings from an ecological standpoint. Specially, designing, implementing, and evaluating social changes in culturally diverse communities will be emphasized. This course assumes that students are in advanced standing (junior or senior) with some of the following courses already taken: Introductory or General Psychology, Psychological Statistics, Research Methods, or equivalents, and/or with the instructor's approval. In other words, students are expected to be familiar with general psychological theories and methods. -->TOP
Psychological Statistics (Undergraduate)
Winter 2004-05
This course has been completely revised to reflect current trends in applied
statistics and the needs of psychology majors at ICU. It is now a 3-unit
course. The general goal of this course is to provide a rigorous introduction
to the theories and methods of statistical inference in psychological
and educational research. More specifically, this course is designed to
prepare you for your senior thesis in psychology, should you decide to
obtain your B.A. in psychology within the Division of Education. The course
covers the following basic topics in applied statistical analysis: data
collection, data description, and inferential statistics. Also, the course
includes an introduction to a statistical software package (SPSS 11.0
or above) in the Windows environment. Some of the more advanced topics
(e.g. principal component analysis, multiple regression analysis, log-linear
analysis) may be covered in the second half of the course; nonetheless,
the focus will be on the basic methods of descriptive and inferential
statistics at the introductory and intermediate level. This is a required
course for all psychology majors, and the successful completion of the
course is an important prerequisite for taking EPs210-211-212: Research
Methods in Psychology I, II, and III. Prerequisites: High school algebra
(required), matrix algebra (preferable), and elementary calculus (preferable),
Introductory Psychology or related courses (e.g., EPs100, Eps101, and
EPs201), Measurement & Evaluation (EPs150) and/or with the approval
of the instructor. It is expected that you have a basic understanding
of descriptive statistics and some graphing techniques. To
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Proseminar in Community Psychology (Graduate)
Autumn 2004-05
In this course, both conceptual and theoretical developments in community
psychology since the 1965 Swampscott Conference (the "birthplace"
of community psychology) are critically examined. Although some empirical
research studies have been included in the course readings, the key focus
is the conceptual writings by (primarily, though not exclusively) community
psychologists in the United States. Cross-cultural or international perspectives
will be also discussed though they are still in the formative stage of
our field. The goal of this course is to understand and critique different
theoretical perspectives in the field of community psychology. Although
there are a number of concepts and substantive foci in the field of community
psychology, this course will focus in depth on the following topics: 1.
History of Community Psychology 2. Central Themes, Goals, & Values
3. Defining Social Problems 4. Ecological Theories & Assessment 5.
Understanding Diversity 6. Stress, Coping, & Social Support 7. Prevention
8. Empowerment & Citizen Participation 9. Ethics -->TOP
Prevention Science (Graduate) TBA (in preparation)
An overview of the current theory, terminology, methodology, and ethical
issues in prevention science, focusing on diverse issues among children
and adolescents in community settings. Practical skills in how to design,
implement, evaluate, and disseminate preventive interventions with children,
adolescents, and families. Cross-cultural and multicultural issues in
prevention intervention. -->TOP
Social and Community Interventions (Graduate)
TBA (in preparation)
Theories and practice of the development, implementation, and evaluation
of social and community interventions on significant social issues (e.g.,
child abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, bullying, homelessness, mental health).
Practical skills in developing and evaluating prevention programs in schools
and communities. Issues in achieving community entry and program integrity.
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Issues in Research Design and Analysis (Graduate)
Autumn 2004-05 (in preparation)
Intermediate and advanced techniques in research design and analysis including
experimental and non-experimental designs, multivariate analyses, mixed
methodology in psychology and related disciplines. -->TOP