Methodology and Epistemology of Research in Psychology III

Code:

MTP08

Acronym:

MEIP III

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Investigation Methodology

Instance: 2015/2016 - 1S (since 14-09-2015 to 19-12-2015)

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	15	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	6	90	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

- Give continuity to the in-depth training on methodological and data analysis issues in research in psychology acquired in the curricular units Methodology and Epistemology of Research in Psychology I and II.
- Support the development of the students’ research projects, guiding the application of the knowledge acquired in previous curricular units.
- Training skills of data analysis, deepening skills of interpretation, discussion and critical analysis of results.
- Training skills of oral and written presentation of results, namely according to the rules proposed by the APA.
- Promote contexts of teamwork / peer discussion and consultation of bibliography, aiming the development of skills to solve problems in research in psychology.

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of the curricular unit the students should be able to:
- Identify the specificities, potentialities and limitations of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis;
- Identify and perform data analysis procedures suited to address specific research questions;
- To present and describe results of several data analysis procedures according to the rules proposed by the APA and critically interpret and discuss the results found;
- Search and consult fundamental bibliography, namely to find answers to methodological and/or data analysis questions and problems.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Module 1. Qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection:
- Potentialities, limitations, problems and difficulties of operationalization
- Mixed methods and methodological triangulation
- Questionnaires for on-line application: potentialities, limitations and operationalization

Module 2. Quantitative data analysis with software SPSS (to address / deepen according to the students research questions and projects):
- Data file construction, transformation and composition of variables
- Descriptive statistics and graphical representation of data
- Inferential statistics:
. Parametric and non-parametric tests
. Measures of association between variables
. Difference tests
. One-way, two-way and repeated measures analysis of variance
. Multiple linear regression
- Inductive methods: Principal components factorial analysis
- Scale validation

Module 3: Qualitative data analysis with software NVivo:
- Content analysis and the coding process with Nvivo.
- NVivo basic procedures.
- Exploration of the data and information extraction: queries
- Graphical representation of data / results: models.

Mandatory literature

Almeida Leandro S.; Metodologia da investigação em psicologia e educação. ISBN: 978-972-97388-5-2
Creswell John W.; Research design. ISBN: 0-7619-2442-6
Marôco João; Análise estatística com o SPSS statistic. ISBN: 978-989-96763-4-3
Poeschl Gabrielle; Análise de dados na investigação em psicologia. ISBN: 972-40-2690-6
American Psychological Association; Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. ISBN: 1-4338-0561-8

Teaching methods and learning activities

Contact activities with students will follow a theoretical-practical methodology combining the expositive-participative method with active pedagogies, with prominence of the practical component namely by conducting exercises and analysis using the computer. The theoretical exposition will take place when it is necessary the systematization of contents acquired in previous curricular units or the presentation of new ones (e.g. Principal components analysis).
Practical activities will be planned taking into perspective the programmatic objectives of the curricular unit and specificities of the students’ research projects, being thereby relatively individualized. However, and to promote skills of argumentation, problem solving and teamwork, small working groups will be set up considering the proximity of the issues addressed or the methods used.
The activities to be carried out in small groups and under the guidance of the teacher involve:
- Identify the phases, potentialities and limitations of different methodological approaches applied to concrete investigations;
- Based on specific research questions, identify the appropriate data analysis procedures to respond to those questions;
- Execution of several data analysis procedures and redaction of results in accordance with the rules proposed by the APA;
- Discussion and critical analysis of results in small and/or large groups.
The activities carried out in class will be subject to an ongoing evaluation based on the participation and involvement of the student in the performance of the proposed tasks and the quality of the work produced. Ongoing evaluation will have a weight of 40% in the final classification.
In parallel with the activities developed in classes the autonomous work of the student involves:
- Study activities;
- Activities of research and literature review, of reading and analysis of scientific texts;
- Exercises of data analysis complementary to the ones carried out in the classroom.

Software

NVIVO
SPSS

keywords

Social sciences > Psychological sciences > Psychology > Applied psychology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	60,00
Participação presencial	40,00
Total:	100,00

Eligibility for exams

Obtaining frequency implies that the student:
(i) fulfills the minimum level of 75% attendance in class, (ii) actively participate in the practical activities developed in class, (iii) perform the written exam of knowledge assessment.

Calculation formula of final grade

The final score, expressed on a scale of 0 to 20, corresponds to the score of the written test to be held by the student (with a weight of 60%) and the score obtained in the ongoing evaluation (with a weight of 40%).
A score lower than 9,50 points leads to the disapproval of the student in the curricular unit.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

The evaluation of students covered by special regimes follows the rules of FPCEUP.
The student who proves to be unable to participate on a regular basis in the classroom, and thus in the ongoing evaluation, must carry out an individual written assignment that will be defined with the teacher in the beginning of the semester.

Classification improvement

Improving the written exam score may be requested through inscription in the exam season that follows the one in which approval is obtained. It is not foreseen the possibility of improvement of the ongoing evaluation component.