See module specification for other years:
2022-232023-24
Module summary
This module is the second of two core research methods modules for the MSc Psychology in Education programme.
Module will run
Occurrence
Teaching period
A
Semester 2 2024-25
Module aims
This module builds on the material taught in Research Methods for Psychology in Education I during semester one.
It continues to develop students’ methodological knowledge, skills and understanding to a point where they will be fully equipped to identify their own research questions, find and critique the literature related to those questions, design appropriate studies to address them, gather quantitative and qualitative data, analyse that data using appropriate techniques and write reports of empirical investigations in APA style.
Students will also continue to develop their understanding of the ethical issues involved in conducting psychological research and will be able to reflect on ethical issues in their own work.
Module learning outcomes
This module will further develop the knowledge, skills and experience of research methods developed in Research Methods for Psychology in Education I during semester one.
Subject content
By the end of this module students will be able to:
Recognise and determine how and when to use statistical techniques including descriptive statistics, t-tests, correlations, regression and ANOVA.
Justify selection of particular research methods and analytic techniques, and understand the assumptions surrounding them.
Academic and graduate skills
Students will have gained experience in:
Conducting a systematic literature review.
Using a range of research methods and analytic techniques
Developing a coding framework
Disseminating research findings in a range of effective ways.
Module content
Week 1 - Standardised psychometric tests
Lecture
Construction and standardisation of IQ, Memory and Personality tests.
Ethical perspectives on strengths and limitations of psychometric testing.
Reliability and validity of standardised tests.
Practical
Administration, scoring and interpretation of popular tests (e.g., WAIS, WMS, MCMI, MMPI).
Week 2 - Experimental design, RCTs
Lecture
Experimental designs including RCTs.
Consideration of treatment fidelity.
Critically evaluating experiments.
Ethical issues with RCTs.
Practical
Developing a testable hypothesis rooted in literature.
Computing simple and multiple regressions using SPSS.
Interpreting the output and reporting the results in APA format.
Identifying the correct procedure in different contexts.
Week 6 - Qualitative research 4
Lecture
Effect sizes vs statistical significance.
Confidence intervals.
Practical
Computing confidence intervals using SPSS and other software.
Week 7 - Qualitative research 5
Lecture
Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)
Analysing qualitive data continued.
Practical
Critiquing and applying qualitative data analysis techniques.
Week 8 - Psychometrics
Lecture
How to make an academic poster (this skill will be used in the option module).
How to prepare and deliver an oral presentation.
Practical
Communicating research findings tasks.
Week 9 - Communicating research findings
Lecture
What is a systematic literature review?
How to conduct a systematic literature review.
Practical
Establishing search terms for a systematic literature review.
Using search terms to conduct a small systematic review.
Week 10 - Systematic literature reviewing
Lecture
Developing valid and reliable research instruments.
Introduction to factor analysis.
Practical
Conducting an Exploratory Factor Analysis.
Conducting a Principal Component Analysis.
Reporting findings in APA style.
Week 11 - How to design and execute a great dissertation
Lecture
How to design and execute a great dissertation – factors to consider.
Practical
Consolidation of portfolio tasks.
Indicative assessment
Task
% of module mark
Essay/coursework
100
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task
% of module mark
Essay/coursework
100
Module feedback
Individual written feedback reports 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
Publication manual of the American psychological association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001.
British Psychological Society. (2006). Code of ethics and conduct. BPS.
Coolican, H. (2014). Research methods and statistics in psychology. Psychology Press.
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. Sage publications.
Sanders, L.D. (2010). Discovering Research Methods in Psychology. BPS Blackwell.
Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. Sage publications.