Unit information: Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology in Education (Part 1) in 2020/21

Unit name	Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology in Education (Part 1)
Unit code	EDUC10007
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Williams
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Education
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit introduces training in the range of theoretical and practical skills used in educational and psychological research. In this unit students will be introduced to research methods in psychology, research design, statistical analyses, psychometrics and measurement techniques, and quantitative and qualitative methods. Examples of statistics and research methods will be taken from psychology in education.

The unit will have a 1 hour lecture on qualitative approaches or statistics, followed by a 2 hour session split into research methods and the application of the approach/statistics. During the application component, students will collect and analyze data for their assessed lab report. By linking analysis techniques to research methods through application, we will encourage students to develop:

(a) a conceptual understanding of the epistemology, content and analysis relating to the proposed empirical work;

(b) specification of the studies theoretical content and study design;

(c) the conduct of the data collection phase;

(d) the analysis of these data;

(e) the write-up of the results of that study in the conventional APA format.

Topics will include: Overview to research; ethics; qualitative methods & analyses (single case studies, interviewing, observation); introduction to quantitative research; levels of measurement; survey research; descriptive analyses; visualizing data; sampling and hypothesis testing; correlations; validity & reliability.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students will have:

1. acquired a conceptual understanding of the basic forms of qualitative study design;
2. acquired the practical experience of conducting and analyzing qualitative research;
3. acquired a preliminary understanding of quantitative research methodology;
4. acquired an understanding of descriptive analyses;
5. acquired the practical experience of conducting descriptive analyses;
6. undertaken the full profile of undertaking qualitative research by asking questions, designing a specific study to address a specific question, conducting a study on that question, analysing the data appropriately, and providing a written communication of the outcome of that process;
7. planned and contributed to small-group discussion on these topics;
8. begun to acquire a wide range of transferable skills.

Teaching Information

The unit comprises statistics lecture and applied sessions per week. Each student attends all sessions. During the applied sessions they will work in small groups (n=6) to apply the material presented in the lectures to guided activities.

Assessment Information

Formative assessment:

Quiz (ILOs 1-4)

Workbook (ILOs 1-5)

Practice observation techniques and draft observation schedule (ILOs 6-7)

Draft lab report (ILO 6)

Summative assessment

ILO 1-6,8: Exam: Take home Short Answer (50%)

The take home exam will cover material presented in the unit and be short answer questions.

ILO 1-6,8: Lab Report (50%)

The 2,000 word lab report focused on qualitative methods will present the rationale, methods, analysis, and conclusions for qualitative data.

Reading and References

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th Ed.). New York: American Psychological Association.

Coolican, H. (2009). Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology. (5th Ed.). London: Hodder Education.

Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (4th Ed.). London: Sage.

Harris, P. (2008). Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology. (3rd Ed.). Buckingham: Open University Press.

Willig, C. (2013) Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology (2nd Ed.). Maidenhead: Open University Press.