Department: Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media
Credit value: 20 credits
Credit level: H
Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
See module specification for other years:
2022-232023-24
Module summary
This module focuses on using scientific approaches to understand people’s experiences through the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. You learn how to formulate a research question; how to design a valid study and collect useful, appropriate, data; how to analyse the data using statistics and qualitative methods; and how to draw appropriate conclusions based on the study that was performed. Lectures will be used to introduce topics and during workshops students get experience in applying those topics to real life research work. The module will teach you how to think like a scientist, and how to collect data in an ethical way that can be used as evidence to answer the questions that they pose.
To extend knowledge of user experience research skills using both quantitative and qualitative methods
To develop experimental design skills in evaluating and comparing user experiences
To develop data collection and analysis skills
To develop an appreciation and understanding of the ethical processes involved in undertaking research studies with human participants
Module learning outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
Design and perform a valid research study exploring user experience
Form a research question grounded in relevant research and operationalize into an appropriate research method
Critique the validity of published quantitative and mixed-methods research papers
Communicate the motivation, design, analysis and outcomes of a research study in the style of a short research paper
Gain an understanding of the ethical considerations which need to be addressed prior to undertaking any research study with human participants
Demonstrate organisation and communication through scheduling and recruiting human participants for a research study
Demonstrate writing skills in describing the motivation, design, implementation, analysis and conclusions for a research study
Demonstrate problem-solving skills including the choice of appropriate empirical research method for analysis of a research question.
Indicative assessment
Task
% of module mark
Essay/coursework
100
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task
% of module mark
Essay/coursework
100
Module feedback
You will receive individual oral feedback for the weekly practical lab sessions, during the lab sessions.
You will receive written feedback on coursework assignments using a proforma identifying key requirements and marks awarded for sections of the assignment, this is in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
Indicative books:
Harris, P., 2008. Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology. Open University Press.
Howell, D., 2007. Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences. Wadsworth Publishing.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y. and Sharp, H., 2015. Interaction Design. Wiley.