PSY4012 - Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

(1) Use a range of investigative methods;
(2) Demonstrate skills of data presentation, statistical analysis, content analysis, thematic analysis and report writing;
(3) Appraise a range of investigative methods and the application, computation and interpretation of a range of parametric and non-parametric statistical tests;
(4) Demonstrate the relevant application, computation and interpretation of a range of parametric and non-parametric statistical tests;
(5) Discuss ethical considerations and follow ethical guidelines in psychological research.

Content:

This foundational module provides students with the requisite skills for investigative work throughout their degree. There is an emphasis upon both quantitative and qualitative methodologies which are introduced in co-ordination with tools for analysis (including SPSS).

- Principles of experimental and non-experimental design (e.g. hypothesis formulation, control, validity, bias and sampling), data collection: ethical considerations in human research.
- Basic statistical techniques: measures of central tendency, dispersion and frequency distributions. Probability theory. Significance testing, parametric and non-parametric measures of associations, correlation and difference. Simple analysis of variance is also introduced.
- Presentation of data and report writing.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module will be taught using a weekly one-hour lecture, supported by three-hour practical sessions. Lecture content will be predominantly theoretical and will introduce the key concepts. Practical sessions will focus upon investigative work, tutorial style discussions, PBL exercises and the use of SPSS.

Lecture
Contact hours 16 x 1
Number of groups 1

Practicals
Contact hours 18 x 3
Number of groups 5

Assessment: