APA's Learning Objectives for Research Methods and Statistics in Practice: A Multimethod Analysis

Abstract

Research methods and statistics courses constitute a core undergraduate psychology requirement. We analyzed course syllabi and faculty self-reported coverage of both research methods and statistics course learning objectives to assess the concordance with APA's learning objectives (American Psychological Association, 2007). We obtained a sample of 64 research methods and 56 statistics syllabi (return rates: 16%, 14%) from 400 randomly selected psychology departments in colleges and universities in the United States. Course syllabi generally contained appropriate research methods and statistics content. However, certain APA learning objectives consistently were absent from course syllabi, and we found discrepancies between listed objectives and faculty self-reports of topics covered.