Year 2
Research
Methods/
Labs
AP2208 Timetable
2013-2014
Course coordinator Dr Raegan Murphy
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Assessment:
Total Marks 200: End of Year Written Examination 50 marks, Continuous Assessment 150 marks (5
research reports totaling 150 marks). Exam is 90 minutes.
Compulsory Elements:
End of Year Written Examination; Continuous Assessment. Attendance at lectures and supervised
practical work (in lectures and tutorials) is compulsory and recorded by a class register. Research
report(s) submitted by students who have not attended and participated in the associated
practical classes during the year will receive a mark of zero.
Credit Weighting: 10
Teaching Methods: (i) In-class lectures; (ii)tutorials (supervised) and (iii) practicals.
(i) Lectures (compulsory): Five blocks of lectures. Each lecture is 2 hours over 24 weeks.
(ii) Tutorials (supervised and compulsory): 2 hours per week over 24 weeks.
(iii) Practical: 52hours over 24 weeks during which you are to read/collect data/analyse/writeup and prepare for reports and final year exam.
Important information for students: This module has a 10 credit bearing which means that it is
not like the other 5 credit modules you undertake in second year! This module requires of you to
work from day one right up to the end. You will be expected to work on practicals during times
other than timetabled above. There are 52 hours during the 24 week period during which you
have to work on practicals. Be prepared for a consistently heavy work-load.
Required Reading:
Breakwell, G., Hammond, S., Fife-Shaw, C. & Smith, J.A. (2006). Research Methods in Psychology
(3rd Ed.). London: Sage.
Recommended/Supplementary:
DeVellis, R.F. (2003). Scale development: theory and applications (2nd Ed). London: Sage.
Howitt, D. (2010). Introduction to qualitative methods in psychology. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Shultz, K.S. & Whiteney, D.J. (2005). Measurement theory in action: case studies and exercises.
London: Sage.
Smith, J.A. (Ed). (2008). Qualitative Psychology (2nd Ed). London: Sage.
Willis, J.W. (2007). Foundations of Qualitative Research. London: Sage.
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Who will be teaching you?
The following lecturers will be delivering lectures to you:

Dr John McCarthy

Dr Samantha Dockray

Dr Angela Veale

Dr Raegan Murphy

Dr Annalisa Setti
What will you be taught?
There are a number of areas that will be covered:





Qualitative designs
 Discourse Analysis (Dr Angela Veale)
Surveys designs
 Questionnaires(Dr Samantha Dockray)
Qualitative designs
 Grounded theory (Dr John McCarthy)
Reliability and validity - design issues
 Psychometrics (Dr Raegan Murphy)
Experimental designs
 Cognition (Dr Annalisa Setti)
What does the structure look like?

There are five blocks of substantive content over the whole year.

Three practicals are due before Christmas and two are due after Christmas.

There are 12 lectures and 12 tutorials before Christmas. There are 8 lectures and 11
tutorials after Christmas.
What we will be assessed on in the exam?
Exam content will cover all five substantive areas that are lectured on during the lectures. It is
compulsory to attend each lecture and each tutorial so you should be prepared for the exam in
terms of content. The exam format will take the form of essays/short notes.
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Why does the timetable look the way it does?
AP2208 lectures and tutorials tie in with lectures delivered to you elsewhere in the second year
programme. By way of example: Dr Raegan Murphy will cover Individual Differences in the second
semester which fits with her lectures on Psychometrics.
What do we do during supervised tutorials?
It is compulsory to attend 2 hours per week of tutorials. The tutors will be keeping a record of
tutorial attendance. You will be divided into groups based on your timetable and what suits you
best. Tutorials take place on Thursdays between 11am-1pm and 2-4pm depending on which group
you happen to be in. During some tutorials you may collect your data or you may collect your data
during times not timetabled. This all depends on the nature of the practical. Depending on the
needs of each lecturer, the tutors assigned to your group will

engage with you regarding the nature of the practical

assist you with technical issues regarding literature reviews

assist you with technical issues regarding the collection of data

assist you with technical issues regarding the analysis of data

assist you with technical issues regarding the write-up of reports
Please note the following: the tutors are not expected to repeat the lectures delivered by the
lecturers! They are there to assist you with the carrying out of your practicals and to try their best
to answer questions you might have regarding the previous day’s lectures. Tutorials are going to
be structured. It is not a session where you twiddle your thumbs.
Did we mention that this module bears 10 credits?
This course is the equivalent of 2 modules. DO NOT TREAT THIS MODULE AS IF IT WAS A 5 CREDIT
MODULE.
How are the marks worked out?
You have to hand in five practical reports over the 24 week period. It is compulsory to submit all
five practicals.
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Will we get feedback on our reports?
Yes. The dates for feedback can be viewed in the timetable below. Feedback on reports will be
given to you during your tutorial hours before the next practical is due. The turn-around time for
marking of all the practicals is 3 weeks.
Who marks our reports?
The tutors assigned to you in your group will be responsible for marking all five reports. However,
the lecturer delivering the particular block of content will be responsible for cross-marking 30% of
the reports. This is done to ensure consistency and fairness in marking.
What does the timetable look like?
See last page of this document.
What criteria are used to assess our practicals?
Each practical that you will submit this year will take the form of a research paper. You are to
write up the practical as if you were submitting it to a peer-reviewed academic journal in
psychology. The criteria below will be used to assess each practical you submit. Each practical will
be marked out of 100. However, at the end of the year, each of the five practicals will be given a
weighting of 30 to total the 150 marks.
See below for the rubric.
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School of Applied Psychology
AP2208 Practical rubric criteria and feedback sheet*
Student Name:
Numeric Grade:
Alphabetic Grade:
Marker:
Aspect
Excellent
Good
Needs
Poor Not Done
Improvement
AESTHETICS
Cover page with title, name, date and module
Typed with margins and headings
Total out of 10
ABSTRACT
Contains between 150-200 words in total
Describes the aim of the research
States the research method employed
States the main findings
States a conclusion
Total out of 10
INTRODUCTION
Introduces the main research question
Justifies the need for the research
Cites appropriate and current literature
Builds up an argument for the research hypothesis
Operationalises the variables to be studied
Total out of 10
METHOD
Details the research methodology used
Justifies the method used
Details the nature of the sample/participants
Details the nature of the tools/measures used
Details manner of research data collection
Details the procedure used
Total out of 10
RESULTS
States the nature of the data analytic technique used
Justifies the approach taken for analyses
Includes descriptive/inferential/thematic results
Details the variables studied in terms of findings and
hypotheses
Includes tabular/figural output in APA format
Total out of 10
DISCUSSION
Interprets the research findings in light of the relevant
literature
Integrates the findings with the extant literature
Discusses the nature of the results and how the
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findings link to existing research
Gives plausible arguments for why hypotheses
were/were not supported by referring back to theory
Total out of 10
CONCLUSION
Summarises the findings in context
Links the theory with the research results
Does not introduce new literature
Mentions limitations of the research
Suggests future directions for research and gives
recommendations
Total out of 10
REFERENCING
Citation-reference match
Appropriate material sourced
Enough material sourced
Current reference material (within the last 5 years)
Nature and amount of direct/in-direct quotations
Total out of 10
ADHERENCE TO APA STYLE
Spelling checked
Grammar checked
Format of tabular/figural output
Page formatting
Scholarly style
Total out of 20
Grand total out of 100
Notes:
1. The grade given on this sheet is subject to ratification and revision by the relevant exam boards.
Key to grading scheme:
A+, A and AFirst class honours
B+, B and BSecond class honours, upper division
C+, C and CSecond class honours, lower division
D+, D and DE+, E and EF+, F and F0
Third class honours
Pass
Fail
Work not submitted
A+=95 A=85 A-=75 B+=68 B=65 B-=62 C+=58 C=55 C-=52 D+=48 D=47 D-=46 E+=43 E=42 E-=41 F+=35 F=20 F-=10
Each practical will be marked on the detailed criteria below, using a five point scale:





Excellent - clearly above the standard expected
Good - working at the standard expected
Needs Improvement - with a little more effort or care, can obtain the required standard
Poor - not clear that student understands what is expected
Not Done - this aspect is just not present in the work.
*This rubric was based in-part on the rubric used for first year practicals. Thanks to Dr J. Kirakowski.
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Lecturer
Date of lecture
Wednesdays
Time and
Venue
Date of tutorial (11am-1pm
or 2pm-4pm on Thursdays)
Due date for practical
(online submission)
Feedback date
FIRST SEMESTER
Dr J. McCarthy (Grounded Theory)
18 Sep, 25 Sep, 2 Oct, 9 Oct
11am-1pm
CEC-7/8
19 Sep, 26 Sep, 3 Oct, 10 Oct
18 Oct 5pm
7 Nov in tutorial
Dr S. Dockray (Survey Design)
16 Oct, 23 Oct, 30 Oct, 6
Nov
11am-1pm
CEC-7/8
17 Oct, 24 Oct, 31 Oct, 7 Nov
15 Nov 5pm
5 Dec in tutorial
Dr A. Veale (Discourse Analysis)
13 Nov, 20 Nov, 27 Nov, 4
Dec
11am-1pm
CEC-7/8
14 Nov, 21 Nov, 28 Nov, 5
Dec
13 Dec 5pm
9 Jan in tutorial
SECOND SEMESTER
Dr. R. Murphy (Reliability and validity)
8 Jan, 15 Jan, 22 Jan, 29 Jan
11am-1pm
CEC-7/8
9 Jan, 16 Jan, 23 Jan, 28 Jan,
6 Feb, 13 Feb
21 Feb 5pm
13 Mar in tutorial
Dr. A. Setti (Experimental design)
19 Feb, 26 Feb, 5 Mar, 12
Mar
11am-1pm
CEC-7/8
20 Feb, 27 Feb, 6 Mar, 13
Mar, 20 Mar
28 Mar 5pm
No in-class feedback
session
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