PSY5012 - Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods II

Objectives:

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

1 Design and conduct empirical research projects using a range of experimental and non-experimental methods.
2 Select and apply appropriate inferential statistical procedures and interpret the results.
3 Use specialised statistical software packages to analyse data.
4 Write clear, detailed, research reports in a professionally recognised format.
5 Conduct empirical research in accordance with professional codes of ethics and conduct.

Content:

Typically 50 to 100 words Ethical issues in conducting psychological research. The design and control of experiments with more than two levels of an independent variable, or with more than one independent variable. Using experimental software (e.g. E-Prime, Superlab) to implement complex experimental designs.
Observational methods in psychology. Operationalising variables. Reliability and validity in observation.
The design of attitude scales for questionnaire studies, including issues of internal reliability and validity.
The analysis of quantitative data, including the calculation of effect size and power; distributions and transfo rmation of data; the use of one-way and two-way analysis of variance; post-hoc analyses; multiple regression; reliability analysis; inter-rater reliability. The use of specialist software (e.g. SPSS, G*Power) to perform and interpret statistical analyses.
Issues in qualitative research, including ethical issues, reliability and validity. The collection and analysis of qualitative data using a range of approaches (e.g. discourse analysis, grounded theory, narrative analysis).
Presenting the outcomes of research.

Learning and Teaching Information:

This module will be taught using two-hour lectures, one-hour computer based learning sessions, workshops, and problem based learning sessions with tutorials.

Lecture
Contact hours 20
Number of groups 1

Practicals
Contact hours 40
Number of groups 3

Assessment:

001 1 x 2500 word Practical Workbook (semester 1) 35%
002 1 x 2500 word Research Report (sem 2) 35%
003 1 x 1 hour unseen paper 30%


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