2016/17 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

PSYC5310M Advanced Research Methods

15 creditsClass Size: 60

Module manager: Dr Liam Hill
Email: l.j.hill@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2016/17

Pre-requisite qualifications

Appropriate training in research methods and statistics

This module is not approved as an Elective

Objectives

This module aims to provide in depth coverage of advanced research methods. The module expands on the knowledge and skills that students bring with them, to advance their ability to understand, evaluate and apply the sorts of research methods most commonly used in psychological research, and to ensure they acquire basic and advanced quantitative and qualitative research skills to apply to their own research questions.
The module will be taught by experts in the subject.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
- evaluate and construct quantitative designs for research;
- demonstrate familiarity with the constraints of experimental, non-experimental and quasi-experimental approaches;
- select, interpret and present univariate and multivariate statistical analyses;
- demonstrate familiarity with some of the strengths and weaknesses of statistical techniques in research;
- apply principles of scaling;
- recognise and evaluate issues of validity and reliability in psychological measurement;
- identify a place for qualitative methods in research;
- relate a research question to appropriate qualitative methodology;
- use the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) to organise and analyse data consistent with earlier course outcomes.

Syllabus

Three main research method areas will be considered, followed by instruction and practice in the use of SPSS (the most commonly used statistical analysis software) to perform analyses introduced earlier in the module. The following lecture topics will be covered:
- Fundamentals of quantitative research
- Multivariate methods in non-experimental designs
- Experimental designs and ANOVA
- Introduction to qualitative methods and epistemology
- Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis
- Measurement and Scaling
- Reliability and validity
- Introduction to SPSS
- Unvariate Analyses with SPSS
- Multivariate Analyses with SPSS

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	22	1.00	22.00
Independent online learning hours			5.00
Private study hours			123.00
Total Contact hours			22.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Reading for each lecture: 10 x 5 hours = 50 hours
Independent practice in SPSS = 40 hours
Independent reading = 33 hours

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student progress will be monitored throughout by 4 mini assessments on each component of the course. Students are expected to contribute and interact via the online discussion board and these contributions will be monitored and supported by the module leader.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	500-1,000 words	12.50
Essay	500-1,000 words	12.50
Essay	500-1,000 words	12.50
Essay	500-1,000 words	12.50
Essay	1,500 words	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

4 x assignments throughout the course (500-1000) words relating to each of the four blocks of teaching and 1 x longer project protocol proposal (1500) words submitted at the end of the course. Each short assignment is work 12.5% and the final essay is worth 50%. To pass the module students will be required to average a passing grade across their four short assignments (i.e. >50) and attain a passing grade on their final essay (i.e. >50).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 09/12/2015

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