MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at UCL, UK

Entry Qualifications and Registration

Applicants should have obtained at least an upper second-class Honours degree in psychology or a related subject, or an equivalent qualification. Students are registered as full-time (one calendar year) or part-time (two calendar years) graduate Master's degree students in the Faculty of Life Sciences at UCL.

The MSc is recognised as a graduate training programme by the ESRC, and applicants can be considered for ESRC funding under the ‘1+3' scheme. The successful applicant will receive funding for the one-year MSc and, if progress is satisfactory, will receive ‘+3' funding for an MPhil/PhD programme. Students who would like to be considered for the ‘1+3' studentship should seek admission to the MSc Research Methods in Psychology in addition to admission to the MPhil/PhD programme. The application deadline for being considered for this studentship is 31 January 2005.

Aims and Overview

The purpose of the programme is to equip students with the advanced training in research methods which will prepare them for a career involving psychological research. Students complete courses covering statistics, computer and qualitative analysis options, methodologies in various fields of psychology, including: behavioural psychology; cognitive psychology; attention, perception and motor control; social psychology; clinical psychology; language and speech; developmental psychology; health psychology; neuropsychology; biological and animal psychology. Training is provided in all relevant skills, including reviewing the relevant literature, developing hypotheses and writing research proposals, designing and carrying out empirical studies, conducting advanced statistical analyses, and presenting results. Students learn to use a range of research tools such as databases, statistical software, computer-assisted, qualitative analysis packages and computer programming. Teaching is in seminars and small-group lectures and practicals, and is assessed primarily by written coursework and reports of empirical projects carried out individually and in groups.

MSc in Research Methods in Psychology at UCL, UK

Entry Qualifications and Registration

Applicants should have obtained at least an upper second-class Honours degree in psychology or a related subject, or an equivalent qualification. Students are registered as full-time (one calendar year) or part-time (two calendar years) graduate Master's degree students in the Faculty of Life Sciences at UCL.

The MSc is recognised as a graduate training programme by the ESRC, and applicants can be considered for ESRC funding under the ‘1+3' scheme. The successful applicant will receive funding for the one-year MSc and, if progress is satisfactory, will receive ‘+3' funding for an MPhil/PhD programme. Students who would like to be considered for the ‘1+3' studentship should seek admission to the MSc Research Methods in Psychology in addition to admission to the MPhil/PhD programme. The application deadline for being considered for this studentship is 31 January 2005.

Aims and Overview

The purpose of the programme is to equip students with the advanced training in research methods which will prepare them for a career involving psychological research. Students complete courses covering statistics, computer and qualitative analysis options, methodologies in various fields of psychology, including: behavioural psychology; cognitive psychology; attention, perception and motor control; social psychology; clinical psychology; language and speech; developmental psychology; health psychology; neuropsychology; biological and animal psychology. Training is provided in all relevant skills, including reviewing the relevant literature, developing hypotheses and writing research proposals, designing and carrying out empirical studies, conducting advanced statistical analyses, and presenting results. Students learn to use a range of research tools such as databases, statistical software, computer-assisted, qualitative analysis packages and computer programming. Teaching is in seminars and small-group lectures and practicals, and is assessed primarily by written coursework and reports of empirical projects carried out individually and in groups.

Staff and Students

Our students typically comprise a mixture of full and part-time graduates in a range of disciplines and of various ages from Britain, Europe and other parts of the world. Despite this diversity, a close and friendly working relationship soon develops between students, who share an office, carry out group projects, and attend many courses and seminars together. Students are in close contact throughout the Autumn and Spring terms with the Programme Director, who coordinates the programme, supervises project work and monitors coursework. Courses in methodology in different fields of psychology are taught by a wide range of the department's staff. From April students work on their individual research projects, under the direction of an appropriate supervisor selected from any of the departmental lecturers and professors.

Degree Programme Components

Empirical Projects

Director: Professor Chris Brew

Timetable: A one-hour tutorial each week for the first two terms.

This is the central component of the programme, involving practical applications of the skills acquired in the other two components, and carrying 50% of the total marks. In the first term students design, execute, analyse and report two group projects (working in small groups of two to three) and in the second term they carry out a longer individual mini-project. Students are required to address a range of different topics and use differen methods for each project, drawing on their option topics for research ideas. At weekly research tutorials they present their hypotheses and design for critical group discussion prior to carrying out data acquisition, and then present their analysis and findings prior to writing their reports. Assessment is by individual reports of the group projects and a report for the mini-project. At the end of the spring term students select a topic and supervisor for their main project. This can be carried out at institutions outside the department by arrangement, and under departmental academic supervision. Students write a formal research proposal and are given feedback about any potential problems. The remainder of the year is spent carrying out and writing up this project.

Special Research Methods Courses

Philosophical and Theoretical Issues

Directors: Dr Lunt and Dr Stenner

Timetable: A two-hour seminar each week for the second half of the second term.

This module gives students an overview of the assumptions upon which social science is premised, and the major questions addressed by psychologists. Assessment is by essay.

Research Methods Options

Director: Dr John Wattam-Bell

Timetable: Students select three options taught during the first and second terms. Each option comprises five weekly two-hour seminars, which will include some practical work and demonstrations.

In this course, specialists in a variety of fields of psychology discuss the methods that are used in their research area in particular. Options can be chosen from topics such as human and animal cognition; attention, perception and motor control; qualitative data collection; clinical psychology; health psychology; language, speech and communication; developmental psychology; neuropsychology; computational modelling and neural networks; advanced multivariate statistical analysis. Assessment is by three essays (or equivalent pieces of practical work), which must be handed in within one month of completion of the relevant option.

Generic Research Skills

Statistics

Director: Dr Paul Cairns

Timetable: Four hours a week for the first term.

A brief review of descriptive and non-parametric statistics is followed by detailed study of: analysis of variance, including planned and post-hoc comparisons, factorial designs and repeated measures; analysis of covariance; multiple regression; canonical correlation; multivariate analysis of variance, factor analysis and clustering techniques. The statistics package used is SPSS. Each session includes a lecture followed by a problems class in which students are assisted by the lecturer and a graduate demonstrator,
and the course is assessed by a three-hour examination.

Key Research Skills

Director: Dr John Wattam-Bell

Timetable: Thirty hours of seminars over two terms.

These seminars give students a grounding in the basic skills necessary to complete the programme, including: use of computer databases, spreadsheets, statistical software, etc., library use and literature search; teamwork, project planning and development; ethical and legal issues; critical evaluation; writing research proposals and reports; communication and presentations skills. These skills will be assessed by their application in project work and by a portfolio of work based on these sessions. They include a literature review, a powerpoint presentation, a poster, a web page, an ethics application and a review of a paper.

Computing-Programming and Computing-Modelling

Director: Dr Langley

Timetable: One two-hour session and a one-hour lecture each week in the first term.

This is an introductory computing course which assumes no prior computing experience, and is intended to provide students with rudimentary programming skills using visual basic. The objective is for students to acquire the formal structure of a high-level programming language, and emphasis is placed on the manipulation of data in the context of psychological experimentation. The course combines lectures and practical work, and is assessed by a computing project carried out in the second term. The taught component is assessed by project.

Qualitative Data Analysis

Director: Dr Joffe

Timetable: One two-hour session each week in the second term

This course introduces students to the philosophy and practical application of a wide range of concepts and techniques of qualitative analysis, including content analysis, grounded theory, discourse analysis, phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, reflexivity, deconstruction and triangulation. These will be applied to various types of data, including narrative, dialogue, the media and non-verbal qualitative material. The course combines lectures and practical work, and is assessed by a qualitative analysis.

Departmental Seminars

Director: Dr Michie

Timetable: One weekly one-hour seminar and one fortnightly one hour seminar in the first and second terms. Students are expected toattend the weekly departmental seminars, at which distinguished academic visitors to the department present their recent research. Students also attend the fortnightly graduate seminars at which PhD students discuss their research in an informal setting, with no academic staff in attendance.

Application for Admission

Application forms may be obtained from: The Graduate Secretary, The Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT or downloaded from www.ucl.ac.uk/prospective-students. Applications should be submitted by 28 February in the year of proposed entry, although subject to the availability of places the department will continue to consider applications received after this time up to the end of June. Earlier deadlines may apply for candidates wishing to be considered for studentships or scholarships.

URL link to this document: MSc in Research Methods in Psychology - UCL, UK