PYH400-2 Thesis
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | PYH400-2 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | PYH401. PYH401 can be studied in the same teaching period as PYH400-2 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
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| CSP student contribution | The Commonwealth supported place student contribution amount for this unit depends upon the course of study. Find out more |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,456 |
| International unit fee | $4,932 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | PYH400-2 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | PYH401. PYH401 can be studied in the same teaching period as PYH400-2 |
| Coordinator: | Trish Obst | p.obst@qut.edu.au |
Overview
The thesis component of the honours program comprises four 12 credit point units which culminate with the submission of a 48 credit point research thesis. PYH400-2 is the second of this sequence of units. The thesis provides an opportunity for you to extend, synthesise and apply the knowledge, skills and digital capabilities gained in your undergraduate degree and the honours program. Under the guidance of an academic supervisor, you will undertake a research project that makes an original contribution to knowledge in the broad discipline of psychology, which will provide an opportunity for you to engage in all parts of research and scholarship. The thesis provides skill and dispositional development in the critical evaluation of research, research methods, digital tools relevant to your project, and application of research findings, key capabilities in the discipline of psychology. The four thesis units are assessed through the submission of a 10000 word research thesis
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Source, critically evaluate and synthesise relevant empirical and theoretical information to identify a clear original contribution to the existing literature in your defined area of research, leading to clear well justified original research questions.
- Design and execute appropriate research methodologies, and technologies to investigate your research questions and employ appropriate procedures and technologies to analyse data.
- Formulate strategies to address the ethical and health and safety implications of your research methodology.
- Critically evaluate your research methodology and interpret your research findings and position these within the extant literature and make recommendations for future research in the field.
- Communicate research findings with a high standard of scholarship, and present according to current APA formatting guidelines.
Content
The thesis units will involve planning, designing, and executing an original piece of research in the field of psychology under the guidance of a supervisor. This process will culminate in the preparation and presentation of a 10000 word thesis (representing one half of the Honours program). The thesis will include a clearly stated research question, an empirical literature review, data analysis, results and discussion. Full and detailed information about the thesis can be found in the PY09 Handbook.
PYH400-2 is the second unit in the sequence of four thesis units and will normally involve the setting up of your methodology and the commencement of data collection.
Learning Approaches
The honours thesis provides you with the opportunity to use your research, critical analysis and enterprise skills to develop and answer an original research question. You will be allocated to a supervisor by the Course Coordinator to guide and support you in this process. You will need to meet regularly with your supervisor, with the format and frequency of these meetings negotiated between you and your supervisor. A student supervisor checklist is provided to help develop mutual expectations for the student and supervisor relationship and supervisory process and to ensure your satisfactory progress. The supervisor's role will be to guide and assist you through the planning, execution and reporting of the research project.
Your thesis work is supported by workshops and seminars and range of online resources in the Psycholinks Peer Support Program and Community Canvas site.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive formative feedback regarding your progress from your supervisor at your regular supervision meetings. Written feedback on your research proposal will be provided by your supervisor and approval of your proposal by the honours course coordinator. Submission of the student-supervisor checklist each semester will allow you to reflect on your progress with your thesis project. Formal feedback on your submitted written thesis will be in the form of examiners reports.
Assessment
Overview
The four thesis units include assessment pieces designed to assist you in making progress on your thesis, receiving feedback from your supervisor to produce a high-quality thesis. The research proposal is not graded but rather designed as a threshold assessment, for which you will receive feedback from your supervisor and approval from the thesis unit coordinator. The research proposal submitted as part of PYH400-1 should contain an overview of your proposed thesis research. The proposal should contain a literature review leading to your rationale for the proposed study, your research questions and the methodology that will be used to address the research question and the ethical implications of your proposed method. Evidence of submission of applications for Ethical Clearance and Health and Safety approval for your study is required with the submission of the research proposal. Data collection for your project may not commence until ethical clearance and health and safety approval have been obtained. At the end of each semester, you will be asked to upload a student -supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor to ensure you are on track for timely completion of your research thesis.
In your final thesis unit, PYH400-4, there is a threshold assessment where you will deliver an oral presentation of your thesis to an audience of peers and academics and answer questions about your research from an academic panel. This assessment is not weighted but you must receive a satisfactory grade to submit your final thesis.
The sole graded summative assessment item for the four thesis units is the submission of a 10000 word written thesis. Your grade for each thesis unit will be based on the grade you receive for your final thesis. Until the submission of your final thesis you will receive a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade for PYH400-1, PHY400-2 and PHY400-3 based on submitting a satisfactory research proposal and satisfactory progress as evidenced by the student-supervisor checklist.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale and S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Student Supervisor Checklist
At the end of each semester, you will be asked to upload a student -supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor to ensure you are on track for timely and ethical completion of your research thesis.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Threshold Assessment:
A student supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor must be submitted at the end of each semester and with your final thesis submission. This is to ensure your timely progress in your thesis units and that the final thesis has resulted from the work you have ethically conducted under the supervision and guidance of your supervisor.
Assessment: Thesis
You are required to submit an APA formatted 10,000 word thesis (word length not including figures and tables) to the PYH400-4 Canvas site. Your thesis presents the work undertaken as part of your honours research project. It should contain an introduction which sets out your original research question, a method detailing your methodology, a full results section and a discussion which relates your findings to your research aims and the broader research in the field. Your thesis is marked by two examiners who are independent of the supervisory process.
Ethical and responsible use of Generative AI may be permitted in the conduct of your research project under the guidance of your supervisor and with full acknowledgement and referencing in your thesis. See the Canvas site for more information.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Costs
There may be some expenses in the collection of data for the thesis.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
A Health and Safety Risk Assessment application must be approved by the School/ Faculty Health and Safety Officer before data collection can commence.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PY09 Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Honours Psychology)
- Investigate a substantive original research problem relevant to the discipline of psychology with intellectual independence, application of scientific research methods and technologies and ethical principles.
Relates to: Thesis
Unit Outline: Semester 2 2026, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | PYH400-2 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | PYH401. PYH401 can be studied in the same teaching period as PYH400-2 |
| Coordinator: | Trish Obst | p.obst@qut.edu.au |
Overview
The thesis component of the honours program comprises four 12 credit point units which culminate with the submission of a 48 credit point research thesis. PYH400-2 is the second of this sequence of units. The thesis provides an opportunity for you to extend, synthesise and apply the knowledge, skills and digital capabilities gained in your undergraduate degree and the honours program. Under the guidance of an academic supervisor, you will undertake a research project that makes an original contribution to knowledge in the broad discipline of psychology, which will provide an opportunity for you to engage in all parts of research and scholarship. The thesis provides skill and dispositional development in the critical evaluation of research, research methods, digital tools relevant to your project, and application of research findings, key capabilities in the discipline of psychology. The four thesis units are assessed through the submission of a 10000 word research thesis
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Source, critically evaluate and synthesise relevant empirical and theoretical information to identify a clear original contribution to the existing literature in your defined area of research, leading to clear well justified original research questions.
- Design and execute appropriate research methodologies, and technologies to investigate your research questions and employ appropriate procedures and technologies to analyse data.
- Formulate strategies to address the ethical and health and safety implications of your research methodology.
- Critically evaluate your research methodology and interpret your research findings and position these within the extant literature and make recommendations for future research in the field.
- Communicate research findings with a high standard of scholarship, and present according to current APA formatting guidelines.
Content
The thesis units will involve planning, designing, and executing an original piece of research in the field of psychology under the guidance of a supervisor. This process will culminate in the preparation and presentation of a 10000 word thesis (representing one half of the Honours program). The thesis will include a clearly stated research question, an empirical literature review, data analysis, results and discussion. Full and detailed information about the thesis can be found in the PY09 Handbook.
PYH400-2 is the second unit in the sequence of four thesis units and will normally involve the setting up of your methodology and the commencement of data collection.
Learning Approaches
The honours thesis provides you with the opportunity to use your research, critical analysis and enterprise skills to develop and answer an original research question. You will be allocated to a supervisor by the Course Coordinator to guide and support you in this process. You will need to meet regularly with your supervisor, with the format and frequency of these meetings negotiated between you and your supervisor. A student supervisor checklist is provided to help develop mutual expectations for the student and supervisor relationship and supervisory process and to ensure your satisfactory progress. The supervisor's role will be to guide and assist you through the planning, execution and reporting of the research project.
Your thesis work is supported by workshops and seminars and range of online resources in the Psycholinks Peer Support Program and Community Canvas site.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive formative feedback regarding your progress from your supervisor at your regular supervision meetings. Written feedback on your research proposal will be provided by your supervisor and approval of your proposal by the honours course coordinator. Submission of the student-supervisor checklist each semester will allow you to reflect on your progress with your thesis project. Formal feedback on your submitted written thesis will be in the form of examiners reports.
Assessment
Overview
The four thesis units include assessment pieces designed to assist you in making progress on your thesis, receiving feedback from your supervisor to produce a high-quality thesis. The research proposal is not graded but rather designed as a threshold assessment, for which you will receive feedback from your supervisor and approval from the thesis unit coordinator. The research proposal submitted as part of PYH400-1 should contain an overview of your proposed thesis research. The proposal should contain a literature review leading to your rationale for the proposed study, your research questions and the methodology that will be used to address the research question and the ethical implications of your proposed method. Evidence of submission of applications for Ethical Clearance and Health and Safety approval for your study is required with the submission of the research proposal. Data collection for your project may not commence until ethical clearance and health and safety approval have been obtained. At the end of each semester, you will be asked to upload a student -supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor to ensure you are on track for timely completion of your research thesis.
In your final thesis unit, PYH400-4, there is a threshold assessment where you will deliver an oral presentation of your thesis to an audience of peers and academics and answer questions about your research from an academic panel. This assessment is not weighted but you must receive a satisfactory grade to submit your final thesis.
The sole graded summative assessment item for the four thesis units is the submission of a 10000 word written thesis. Your grade for each thesis unit will be based on the grade you receive for your final thesis. Until the submission of your final thesis you will receive a satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade for PYH400-1, PHY400-2 and PHY400-3 based on submitting a satisfactory research proposal and satisfactory progress as evidenced by the student-supervisor checklist.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale and S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Student Supervisor Checklist
At the end of each semester, you will be asked to upload a student -supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor to ensure you are on track for timely and ethical completion of your research thesis.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited during this assessment.
Threshold Assessment:
A student supervisor checklist signed by your supervisor must be submitted at the end of each semester and with your final thesis submission. This is to ensure your timely progress in your thesis units and that the final thesis has resulted from the work you have ethically conducted under the supervision and guidance of your supervisor.
Assessment: Thesis
You are required to submit an APA formatted 10,000 word thesis (word length not including figures and tables) to the PYH400-4 Canvas site. Your thesis presents the work undertaken as part of your honours research project. It should contain an introduction which sets out your original research question, a method detailing your methodology, a full results section and a discussion which relates your findings to your research aims and the broader research in the field. Your thesis is marked by two examiners who are independent of the supervisory process.
Ethical and responsible use of Generative AI may be permitted in the conduct of your research project under the guidance of your supervisor and with full acknowledgement and referencing in your thesis. See the Canvas site for more information.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Requirements to Study
Costs
There may be some expenses in the collection of data for the thesis.
Resources
Risk Assessment Statement
A Health and Safety Risk Assessment application must be approved by the School/ Faculty Health and Safety Officer before data collection can commence.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.PY09 Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Honours Psychology)
- Investigate a substantive original research problem relevant to the discipline of psychology with intellectual independence, application of scientific research methods and technologies and ethical principles.
Relates to: Thesis