Topics covered may include:
- Why do we need to do research?
- Approaches to research in psychology
- Basic concepts in research methodology
- Ethics in psychological research
- Descriptive statistics
- Distributions, correlations
- Testing statistical significance
- Good and bad examples of research
- Using the library
- How to read a research paper
- How to write for a scientific audience
- Computer Tutorials
- E-mail and communication in the School
- Accessing the internet and CANVAS
- Using the library catalogue
- Conducting a literature search (Web of Science)
- Presenting references
- Word-processing, PowerPoint
- Presenting graphs and tables
- On-line support for Statistics
- Using SPSS to carry out statistical analyses
- Practical psychology
- Two simple psychological studies: How to write up an experimental design
- Research participation.
By the end of the module you should be able to:
- Describe the different approaches that are taken by research psychologists
- Describe the scientific method of knowledge acquisition and its advantage over common sense
- Apply simple statistical concepts and methods and use SPSS to carry out simple analyses
- Describe the need for principled ethical research in psychology
- Conduct (with guidance) simple research studies and summarise the processes involved
- Critically read and interpret a research paper
- Think logically and critically about your own and other people’s work
- Use physical and electronic facilities for communication, knowledge acquisition, and presentation of work
- Use reflective self-assessment to revise your own writing
- Write essays and reports that are clear, well-organised and persuasive.
As part of the module, students are also required to participate in research (or, at their discretion, complete an alternative activity instead).