Introduction to Psychological Research Methods

The module is designed as an introduction to research methods skills for students entering the BSc Psychology Programme. It introduces students to the core principles and practical skills for psychological research. The curriculum includes an introduction to the scientific process, the benefits and disadvantages of key research designs, and practical application of statistical analysis and ethical considerations. Practical activities facilitate understanding of the link between psychological knowledge and empirical research.

Through engaging with this module you will develop the Intellectual, Professional, Digital and Active Citizen Abertay Attributes . In particular:

• Understand how knowledge is generated, processed and disseminated, and actively apply knowledge in order to recognise problems and solutions.
• Be able to work both independently and collaboratively, understanding the values and responsibilities of equality and playing a leadership and a team-member role as required.
• Be determined, ambitious, articulate, adaptable, self-reflective, resilient, practical, proactive, innovative and enterprising.
• Develop digital fluency, including knowledge, skills and confidence to embrace digital solutions.

By the end of this module the student should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an ability to write up a psychology investigation in standard American Psychological Association (APA) format.
2. Demonstrate competence in the use and reporting of descriptive & inferential analysis using statistical software.
3. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the British Psychological Society Code of Conduct, Ethical Principles and Guidelines.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of a variety of research methods tools that psychologists have at their disposal.
5. Develop understanding of the rationale for statistical analysis in psychology research.
6. Evaluate experimental designs and formulate solutions to routine design problems.

1 The Role of Research in Psychology

Introduction to scientific enquiry and the role of research in psychology

2 The Experimental Method

Defining experimental variables. Experimental design. Bias and control

3 Descriptive Statistics

Measures of central tendency and dispersion. Graphical and tabular presentation of data. Properties of the normal distribution curve. Standard error of the mean and confidence intervals

4 Inferential Statistics

Introduction to hypothesis formation and testing. The role of probability in statistical inference. Test selection for parametric and non-parametric data. Data analysis using inferential statistical tests. Type I and Type II errors. Introduction to statistical software for data entry; to summarise data in tables and graphs; and to perform descriptive and inferential statistical analysis.

5 Ethics

Introduction to ethical considerations and implications with reference to the British Psychological Society Guidelines

6 Library Skills

Identify, locate and evaluate appropriate academic sources for a set academic task using key library and information skills, and acknowledge their use

7 Report Writing

Conveying information from investigations using the appropriate APA standard. Conduct and report a literature review using appropriate academic sources.

8 Open Science

Introduction to the Open Science movement in Psychology.