PSY5012 - Research Methods in Psychology 2

Objectives:

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

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

Content:

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.

The design of scales to measure psychological concepts, including issues of internal reliability and validity.

The analysis of quantitative data, including the calculation of effect size and power; distributions and transformation of data; the use of two-way analysis of variance; post-hoc analyses; ANCOVA and MANCOVA, multiple regression; reliability analysis; factor analysis. The use of specialist software (e.g. SPSS, G*Power) to perform and interpret statistical analyses.

Issues in qualitative research, including ethical issues. The collection and analysis of qualitative data using a range of approaches (e.g. discourse analysis, grounded theory, IPA, narrative analysis)

Presenting the outcomes of research.

Learning and Teaching Information:

A combination of weekly lectures and practical workshops.

Lectures
Contact hours: 20
Intended Group size: Cohort

Practicals
Contact hours: 40
Intended Group size: 25-30

Guided independent study
Hours: 140

Further details relating to assessment
In order to ensure that all students meet Objective 5 (Conduct empirical research in accordance with professional codes of ethics and conduct), it is a requirement that students actively participate in the practical sessions of the module, particularly with regard to the design of studies and the collection and reporting of data.
Each element of practical work undertaken must be accompanied by students securing ethical approval for their study. By completing and signing the ethics form, students undertake to conduct research ethically and professionally, and this includes safeguarding data.
Consequently, students who have not participated in practical work and who have not, as a result, been a signatory to an ethics form that has received ethical approval will not be eligible to submit an assignment that is related to that piece of practical work.
Students in this situation will be required to devise an equivalent piece of practical work, including gaining ethical approval, before being permitted to submit the related written report. This will be during the resit period.

Assessment:

001 Practical Workbook 1 x 2500 words (semester 1) 35%
002 Research Report 1 x 2500 words (semester 2) 35%
003 Unsee paper 1 x 1 hours (end of semester 2) 30%


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