Research in Practice - PSY6140 (15 sp)
The objective of this course is to introduce students to the practical application of research methodology, through working with a concrete research project in collaboration with other students and a project supervisor.
Dette emnet undervises på engelsk, og beskrives derfor på engelsk.
Admission
This course is project-based, and dependent on on-campus attendance (stedlig oppmøte) in seminars throughout the semester.
This course is only available during the autumn semester.
Basic knowledge of research methodology is required to be accepted into the course (e.g., PSY1120 Psykologi som fag og vitenskap – or similar courses). Number of students enrolled in the course may vary from semester to semester, and there may be a selection process among candidates (e.g., motivational letter, short interview), depending on the number of applicants.
As a student in this course, you will work on a research project – from formulating concrete research questions and/or hypotheses, to analyzing data and writing a research report – in collaboration with both other students and a project supervisor. You will get hands-on experience with key elements of the research process, including doing background research on a specific topic within the field of psychology, making methodological decisions, analyzing data, holding presentations, and writing a report.
The theme and contents of the research project may vary from semester to semester but will be related to a field within psychology.
This course is open to international students and will therefore be held in English.
After completing this course, students are expected to have acquired the following learning outcomes:
Knowledge
- An understanding of how researchers create new research questions from existing theory and empirical data
- Knowledge of how to develop testable hypotheses
- Knowledge of how to decide on a research design in line with a research question
- Knowledge of how to choose appropriate data collection methods
- Knowledge of how to analyze data from psychological research
- Knowledge of how to report and communicate research findings
Skills
- Specific skills related to data collection in psychological research
- Specific skills related to data analysis in psychological research
- The ability to present and report research findings following standard practices in psychological research
- The ability to communicate research results in an intuitive and effective manner
General competencies
- Has developed a holistic and practical understanding of the research process
- Has developed written and oral skills related to communication of research
- Has developed collaboration and co-operation skills in a collective project
Obligatory assignments
Approved obligatory assignments/coursework are a prerequisite for access to the exam in this course.
The obligatory assignments in this course are:
- Approved presentation of background literature for the research project
- Approved assignment related to data collection and/or data analysis
- Approved presentation of results from data analysis
Exam
A 3000-word (+/- 10 %) written assignment in the form of a research report/article, according to provided requirements. The assignment will be presented and provided at the start of the course.
The obligatory assignments and the exam cover the learning outcomes.
You must write your exam in English.
The exam will be graded as pass/fail. If you fail the exam, you will have the opportunity to hand in a new and improved version of the same assignment (kontinuasjonseksamen).
