Introductory description

This module provides an introduction to the skills and knowledge necessary for psychological investigation and empirical work in psychology, as well as the statistical analysis of psychological research data

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The module will provide an introduction to research methods in psychology. Topics will include, for example: Scientific writing for psychology: Structure and purpose of an article, the content of title, abstract, introduction, method (and subsections of method), results, discussions and reference section, and citations and referencing formats.
In addition, the module will include:
-Structure and components of experimental and non-experimental research designs.
-Types of data collection techniques.
-Application of statistical hypotheses to research, and selection of statistical tests for analysing data
-Statistical calculation using software (SPSS) of t-tests, chi-square (goodness-of-fit and contingency table) tests, correlation and simple regression, one-way ANOVAs, factorial ANOVAs and repeated-measures ANOVAs, and non-parametric tests.
-Reporting of statistical evidence in scientific reporting for psychology.

The module will also include a review of qualitative research design, with particular focus on the issues faced by researchers in designing qualitative research (i.e., interview schedules, focus group management etc.,), as we as an overview of qualitative data analysis (e.g., content analysis, thematic analysis).

The module will also provide an introduction to more theoretical discussion, implication and issues faced by psychologists conducting research, including discussion of bad science, when statistical are misappropriated and misused, as well as an introduction to alternative perspectives in statistical analyses (i.e., Bayesian analysis). Finally, the module will include a theoretical introduction to advanced research methods via technology (e.g., eye-tracking, driving simulator).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• The ability to understand, implement and discuss the principles of psychological research
• The ability to understand the principles of experimental, observational, questionnaire, and qualitative research methods
• The ability to understand ethical issues in psychological research
• The ability to understand, demonstrate (including appropriate numeracy and analytic skills), and perform quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods
• The ability to design studies to formulate and test hypotheses, collect analyse and interpret data, and to apply these skills to write reports of empirical investigations that conform to the standard American Psychological Association format

Indicative reading list

Howell, D. C. (2008). Fundamental statistics for the behavioural sciences (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. (or a more recent edition of this text) Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). London: Sage. (or a more recent edition of this text)

Howell, D. & Cramer, D. (2014). Introduction to SPSS in Psychology (6th ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson.

Nunn, J. (Ed.) (1998). Laboratory psychology: A beginner's guide. Hove , UK: Psychology Press

Harris, P. (2002). Designing and reporting experiments in psychology. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Mulberg, J. (2002). Figuring figures: An introduction to data analysis. Harlow , UK: Pearson Education.
Robson, C. (1993). Real world research. Oxford , UK: Blackwell.
Rosnow, R. L., & Rosnow, M. (2001). Writing papers in psychology. Belmont , CA : Wadsworth

Research element

Research Project Report. Design and conducted, and write up (independently) a replication study, using one of several suggested studies as a starting point: (i) Obtain ethical approval (completed and marked as a group); (ii) Write a 2500-word APA-format manuscript based upon research completed as a group (yo be submitted and marked individually). Students are advised that the project write-up must be passed for the module to be passed.

Subject specific skills

Statistical/analyses skills:
-An ability to present, evaluate and interpret quantitative data the design of factorial experiments, and factorial analysis of variance a familiarity with the basic aspects of the most common research approaches to Psychology, including statistical analyses.
-An ability to conducted, interpret and present qualitative analyses
Research methods skills:
-The formulation and design of appropriate research projects
-Critical analysis, formulation and testing of hypotheses write reports of empirical investigations that conform to the standard American Psychological Association format.
-Research report/ journal article structure
-Referencing conventions
-Understanding of ethical issues in psychological research

Transferable skills

Evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems related to their area(s) of study and/or work communicate the results of their study/work accurately and reliably demonstrate techniques for displaying data.
written and oral communication skills.
Use of statistical packages (i.e., SPSS).
Group work.