KIN 610: Quantitative Analysis of Research in Kinesiology

Department of Kinesiology, Cal State Northridge
Fall 2022 | Tuesday, 4:00-6:45 p.m (RE 276)

Download the syllabus as PDF

Instructor Info

Ovande Furtado Jr., Ph.D.

Dr. Furtado received a B.A. in Physical Education from the Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, PR - Brazil. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Motor Behavior from the University of Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Furtado’s line of research focuses on two main areas: (1) validation of observational models in psychomotor assessment instruments and (2) the relationship between motor skill competence, perceived motor competence, physical activity levels, and body composition.

Office Hours

See Section 1.5.5 for more information

Contact Info

Email: ovandef@csun.edu
Office: Redwood Hall 289

Course Description

This course focuses on the introductory statistical techniques used in social science research. Students will be introduced to concepts such as reliability, validity, measures of central tendency, variability, probability, and statistical techniques including: t tests (independent & dependent samples), Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Chi-square, correlation, and regression.

Students are expected to take the material/concepts presented in this course and apply them through a series of homework assignments and quizzes. The overall goal of the course is not only to help students understand the mathematical/statistical concepts presented but also to assist in the application of these procedures.

Expectations and Goals

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to adequately:

  1. Introduce statistical concepts utilized in research within the social sciences
  2. Apply the mathematical/statistical techniques presented for social science research
  3. Demonstrate an ability to analyze and interpret data within the social sciences
  4. Provide practical examples as to when statistical techniques presented are appropriate methods for analysis.

Text, readings & instructional resources

Required eBook (free)

(navarro2022?)

Optional Textbook

Weir and Vincent (2021)

Other readings

All extra study content for this course can be found in the course’s website.

Instructional resources

Structure & Requirements

I will adopt the 4 “Ps”1 in this course. This means that while taking this course you will be asked to prepare, participate, practice, and perform.

You are responsible for the material covered in class prior to attending each class. Note that the week’s readings are specified in the course schedule.

In addition to these readings, the instructor may assign supplemental readings throughout the semester. These supplemental readings do not appear on the schedule as these readings will be assigned at the instructor’s discretion.

The assignments used to enhance your learning experience in this course include:

Participation & Attendance2

Class presence and participation points are given to encourage your active class participation and discussion. You will be rewarded with a perfect score as long as you frequently come to class and actively contribute to the class discussion during lectures.

In addition, some in-class activities will count toward participation points. These are unannounced assignments.

Preparedness

You will be evaluated on your preparedness by completing the a quiz and the major takeaways assignment before each class.

Quizzes

Before each class, you will complete a multiple-choice quiz on the week’s topic. You must score 100% on each quiz. If you score below 100%, you will have to retake the quiz until you score 100%. You can only move to the following quiz if you score 100% on a quiz.

A few notes about quizzes:

  1. You will be allowed to take the quiz as many times as you want (as long as the quiz is still open);
  2. The highest score of taken attempts will be recorded for grading purposes;
  3. You will be presented with ten questions on each attempt. Questions are drawn from a database comprised of more than ten questions;
  4. Quizzes are timed; once started, students have 20 minutes to complete each attempt.

Labs

Students will complete several labs in this course. The purpose of each lab is to assist students in applying their understanding of the statistical procedures discussed in class as well as to provide an opportunity for students to respond to the readings.

Warning

You are allowed to discuss the labs with other students (and with the instructor), but you must write the final answers yourself in your own words. Solutions prepared “in committee” or by, copying or paraphrasing someone else’s work is not acceptable; your hand-in assignments must represent your thoughts.

Major Takeaways

You will be evaluated on your preparedness by submitting an assignment before each class. This assignment is meant to be a reflection of your learning. You will be asked to submit at least ten major takeaways from the readings. The content of the assignment must come from the assigned readings for the corresponding class session.

Exams

You will complete two (2) exams in this course. Students may use their notes and textbook for the exams, but no outside resource other than a calculator can be used.

Each exam has between six to ten questions, with each question worth 10 points. Exams must be completed in the allotted time. The exams (and quizzes) focus on concepts and interpretation, with most of the computational activities occurring in the homework assignments.

Although the quizzes and exams will not focus on previously tested material (they are not meant to be cumulative), knowledge of previously tested material may be inherently required to answer questions related to new material.

Most of the computational activities will be via lab assignments. In addition, selected readings will be assigned throughout the semester. The content of these readings will be included in exam and quiz questions and homework assignments.

Déjà vu

Organization is a prerequisite for effective learning. Throughout the semester, you will be asked to organize the material presented in class in a single directory in Google Drive.

The directory should have a Doc file (essential links), the syllabus in PDF format, and several sub-directories for each topic covered in the course. Inside each sub-directory, you must include the week’s lesson in PDF format and any assignments or activities you did. The structure of the main directory should look like this:

KIN610

  • Essential Links
  • Syllabus in pdf
  • Navarro and Foxcroft (2022) ebook

Week 1: <topic>

  • Lesson in pdf
  • Any assignment and/or activity completed

Week 2 <topic> ….

Submission

  1. Copy the link to the “KIN610” folder - see below
  2. Submit the link to the assignment on Canvas

Course Policy

I will detail the policy for this course below. Basically, don’t cheat and try to learn stuff.

Grading

Assignment Percentage
Participation & Attendance 5%
Weekly Quizzes 10%
Major Takeaways3 20%
Labs 20%
Exam 1 20%
Exam 2 20%
Déjà vu 5%

Grading Scale

A 93.00-100.00 | A- 90.00-92.99 B+ 87.00-89.99 | B 83.00-86.99 | B- 80.00-82.99 C+ 77.00-79.99 | C 73.00-76.99 | C- 70.00-72.99 D+ 67.00-69.99 | D 63.00-66.99 | D- 60.00-62.99 F <59.99

Note

In recognition of the fact that grading, however carefully done, will always be imperfect, this class will utilize a “round up” rule for assigning final grades. I will round up from .5% and above, but anything below this will round down. In other words, 79.5 will round up to 80, while 79.4 will round down to 79 even.

Important

Requests for an Incomplete (I) must conform to university policies. Among other requirements, “I” is possible only for instances in which you are demonstrating passing work in the class.

Attendance

Showing up is 80 percent of life – Woody Allen, via Marshall Brickman

Attendance will be taken at the beginning of every class; please, plan accordingly.

E-mail

Please, do not use the built-in email (Inbox) in Canvas. Instead, use your CSUN Gmail to communicate with me.

If your message concerns a non-private matter (e.g., assignments, content, deadlines, etc.), then please post your question to our mailing list, which can be answered by any student taking the course. The mailing list address is provided in Canvas.

Office Hours

In-person

Thursdays from 2-4 pm at RE 289.

Online via Zoom

By appointment only: www.calendly.com/drfurtado

Late Assignments

It is important to note that late assignments are assessed a 10% deduction for each day it is late, not to exceed four days. After the fourth day of the deadline, no assignments will be accepted. Therefore, it is important to plan ahead and submit all assignments on time to receive full credit for your work. The instructor reserves the right to make exceptions to this policy on a case-by-case basis.

Extra Credit

There is no individual extra credit granted. Therefore, do not plan to make-up poor grades at the end of the semester by asking to do extra credit work. I might provide extra credit opportunities, but these will be offered to the entire class, not to individuals.

Disabilities

Federal law mandates the provision of services at the university-level to qualified students with disabilities.

This instructor, in conjunction with California State University Northridge, is committed to upholding and maintaining all aspects of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

If you are a student with a disability and wish to request accommodations, please contact the office of Students with Disabilities Resources located in 110 Student Services Building, or call (818) 677-2684 for an appointment. Any information regarding your disability will remain confidential. Because many accommodations require early planning, requests for accommodations should be made as early as possible. Any requests for accommodations will be reviewed in a timely manner to determine their appropriateness to this setting.

Academic Dishonesty

TL;DR: Don’t cheat!

Please, stop and read the information below; this is important!

Important

Each student is expected to be familiar with, and abide by, the conditions of student conduct, as presented in the CSUN Catalog, with emphasis on sections entitled, Student Conduct Code, Academic Dishonesty, Faculty Policy on Academic Dishonesty, and Penalties. Any student engaging in academic dishonesty (e.g., cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty, plagiarism) is subject to discipline, which may include a failing grade in the course, and may also be subject to more severe discipline by the University. Students are encouraged to visit the link below and become familiar with the Standards for Student Conduct.

http://www.csun.edu/a&r/soc/studentconduct.html

About Plagiarism

Plagiarism means using words, ideas, or arguments from another person or source without citation4. Cite all sources consulted to any extent (including material from the internet), whether or not assigned and whether or not quoted directly. For quotations, four or more words used in sequence must be set off in quotation marks, with the source identified.

Plagiarism is a serious violation of the CSUN Student Conduct Code.. Any form of cheating will immediately earn you a failing grade for the entire course. By remaining enrolled, you consent to this policy.

Turnitin (see below) will detect such misconducts as it checks every submission against a database of papers, as well as against the Internet.

What is Turnitin?

Turnitin is an automated system that instructors can use to quickly and easily compare each student’s assignment with billions of websites, as well as an enormous database of student papers that grows with each submission. Accordingly, you will be expected to submit assignments through the Canvas Assignment Tool in electronic format. After the assignment is processed, as an instructor, I receive a report from Turnitin that states if and how another author’s work was used in the assignment.

Final (yet important) Notes

How to Access our Course and Get Started

  • Log into Canvas: https://canvas.csun.edu
  • Under “My Courses,” locate our course and click on it.
  • This will take you to the course home page.

Technology Requirements and Support:

  • A computer and access to the internet (reliable connection)
  • Firefox, Safari, etc. (web browser)

What I Expect of You:

  1. Plan your schedule to ensure you several hours per week to spend on this class and take time to identify where and when you’ll do your learning.
  2. Review the due dates for the assignments (refer to our Course Schedule in Canvas) to orient yourself to the flow of the learning.
  3. This course requires regular engagement and practice using jamovi (Statistical Package).

How to be Success in this Course

Consider the goals you have for engaging in this course as you determine how to allocate time to complete course requirements.

Each student has a different pace when comes to studying for a course. Thus, I will let you figure out how many hours you need to reserve each week for this course. Regardless of the number of hours chosen, try to divide your time so that you devote more time to assignments and assigned readings.

Student Support Services

CSUN aims to make all learning experiences as accessible as possible, and has a variety of resources available to help support students. If you believe the design of this course poses barriers to effectively participate or demonstrate your learning, please contact me to discuss possible options and adjustments.

  • The IT Help Center (818)677-1400, helpcenter@csun.edu is available to help with Canvas, CSUN e-mail, SOLAR/Portal, and other technical issues.
  • CSUN Device Loaner Program (https://bit.ly/3t1G0An) provides devices that can be checked out that includes laptops, webcams, hotspots and headsets
  • The Learning Resource Center (818) 677-2033 The mission of the LRC is to enable students to improve their academic performance through a variety of learning programs, including workshops, one-on-one and group tutoring, supplemental instruction classes and interactive subject area computer programs and videos. Student who use the LRC learning programs will develop and strengthen their critical thinking skills, study strategies, writing skills and performance in subject matter courses.
  • University Counseling Services (818) 677-2366, Bayramian Hall 520. UCS provides resources and information to assist students in dealing with a variety of large and small psychological obstacles that may interfere with academic progress and/or relationship satisfaction. Services include individual, group, and crisis counseling.
  • In accordance with the CSUN Accessibility Policy (https://bit.ly/3yqGHE9), CSUN is working to ensure that campus communication and course materials are accessible to everyone. Please reach out to me if you have difficulty with any of the materials for this course.
  • If you have a disability and need accommodations, please register with the Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) office or the National Center on Deafness (NCOD).
    • The DRES office can be reached at (818) 677-2684.
    • NCOD can be reached at (818) 677-2611.
    • Reasonable accommodations and services will be provided to students if requests are made in a timely manner and with appropriate documentation
    • If you would like to discuss your need for accommodations with me, please drop in office hours or contact me to set up an appointment.
  • Food Pantry (https://bit.ly/38nTsVH) at CSUN: Anybody who faces challenges securing food or housing and believes this impacts course performance, should contact CSUN’s Food Pantry website and the corresponding contacts. If you also feel comfortable contacting me, the department chair, or the Dean’s Office, we can also facilitate assistance. You don’t have to be alone in this moment.
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  • Help lines (https://bit.ly/3sYbMOo)(after hours when the University Counseling is closed) for numerous topics/needs (e.g., suicide, drug, rape, LGBQT, military, or any crisis). You don’t have to manage these feelings alone.
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  • USU 9https://bit.ly/38uz59j) for more student services; Clubs & Organizations (https://bit.ly/38tBhOa): Hopefully a dozen people have already advised you to “get involved” (https://bit.ly/3ysqYVb) at CSUN in something that interests you.
  • Associated Students (https://bit.ly/3yuWjGT) offers recycling, and a Children’s Center providing child care
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Title 5, California Code of Regulations,§ 41301. Standards for Student Conduct – (a) Campus Community Values: The university is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy living and learning environment for students, faculty, and staff. Each member of the campus community should choose behaviors that contribute toward this end. Students are expected to be good citizens and to engage in responsible behaviors that reflect well upon their university, to be civil to one another and to others in the campus community, and contribute positively to student and university life.

CSUN with A HEART If you are facing challenges related to food insecurity, housing precarity/homelessness, mental health, access to technology, eldercare/childcare, or healthcare, you can find guidance, help, and resources from CSUN with A HEART (https://www.csun.edu/heart).

Diversity + inclusion

It is my intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit.

  • If you have a name that differs from those that appear in your official CSUN records, please let me know!
  • If you feel like your performance in the class is being impacted by your experiences outside of class, please don’t hesitate to come and talk with me. I want to be a resource for you. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the course, your advisers and deans are excellent resources.
  • I (like many people) am still in the process of learning about diverse perspectives and identities. If something was said in class (by anyone) that made you feel uncomfortable, please talk to me about it.

Course Schedule

Optional Textbook: Weir and Vincent (2021); Required ebook: Navarro and Foxcroft (2022)

Week5 Date6 Reading7 Assignments8

Wk01 Jan 26 Course Introduction (Online via Zoom) Read and study the Syllabus

WK02 Feb 2 Introduction to jamovi & Data Collection Lab 1

WK03 Feb 9 Introduction to Statistics and Measurement Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK04 Feb 16 Organizing and Displaying Data
Percentiles		 Quizzes; Major Takeaways

WK05 Feb 23 Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variability		 Quizzes; Major Takeaways; Lab 2

WK06 Mar 2 Fundamentals of Inferential Statistical
 Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK07 Mar 9 Correlation and Bivariate Regression Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK08 Mar 16 Multiple Correlation and Multiple Regression Quiz; Major Takeaways; Lab 3

WK09 Mar 23 Spring Recess Take a rest!

WK10 Mar 30 Exam 19 Refer to Canvas

WK11 Apr 6 The Student’s t-test Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK12 Apr 13 One-way Analysis of Variance Quiz; Major Takeaways; Lab 4

WK13 Apr 20 Analysis of Variance With Repeated Measures Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK14 Apr 27
Factorial Analysis of Variance: Between-Between		 Quiz; Major Takeaways

WK15 May 4
Factorial Analysis of Variance: Between-Within, Within-Within		 Quiz; Major Takeaways; Lab 5

WK16 May 11 Final Review Quiz; Major Takeaways

Final’s Week May 18
5:30PM - 7:30PM
Redwood Hall 276		 Exam 210 Refer to Canvas

References

Navarro, Danielle J, and David R Foxcroft. 2022. Learning Statistics with Jamovi: A Tutorial for Psychology Students and Other Beginners (Version 0.75). Danielle J. Navarro and David R. Foxcroft. https://doi.org/10.24384/HGC3-7P15.
Weir, Joseph P., and William J. Vincent. 2021. Statistics in Kinesiology. Human Kinetics. https://us.humankinetics.com/products/statistics-in-kinesiology-5th-edition-with-web-resource.

Footnotes

  1. The schedule is subject to change.↩︎

  2. Class Dates: Aug 29, 2022 - Dec 12, 2022↩︎

  3. Students are expected to read and study the assigned chapters prior to attending each class meeting.↩︎

  4. Quizzes and Major Takeaways assignments are due before class; other assignment are due after class.↩︎

  5. The schedule is subject to change.↩︎

  6. Class Dates: Aug 29, 2022 - Dec 12, 2022↩︎

  7. Students are expected to read and study the assigned chapters prior to attending each class meeting.↩︎

  8. Quizzes and Major Takeaways assignments are due before class; other assignment are due after class.↩︎

  9. Covers all previously covered topics.↩︎

  10. Covers mainly topics presented after Exam 1.↩︎