PYB110 Psychological Research Methods

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal

Overview

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and cognition. This unit is designed to introduce students to the scientific method of research in psychology, research design, and data analysis. The unit covers elementary research design, operationalisation of variables, descriptive statistics, correlation, hypothesis testing using statistical tests such as t-tests, and qualitative research methods. By learning these research methods, students are expected to start developing a data-driven, evidence-based perspective on psychological issues.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Take an evidence-based approach to critically evaluating concepts and issues in psychological research
2. Use descriptive statistics to explain and evaluate psychological data
3. Perform basic parametric statistics to formally test hypotheses
4. Perform basic non-parametric statistics to formally test hypotheses
5. Explain the main methods of qualitative research

Content

Learning Approaches

It is expected that upon successful completion of the unit, you will meet the 4 unit learning ouctomes. It is expected that in-depth knowledge of the concepts and issues in psychological research methodology, techniques of descriptive statistics, basic parametric statistics and hypothesis testing procedures, bivariate correlation, t-tests, chi square tests and qualitative methods will be attained through understanding the lecture content and textbook. Satisfactory performance in all assessment pieces will require an ability to understand and utilise the various statistical techniques covered in the unit.

The unit is intended to promote your learning by encouraging active participation with your peers in lecture and tutorial session settings. You should gain a sound theoretical understanding of basic statistical techniques and research processes by revising the lecture content and textbook. You will gain practical experience by practising the techniques in tutorials with the guidance of tutors. You will also be given extra support for basic mathematics through optional sessions and self-assessment tools. You will be guided in how to engage in critical enquiry when reviewing the research design and techniques in psychology.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Through the problem solving task, you will be informed of detailed processes of presenting and calculating particular statistics and using them to interpret data. The task will be take-home and open-book so that working on the task will constitute a further learning opportunity. Online quizzes will help you to self-assess your understanding of unit content in an incremental fashion (i.e., each quiz will cover unit contents from specific weeks) as you progress through the semester. Examination will provide comprehensive assessment of your learning by testing all knowledge covered in the unit.

Assessment

Overview

The assessment used in this unit aims to help you develop a basic understanding of research design and the statistical techniques covered. You will complete three different types of assessment activities: a problem solving task, a series of online quizzes, and an examination.

Except the examination, assessment in this unit will be submitted electronically. You will be required to submit your assessment via Turnitin content-matching software. Assessment will be marked online and your feedback will be supplied via Canvas.

How your grade will be determined:

You will receive a numerical mark for each individual assessment item. Feedback will be provided on the assignment according to the criteria and standards provided in the rubric. Actively reading the feedback provided will enhance your learning success.

Note that prior to release of marks, the unit coordinator undertakes a moderation process to ensure that criteria and standards have been applied consistently and fairly.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Problem Solving Task

Acting as a psychological professional, you will use the statistical methods that have been covered in the unit to answer research questions. You will be given a set of problems that often occur in public and private sectors (e.g., evaluating performance of schools; helping clinicians understand new psychological factors that affect mental health), and asked to formulate and conduct statistical analysis to describe and evaluate the problems in an objective, data-driven fashion. You will produce quantitative data that are critical for this analysis by generating and interpreting important statistical information.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: Quiz

At three points in the semester, an online quiz will be undertaken. The three quizzes combined, they will assess your understanding of materials covered in weeks 1-10. In the quizzes, 2% of your final grade will be allocated to each week's material, and therefore they will constitute 20% of your final grade in total. Approximately 5 questions will be used to assess each week's material. They will consist of both multiple choice and calculation questions. The quizzes will provide an opportunity to identify areas of weakness and direct your learning in a timely way to ensure you are on track.

Assessment: Final Examination

A 130-minute examination (no perusal time) assessing all material covered in the unit. Contents of lectures, tutorials, assigned chapters of the textbook, and other readings that are specifically provided for particular lectures will be relevant to the examination. This examination will consist of multiple choice questions. 

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

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.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Prescribed text(s)

Aron, A., Aron, E., & Coups, E. (2013). Statistics for psychology: Pearson new international edition (6th ed.). Pearson Education. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qut/detail.action?docID=5176146

Aron, A., Aron, E., & Coups, E. (2014). An introduction to statistics and research methods for psychology. Pearson Australia.

Risk Assessment Statement

You should be aware that some content in this unit may be confronting to certain audiences. Please exercise your own discretion when participating in classroom activities or discussions and, if appropriate, advise teaching staff if you do not wish to participate. The QUT Student Counselling service is also available and free of charge to all QUT students.

Course Learning Outcomes

PY45 Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology)

1. Describe and evaluate the core scientific perspectives of psychology with reference to theories, methods and research, from diverse perspectives, including first-nations perspectives.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Quiz, Final Examination
2. Critically examine the scientific discipline of psychological research and theories using oral, written and digital communication to address psychological issues in a respectful, ethical and professional manner.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Quiz, Final Examination
3. Implement a range of digital capabilities to access, examine and utilise evidence-based information in the context of effectively responding to, and communicating, real world problems.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Quiz