Statistics and method I
About the course
The course is reserved for students in the bachelor in psychology study programme. The course cannot be taken as a single course.
The course provides an introduction to statistics and research methods relevant to the subject of psychology. This includes descriptive statistics (e.g., central tendency and dispersion) and inferential statistics based on probability distributions, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, in particular, t-tests and correlation analyzes. The course also encompasses research ethics, with emphasis on principles of conducting sound, transparent and well-designed research, and research dissemination, with emphasis on rules against plagiarism.
The course provides a brief introduction to the use of a statistical software.
The course includes knowledge required to read and evaluate research literature.
Objectives of the course
Skills:
- Being able to find out about research ethics guidelines and follow these
- Being able to describe basic principles for descriptive statistics and inferential statistics
- Being able to determine when correlation analysis and t-test are suitable for analyzing data
Knowledge:
- Describe what scientific plagiarism is
- Describe the principles of informed consent, compliance with guidelines for research ethics, and main criteria for scientific sustainability
- Describe the principle of frequency-based probability distributions
- Describe what confidence intervals represent
- Describe the principles of significance testing
- Describe the concept of statistical power
General competence:
- Being able to carry out a t-test, and report the results according to the APA standard
- Being able to carry out a correlation analysis and report the results according to the APA standard
Credit reduction
If you pass the examination in this course, you will get an reduction in credits (as stated below), if you previously have passed the following courses:
- PSY-1511 Statistics and method I 5 ects
Teaching methods
Teaching in this course takes place in every Autumn semester. In addition, seminars are organized for smaller groups of students. Seminars also include exercises of data analysis using a statistical software.
Lectures and group work are recommended, but are not compulsory.
All teaching is relevant to the students' development as skilled professionals.
Thus, students are encouraged to participate in all teaching activities that are offered.
Language of instruction and examination
Lectures are held in English
Exams can be answered in English, Norwegian, Danish or Swedish.
Final exam
Emnet legges ned og siste mulighet til å avlegge eksamen etter dette semesteret, er høst 2026
Examination
| School exam | Date: 24.10.2025 09:00 Duration: 4 Hours |
Grade: A–E, fail F |
To take an examination, the student must have passed the following coursework requirements
| Online questionnaire | Grade: Approved – not approved |
| Analyzes of a dataset | Grade: Approved – not approved |
Everything you need to know about before, during, and after the exam; registration, absence, appeals, and diplomas: UiT Exams homepage