Methodology and Epistemology of Research in Psychology III

Code:

MTP08

Acronym:

MEIP III

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Investigation Methodology

Instance: 2020/2021 - 1S (since 21-09-2020 to 19-12-2020)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Psychology
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Psychology Themes

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MTP	16	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	6	81	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

 

Following the curricular units “Metodologia e Epistemologia da Investigação em Psicologia” I e II, this curricular unit intends to support an in-depth and systematic knowledge of the methods of investigation in Psychology, its operationalization and application in the concrete scope of the research work of each students, in order to contribute to the development of relevant and original scientific research work.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

By the end of this course, students should be able to:  

- structure, justify and ground their methodological options throughout the different phases of the research process in Psychology, anticipating possible problems and possible ways to solve them;

- rigorously apply research techniques and methods to the specific research contexts and problems;

- understand aspects that affect the quality and generalization of research and ways to address these issues;

- know the structure of a master's dissertation and its formatting requirements;

- know the steps and strategies involved in scientific writing;

- Interpret and report research results;

- make and sustain convincing arguments based on the results of the research;

- critically analyze empirical research in the field of Psychology.

 

Working method

Presencial

Program

- Structure, formatting style of the Master's thesis in Psychology;

- Principles of scientific writing;

- Providing a rationale and framing the research objectives;

- Using primary and secondary sources;

- Rationale behind methodological options;

- Ensuring accurate and appropriate data collection: selection of appropriate data collection techniques and clearly delineated instructions for their correct use;

- Rules for describing data collection techniques and procedures in the document body;

- Guidelines for presenting the analytical options in the dissertation: providing the rationale for the choice of statistics and for relevant decisions within specific analyses;

- Guidelines and standards for reporting the results;

- writing convincing discussions: describing the novel contribution of findings relative to previous research

Main Bibliography

Cooper Harris; Reporting research in psychology. ISBN: 978-1-4338-0916-3
Meltzoff Julian; Critical thinking about research. ISBN: 1-55798-455-7
Cargill Margaret; Writing scientific research articles: strategy and septs. ISBN: 978-1-118-57070-8

Complementary bibliiography:
Gavin Helen; Understanding research methods and statistics in psychology. ISBN: 978-1-4129-3442-8
Hart Chris; Doing a literature review. ISBN: 0-7619-5974-2
Giles David C.; Advanced research methods in psychology. ISBN: 0-415-22771-2
Wilkinson David 340; The^researcher.s toolkit. ISBN: 0-415-21566-8
Walliman Nicholas; Your research project. ISBN: 978-1-4129-0132-1
Mertens Donna M.; Research and evaluation in education and psychology. ISBN: 978-1-4129-7190-4
Breakwell Glynis M. 340; Research methods in psychology. ISBN: 978-0-85702-264-6
Hancock Gregory R. 340; The^reviewer99s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences. ISBN: 978-0-415-96508-8
Gelfand Harold; Mastering APA Style. ISBN: 1-55798-085-3
Giles David C.; Advanced research methods in psychology. ISBN: 0-415-22771-2
Cooper Harris 340; APA handbook of research methods in psychology. ISBN: 978-1-4338-1003-9

 

Mandatory literature

Cooper Harris; ; Reporting research in psychology. . ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-4338-0916-3
Meltzoff Julian; ; Critical thinking about research.. ISBN: ISBN: 1-55798-455-7
Cargill Margaret; ; Writing scientific research articles: strategy and septs.. ISBN: ISBN: 978-1-118-57070-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

Students will be involved in the following tasks:

- Discussion of their own research work in large or small groups;

- Performing individual or small group practice activities related to the various stages of the research process and to the tasks inherent to the empirical work;

- Lectures to present students to specific topics, using practical examples; 

 

  

Autonomous work of the student:

- Scientific writing activities;

- Practical activities that complement the work conducted during classes;

- Reading scientific papers:

 

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Trabalho escrito	65,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	35,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	50,00
Estudo autónomo	31,00
Frequência das aulas	50,00
Trabalho escrito	31,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

 

Terms of frequency: In order to be able to get a final score, students are required to:

(I) attend at least 75% of the weekly sessions, (ii) actively participate in the practical activities in the class, (iii) perform the individual works.

Calculation formula of final grade

Type of evaluation: Three individual works (i) presentation of the individual empirical work (35%); (Ii) Oral discussion of a colleague's empirical work (35%); (Iii) reflective analysis of a public discussion of a master's dissertation from the FPCEUP (30%)

 

 

Formula Evaluation: The final grade, corresponding to the scores of the individual works, will be expressed on a scale from 0 to 20. A score lower than 8 in one of the individual works leads to the disapproval of the student in the course. A final score lower than 9,5 points leads to the disapproval of the student in the course.

 

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable

Internship work/project

Not applicable

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Without prejudice to the rights legally granted to them, given the nature of the UC, student workers and beneficiaries of comparable statutes must comply with the requirements of attendance.

Students with special needs (eg, hearing or motor impairment) must inform the teacher (s) at the beginning of the semester in order to ensure the necessary conditions.

Classification improvement

The improvement will be made only once, until the time of appeal of the academic year subsequent to the one in which they obtained approval and in which the UC has planned examination.

Further information can be found under the heading "Observations"

Observations

Students are eligible for grade improvement only on the evaluation component corresponding to the presentation of the individual empirical work (35%).

Taking into account the characteristics of the evaluation components of the practical part, the improvement of Oral discussion of a colleague's empirical work (35%) and  reflective analysis of a public discussion of a master's dissertation from the FPCEUP (30%) is not planned. It is considered the classification previously obtained.

The final grade will be the highest one, chosen between the initial one and the one resulting from the improvement.

Students may apply to a new exam in order to improve the grade of the final exam component. They can do it only once until the period of appeal following the school year in which they obtained the approved status and provided that the course has scheduled exam.