THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Human Ecology
Department of Human Development and Family Science
HDFS 670.01--Adult Development and Aging
Summer Quarter, 2006
First Term

Instructor:		Dr. Eugene Folden
Office:		129 Campbell Hall
Phone:		292-5676 
E-Mail:		Folden1@osu.edu
Office Hours:		By Appointment

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This is an upper level, advanced course in human development that has been created to introduce students to the current theory and research related to the ever-changing field of adult development.  The purpose of the course is to go beyond the conceptual frameworks studied in more basic courses (e.g., HDFS 364), by examining work currently being done in the field.  Specifically, the course will cover varied aspects of change and continuity in psychological, social, emotional and physiological development from young adulthood to the very old.  Topics to be discussed will include personality development, identity formation, relationship and role changes, attitudes about work, leisure and retirement, changes in memory and intelligence, death and dying, and research methodology and theory in adult development.  In addition, the role of culture and history effects will be examined.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1.	To examine the major research methods and theoretical perspectives pertinent to human development in the adult years.

2	To identify and describe stages of growth and development from young adulthood to the very old, as well as non-stage “continuous growth” models of growth and development.

3.	To develop an appreciation for the existing research on adult development by fostering critical reflection about the current status (of the research on adult development).

4.	To develop positive attitudes and expectations about adulthood and aging from both a subjective and objective perspective

5.	To discuss future trends in adult development research.

REQUIRED TEXT:

Lemme, B. H. (2006.  Development in aging.  (4th edition).  Boston: MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.  

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1.	A midterm examination, which will consist of m/c and t/f questions, worth 100 points.

2.	A final examination, which will consist of m/c, t/f, and essay questions, worth 100 points.

3.	A paper, which will consist of interviewing one older adult and reading three journal articles, worth 100 points.  See pages 4-7 for details.  Papers handed in late will be penalized 5 points per day, for up to 7 days past the due date – after 7 days the paper will not be accepted.

4.	Attendance.  Students are expected to arrive to class on time, be prepared for the session, and remain for the ENTIRE period.  I view this course (and ALL upper level courses) as preparation for your career.  Therefore, I expect you to be in class, display professional behavior, participate and, generally, be an active learner.   Students who attend all sessions will receive 30 points . . . this is an all or nothing policy.

GRADING SCALE:				GRADING SYSTEM:

	313-330 (95%-100%) = A		Midterm 		100 points
	297-312 (90%- 94%)	 = A- 		Research Paper	100 points
	284-296 (86%- 89%)  = B+		Final 			100 points
	274-283 (83%- 85%)	 = B		Discussion		030 points
	261-273 (79%- 82%)  = B-		TOTAL		330 points
	251-260 (76%- 78%)  = C+	
	241-250 (73%- 75%)  = C		
	228-240 (69%- 72%)  = C-		
	218-227 (66%- 68%)  = D+	
	208-217 (63%- 65%)  = D
	below 207 (62% or less) = E

DISABILITY SERVICES:

Anyone who feels he/she may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me to arrange an appointment as soon as possible.  At the appointment we can discuss the course format, anticipate your needs and explore potential accommodations.  I rely on the Office for Disability Services for assistance in verifying the need for accommodations and developing accommodation strategies.  If you have not previously contacted the Office for Disability Services, I encourage you to do so.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT:

I strictly uphold the academic misconduct guidelines requiring that "Each instructor shall report to the committee on Academic Misconduct all instances of what he/she believes to be academic misconduct."  Details regarding what constitutes academic misconduct are in the Student Handbook.  Please contact me if you have questions.

CLASS SCHEDULE
DATE		TOPIC	READING ASSIGNMENT

June 19	Introduction to the Course	
		The Study of Development in Adulthood		
		Research Methods and Design	Chapter 01

June 21	Theories of Adult Development	Chapter 02

June 26	Physical Development and Aging	Chapter 09
		Longevity, Health and Prevention	Chapter 10

June 28	Cognition in Adulthood	Chapter 04

July 03	Memory in Adulthood	Chapter 05

July 05	MIDTERM 
		The Self	Chapter 03

July 10	Social Development		Chapter 06

July 12	Family Ties, Transitions, and Challenges	Chapter 07

July 17	Work and Retirement	Chapter 08

July 19	Death, Dying, and Bereavement	Chapter 12
		PAPERS DUE*

July 21	FINAL EXAMINATION 

GUIDELINES FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PAPER

1.	The paper in this class must be 8 to10 pages in length, double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, and using a 12 point font.  A title page, appendix, and a reference page must be included in your paper (these pages do NOT count toward the 8 to 10 page length).  

2.	The assignment requires reading three journal articles and interviewing one older adult.  The paper should integrate how the older adult’s life fits with the research findings.  Thus, it  is important to select a topic and journal articles relevant to the older adult you will be interviewing.  

For example, if you know someone who cares for a person with Alzheimer’s Disease (or has cared for someone in the past), then by all means choose articles on Alzheimer’s Disease, caregiving or the like.  If the older adult you will be interviewing is healthy and has never cared for someone with Alzheimer’s Disease, you should choose a different topic.  Please be respectful -- don’t ask terribly personal questions.

3.	The Articles:

You must use JOURNAL ARTICLES for this paper; specifically you must use articles in which the authors have collected their own data.  You will know this by the inclusion of a sample and methodology section in the article.  NOTE:  Magazines and newspapers are periodicals, not journals.  Also, use ONLY APA style of referencing in your paper. 

4.	The Questions:

Carefully read the three (appropriate) articles you have selected in order to determine what the researchers were asking, how and why.  From this information compose your set of questions, in fact you may wish to use some of the questions that the researchers used in  these three articles.  I’m not sure now many questions is enough, though 10 sounds reasonable.   Be sure to add your questions as an appendix to your paper.

5.	Setting up the Interview:

You should begin with basic background information so that you can understand how the person you interview compares to the people who participated in the studies.  For example, ask about date of birth, place of birth, marital status, socio-economic status, ethnicity, level of education, number of children (if any), where they work (ed), self-rated health, etc.  

After you get the background information, you will need to ask the questions specific to your paper.  This is the most important part of your paper, so put some thought into these questions before you interview the older adult.   NOTE:  I recommend you tape record the interview (or at least take notes during the interview).

5.	Writing the Paper:

The point of your paper is to integrate material pertaining to someone’s life with theory and research.  I am interested in how you integrate material, demonstrate your knowledge of the articles, and use material from the interviews.  In other words, make sure you include sufficient evidence from the article so that I know you read them.  Refer to the articles throughout the paper.  On the other hand, do not just summarize the articles.  The same goes for the interview.  

When you write your paper, keep in mind that you have interviewed only ONE person, and no one’s life fits research findings exactly.  The researchers based their conclusions on many people.  Discuss why your person’s life may not have fit the research, and what the research might say about your person’s experiences.

One other important thing -- avoid using “I” or “you” in your paper.  Try to make the paper  about the material itself, rather than about your experience of the material.  This is difficult to do.  The best way to distance yourself from the material is to use language which is more impersonal (in other words use phrases such as “this researcher” and avoid using “I”). 

6.	Guidelines and Format for Writing the Paper

	(03 points)		Title Page:   Center the title of your paper, your name, class, and date
						             1 page

	(10 points)		INTRODUCTION:    explain the topic, why you chose the topic, what our text says about it.            	             1.5 pages. 

	(05 points)		SAMPLE:  describe your interviewee (e.g, demographics), where interviewed, and why.     	              .5 page.

	(15 points)		OVERVIEW OF INTERVIEW DATA:   briefly describe your interview data
					 	             2 pages.

	(42 points)		COMPARE/CONTRAST INTERVIEW DATA WITH EXTANT DATA (interview data with data from the articles)     4 pages

	(10 points)		CONCLUSIONS: summarize your main findings, what you would do next time, etc.	             1 page

	(05points)		Appendix A -- questions	             1 page

	(05 points)		References 	             1 page
	(05 points)		for use of Underlined Headings in the body of the paper
Suggested Journals

Below is a listed of possible Journals in which you are likely to find excellent articles on the topic of your choice.  Other Journals you may select need to be cleared with the instructor.

American Journal of Public Health
American Journal of Sociology
American Psychologist
American Sociological Review
Clinical Gerontologist
Demography
Developmental Psychology
Family Perspective
Family Planning Perspective
Family Process
Family Relations
Gerontologist
Health and Aging
Home Economics Research Journal
Human Behavior
International Journal of Human Development
Journal of Alternative Lifestyles
Journal of Divorce
Journal of Family Issues
Journal of Gerontology
Journal of Home Economics
Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Journal of Personality and Social Issues
Journal of Sex Research
Marriage and Family Review
Psychology and Aging
Psychological Science
Psychiatry
Sage Family Studies Abstracts
Sex Roles
Social Forces

Helpful Suggestions for Critiquing Research

The questions listed below are intended to apply to a report of original research.  However, authors of articles which largely or wholly summarize the results of studies originally reported elsewhere should address some of these questions in their reviews.

1.	What are the objectives of the study? 

2.	What are the research questions or hypotheses the author (s) intend to investigate?

3.	What are the variables of interest in the study?

4.	Describe the research and method of analysis in the study (i.e., sample, size, etc.)

5.	Briefly describe the results of the study?

6.	Do the author's conclusions address his/her original objectives?

7.	Does the author admit obvious weaknesses in the research and suggest how those weaknesses might bias the results?

					
GUIDELINES FOR GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PAPER

As indicated on the syllabus, part of the requirement for this course is a research paper.  Unlike other research papers that you may have completed, this assignment is intended to give you practice in writing a brief and succinct empirical research paper.  First, a research paper is not concerned with what you personally think or feel about an issue.  Rather, a research paper takes a well defined and clearly stated hypothesis, examines the relevant data and theoretical arguments, and reaches a tentative conclusion pending more and better research data.  You are expected to examine the extant research data for your paper as fairly as possible (do not be guided by what you would like to find or expect to find).  All topics should be cleared with the instructor. 

The following outline is mandatory and the roman numeral headings should appear as section headings in your paper; these must be clearly identifiable to the reader.

I.	Statement of the Problem

The section is concerned with a brief statement of the problem and would usually be a couple of paragraphs long.  In this statement you explain the relevance of your hypothesis area to at least one of the following:

	a.	Existing theory in a specific area of family study.
	b.	Existing empirical data.
	c.	A social problem of concern to the society.

II.	Hypothesis

	This section should include two parts:

	a.	An underlined precise statement of the hypothesis.
	b.	A list of definitions for the terms you are using in the statement of the hypothesis.  Don't use the dictionary, but think about what you want to mean by each term (in other words operationalize your terms).

III.	Review of the Literature

A complete review of all the relevant literature on your hypothesis is, of course, not possible.  You should, however, identify a minimum of eight journal articles relevant to testing your hypothesis.  These articles should be recent (since 1988) and published in an academic journal.  The review of the literature simply summarizes each article's relevant findings as objectively as possible.

IV.	Argument (results)

This section of your paper is crucial.  In this section you must argue in favor of rejecting the hypothesis or tentatively holding the hypothesis.  In this section you must argue one way or the other, but not both.  Your argument should call upon the articles you have reviewed and as well upon your careful and logical theoretical reasoning to support the conclusion that you will make.

V.	Conclusion

This is the place to briefly sum up your argument and to cautiously reject or fail to reject the hypothesis.  Remember, that you are not being graded on your ability to choose a true hypothesis, but on your ability to research and think through an hypothesis as a social scientist.  In this section you must mention the limitations of your findings and be very cautious about the claims you can make within the scope of this paper.

Helpful Guidelines for Critiquing Research

The questions listed below are intended to apply to a report of original research.  However, authors of articles which largely or wholly summarize the results of studies originally reported elsewhere should address some of these questions in their reviews.

1.	What are the objectives of the study? 

2.	What are the research questions or hypotheses the author (s) intend to investigate?
 
3.	What are the variables of interest in the study?

4.	Describe the research and method of analysis in the study (i.e., sample, size, etc.)

5.	Briefly describe the results of the study?

6.	Do the statistical results support the author's conclusions?

7.	Do the author's conclusions address his/her original objectives?

8.	Does the author admit obvious weaknesses in the research and suggest how those weaknesses might bias the results?

Suggested Journals

Below is a listed of possible Journals out of which you are likely to find excellent articles on the topic of your choice.  Other Journals you may select need to be cleared with the instructor.

American Journal of Public Health
American Journal of Sociology
American Psychologist
American Sociological Review
Clinical Gerontologist
Death Studies
Demography
Developmental Psychology
Family Perspective
Family Planning Perspective
Family Process
Family Relations
Gerontologist
Home Economics Research Journal
Human Behavior
International Journal of Aging and Human Development
Journal of Alternative Lifestyles
Journal of Divorce
Journal of Family Issues
Journal of Gerontology
Journal of Gerontological Social Work
Journal of Home Economics
Journal of Marriage and Family Therapy
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Journal of Sex Research
Marriage and Family Review
Omega
Psychology and Aging
Research on Aging
Sage Family Studies Abstracts
Sex Roles
Social Forces