Studying at York
Research Methods for Psychology in Education - EDU00018I
- Department: Education
- Credit value: 30 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Autumn Term 2022-23 to Summer Term 2022-23 |
Module aims
To prepare students to read reports of educational and psychological research with critical analysis, understanding and insight, so they are able to assess the strengths and weaknesses of such research; to prepare students to consider the contexts and ethics of research in education and psychology.
To develop knowledge and skills that are essential in a range of careers in education, psychology and in the social sciences more widely, including forming research questions, literature searching and reviewing, and quantitative and qualitative research design.
To familiarise students with a full range of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques in preparation to carry out independent research on topics in psychology in education.
Module learning outcomes
Subject content
- Develop increased familiarity with a range of research designs, strategies and techniques, including both quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g., univariate and introductory multivariate statistics; qualitative approaches)
- Develop increased proficiency at designing and implementing commonly-used research instruments in psychology of education, including questionnaires, interview schedules and observation schedules
- Gain practical experience of designing and implementing common instruments for data collection in psychology of education through interactive workshops, practical sessions and computer-based lab sessions.
- Be able to evaluate the appropriateness of techniques for different research topics, critically describe strengths and limitations of different data collection methods, and know how to gather and analyse data using each of these methods.
- Gain practical experience of a range of analysis techniques for dealing with data through practical sessions and computer-based lab sessions, and increasing familiarity with statistics software
- Gain a clear understanding of the characteristics of scientifically rigorous and ethical research
Academic and graduate skills
- Critically evaluate academic arguments as presented in research reports using a range of methods and data analysis techniques
- Manage a range of sources and critically evaluate the reliability and validity of these in informing and supporting academic argumentation
- Understand how to prepare data for analysis
- Ability to carry out quantitative and qualitative analysis of simple datasets
- Use the VLE and Internet effectively
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 40 |
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
The two exams are both online exams. The reassessment exams are also online exams.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 40 |
| Online Exam -less than 24hrs (Centrally scheduled) | 60 |
Module feedback
Individual mark summaries with follow-up tutor discussion if necessary. The feedback is returned to students in line with university policy. Please check the Guide to Assessment, Standards, Marking and Feedback for more information.
Indicative reading
Aron, A., Aron, E., & Coups, E. (2010). Statistics for the behavioural and social sciences: A brief course (5th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Coolican, H. (2009). Research methods and statistics in psychology. London: Hodder.
Field, A. (2017). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (5th ed.). London: SAGE.
Mertens, D. (2010). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using the SPSS program (4th ed.). Berkshire, UK: McGraw Hill.