PSY1014 Foundation Research Methods in Psychology

Dates:Three weeks, 6 to 23 July

Times:10am to 3pm Monday to Thursday

Credits:30

Lecturers:Dr Linda Duffy and Dr Ilhan Raman

Prerequisites:None

Assessment:Coursework (100%)

Aims:

This module introduces students to quantitative and qualitative techniques employed in psychological research. It aims to demonstrate how research design relates to the psychological question being asked; provide preliminary experience with computer analysis of data using SPSS; introduce basic principles of experimental and correlational designs, data collection and analysis; enable students to explore quantitative and qualitative data; and develop skills in disseminating the results. This module may be particularly useful for students who are considering taking the MSc Psychology (conversion) or for those Middlesex University students returning to year 2 having interrupted their studies.

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

  • Describe some of the main quantitative and qualitative research methods employed in psychology (in-class tests)
  • Understand the role of hypothesis testing in psychological research (in-class tests)
  • Demonstrate a basic understanding of different approaches to describing psychological data (all assessments)
  • Provide evidence of an understanding of basic inferential statistics; significance testing for correlation coefficients and t-tests and non-parametric equivalents (in-class tests).
  • Calculate t-tests and non-parametric equivalents (laboratory report)
  • Use SPSS for windows to input, display and analyse data from small-scale psychological studies (laboratory classes)
  • Conduct content analyses on qualitative data (group presentation)
  • Analyse the results, and disseminate the findings from simple research studies. (research report)
Syllabus:
  • Historical and philosophical issues in psychological research
  • Measurement and description
  • Experimental and correlational designs
  • Testing the null hypothesis
  • Qualitative data collection and analysis
  • Quantitative andqualitative methods

Learning, Teaching Assessment Strategy:

Laboratory, classes, lectures
Research report; Group Poster; In-class tests x 4; experimental participation or short essay

Learning Materials:

On-line reading and seminar materials