Unit information: Advanced Research Project in 2022/23

Unit name	Advanced Research Project
Unit code	PSYCM0053
Credit points	60
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Benton
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	School of Psychological Science
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Unit Information

This unit comprises carrying out and writing up an original research project based on empirical investigations carried out by the student, with guidance from the project supervisor.

The aims of this unit are to build on the Year 1 and Year 2 research methods units, and the Year 3 Research Project, and for students to carry out their own research study in psychology.

Your learning on this unit

On successful completion of this unit, a student will be able to:

1. Compose an appropriate research question that requires the application of advanced quantitative, qualitative and/or mixed methods as techniques in contemporary psychological science.
2. Demonstrate initiative in the design, development and enquiry required to address the research question.
3. Design accurate techniques and demonstrate personal responsibility and self-direction in conducting an empirical investigation in psychology.
4. Evaluate solutions to a research problem and demonstrate practical insight to the analysis of data.
5. Justify the interpretation of research findings and arrange a research report appropriate to psychological science.
6. Appraise research problems and solutions for a non-specialist audience.

How you will learn

Independent and group work with supervisor. Teaching consists of meetings with the project supervisor to determine the nature of the theoretical question to be addressed, the appropriate empirical approach to the question, steering the proposal through the Ethics Committee, setting up and conducting the empirical work, analysing the data and discussion of the implications of the findings for the theoretical question posed.

How you will be assessed

Final unit mark based on supervisor's report (5%) and project report (95%). The main body of the report is not to exceed 8,000 words (9,000 for qualitative reports, to reflect the textual nature of the data).

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PSYCM0053).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.