2024/25 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

PSYC5922M Advanced Research Methods

30 creditsClass Size: 80

Module manager: Dr Ronan McGarrigle
Email: R.A.McGarrigle@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

Pre-requisite qualifications

At least an upper second-class honours degree in Psychology or a discipline containing a substantial amount of psychology, research methods and statistics training.

Note: Additional support sessions for statistical methods training are offered as part of the module to all students, irrespective of their entry level skills in this area. However, there is a particular expectation that students with limited-to-no previous experience of using statistical software* will engage fully with these support sessions, in order to ensure they sufficiently support their learning.

*e.g. students whose undergraduate research-methods training may not have involved training in the use of software to undertake statistical analysis or who used substantially different packages from the ones taught on this course

Module replaces

PSYC5901M Advanced Research Methods

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

Students will enhance their existing knowledge of both research design, and the measurement and analysis of data relevant to psychological enquiry. Students will engage with advanced techniques in both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and be able to apply them appropriately to develop a research proposal, requiring evaluative reflection on course content and contemporary psychological literature. It is also expected that students will demonstrate effective analysis and interpretation of advanced statistical techniques.

Objectives

The module is intended to build a student’s confidence in independently planning studies of various design (namely: observational and experimental quantitative, and qualitative methodologies), giving them the skills to justify the specific design choices they have deemed most appropriate to investigate a given research question. In addition to this the module develops in students an ability to appropriately apply and interpret a range of advanced statistical and qualitative analysis techniques used for psychological enquiry.

Expanding on knowledge and skills students bring from undergraduate degrees, the module aims to:

1. Advance students’ ability to understand, evaluate, apply and interpret advanced research methods in both qualitative and quantitative enquiry.

2. Build confidence in independently using techniques to design studies that investigate novel research questions.

3. Ensure students can report their analyses in a professional, publishable format, in line with discipline standards.

Learning activities include interactive `lecture + seminar’ formats with short presentations interspersed with small-group learning activities, designed to develop students’ knowledge, understanding and ability to independently apply the skills being taught in these sessions. Advanced statistical techniques are delivered in a “flipped classroom” style tutorial, with completed work discussed and explained in the session.

Finally, students attend two workshop sessions where they are supported by teaching staff to develop and then debate and discuss ideas for their own independent project proposals.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:

1. You will have the ability to critically evaluate quantitative designs for research and apply this knowledge to your own experimental work.
2. You will have the ability to critically evaluate qualitative designs for research and apply this knowledge to your own research work.
3. You will be able to demonstrate expertise in understanding the constraints of experimental, non-experimental and quasi-experimental approaches, and when these techniques should be applied.
4. You will develop the knowledge to independently select, interpret and present a range of univariate and multivariate advanced statistical analyses and provide appropriate interpretation thereof.
5. You will demonstrate knowledge of advanced qualitative techniques and develop a research plan using appropriate discipline conventions.
6. You will apply your learning to relate a research question to an appropriate methodology used in psychology.
7. You will employ evidence-based reasoning and examine practical, theoretical and ethical issues associated with the use of different methodologies, paradigms and methods of analysis in psychology.

Syllabus

The fundamentals of research design and the measurement and analysis of psychological functioning
Principles of the scientific method and defining quantitative measurement
Reliability and Validity in psychological measurement
Statistical methodologies for analysing data and testing hypothesis
Quantitative Observational Methods for Research
Testing for associations in the natural variation between outcomes
Advanced Tests of natural variation and Multivariate Techniques
Power analysis and sample size estimation in psychological research
Qualitative Methods for Research
Qualitative methods and epistemology
Quantitative Experimental Methods for Research
Testing for the impact of experimental manipulation, within- and between-participants
Advanced Tests of experimental manipulations and Multivariate Techniques
Applied statistical skills: exploratory analysis (cleaning and validating newly collected data) followed by descriptive and inferential statistical analysis on such data.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Supervision	2	2.00	4.00
Lecture	8	2.50	20.00
Practical	11	1.00	11.00
Seminar	8	2.00	16.00
Private study hours			219.00
Total Contact hours			51.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			270.00

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Student will receive group-based formative feedback in the following ways:

`Lecture + Seminar’ sessions will be foreshadowed by online pre-class exercises. These will ask students to post answers/opinions to online discussion boards. Feedback on student’s contributions will then be provided in the lecture/seminar by teaching staff. Within each of the lecture/seminar sessions students will also participate in several small group problem solving and critical discussion exercises per week. These will be overseen by the teaching team, who will provide summation and feedback at the conclusion of each activity.

Students will receive personalised formative feedback in the following ways:

In the weekly statistical practicals students are expected to complete, as part of their weekly exercises, a `self-test’ question prior to attending the session. This self-test question will be discussed, graded and peer reviewed in the class, with lecturer and postgraduate teaching assistants will also providing feedback directly to students in these sessions.

Additionally, in weeks 6 and 9, students will participate in a project proposal workshop in which they will be expected to verbally pitch an idea for a research project. Peers and teaching staff will critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of proposed projects and suggest improvements to their design, to help prepare students for producing a written version of their proposals, to be submitted in weeks 7 and 11. In week 6’s stats practical power-calculations will also be reviewed, in preparations for students including a power-calculation as part of their project proposal.

Students will also have access to weekly, staffed, drop-in sessions where they can access support for their learning in a personalised, tailored manner through individualised support provided by module staff.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Assignment	Project proposal assignment - Quantitative (800 words)	33.33
Assignment	Analysis and interpretation of data files, SAQs	33.33
Assignment	Project proposal assignment - Qualitative (500 words)	33.34
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Students’ overall grade will then be determined by a weighted average of these two assignments (two project proposal: 33.34% and 33.33%; data & statistics: 33.33%). The weighting of each assessment in determining the overall grade reflect the equal importance of the three components of the overall teaching (i.e. qualitative methods, quantitative methods, statistical analysis), necessary for meeting the overall learning objectives of the module. The word count for the quantitative proposal is higher than that for the qualitative, despite the same weighting, due to the nature of these two approaches, i.e. that one requires following a specific structure to detail the research question, while the other is primarily linguistically based, hence the higher word count for the former. There is no compensation between summative components of assessment, all components must be passed. In the event of failure of one or more component(s), the module mark will be capped at 50 on successful resit of the failed component(s).

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 18/09/2024

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