For this module, you will work on three distinct assessment sections that are submitted together as a portfolio at the end of Week 8:
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Section One: Research proposal (40%)
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Section Two: Data interpretation and reporting (30%)
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Section Three: Decision making in research methods and statistics (30%)
The entire portfolio is worth 100% of your module grade and you cannot pass unless you submit all three sections.
Each week throughout the module, you will cover content relevant to one or more of the assessment components. We recommend that you work consistently through each of the weeks so that you do not miss vital content related to the assessment.
The first thing you must do is create a Word document for your portfolio. Use your newly created Word document to input your answers for each section - ensure that all answers are sequentially included in a single document. Do not submit this booklet (Week 8 Portfolio Content and Guidance).
Word Count
For this assignment you do have the usual 10% leeway on word count. However, this applies to each section rather than overall. For example, the word count for Section One is 1,350 words, therefore your Section One submission may be up to 135 words (10%) more or less than this. You must not apply an additional 10% of the total word count to a single section.
Referencing
You must apply APA7 referencing to all your work and provide a separate reference list at the end of each section. For further information on APA referencing, please visit the APA webpages.
Section One: Research Proposal
Overview of the task
For this part of the assessment, you need to write a research proposal. It must be a quantitative research proposal. It cannot be for a qualitative piece of research, as this module focuses on quantitative methodology and statistics.
This will likely be something new for most of you. A research proposal forms the basis of any good research. It feeds into an ethics application, to the running of research and ultimately into report writing.
You are all at different stages of your MSc program. For some of you this will be the first module, for others the tenth and for yet more of you anywhere from two to nine! It is therefore important that you work to the stage of your MSc. The requirements are the same for all of you – so what is the difference? The difference is that those of you who have completed six or more modules might be looking to formulate a proposal that offers the basis of your dissertation. That is not to say that the rest of you should not do so. It is saying that it is up to you to decide whether you write a proposal based on the topic of your desired research area for your dissertation. Do bear in mind that no dissertation topics are guaranteed, and it is not a prerequisite of your dissertation module that you write a proposal – we are giving you the opportunity to do so here. Make the most of it! You have potential here to receive invaluable feedback on your submission that will benefit your dissertation process when it does come round for you.
What we will do however, is in the marking, take on board where you are at with your degree. Therefore, it is essential that you provide the responses to the first two statements in the submission checklist: How many modules have you completed? And Do you intend to follow this proposal through for your dissertation?
The Proposal
Your research proposal must not exceed 1350 words. It should outline the background theory and key literature/research that clearly indicates a need for the research you are proposing. This culminates in a rationale and statement of your research hypotheses.
It can be broken down as follows:
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Literature review (max. 500 words)
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Research rationale (max. 200 words)
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Research question/hypothesis (max. 100 words)
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Research design, including proposed participants, design and materials (550 words)
Literature Review
For this component, you need to complete a literature search using a psychology database within the electronic resources of the library. You need to detail the search terms you use.
Here are some useful tips on searching:
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First, what broader area of psychology do you want to look at, e.g., social, personality, occupational, educational, cognitive, neuropsychology, etc.?
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What within that topic area really caught your attention? Or, for what topic do you have a real passion or personal interest.
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Is there a psychological component that links your interest if it is not borne from your study of psychology? This is important – you must make sure that whatever area you choose, it has a psychological aspect to it.
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Once you have this narrowed down, you are ready to do a literature search. This might begin with a chapter in a book that indicates which papers to read. You might have found interesting papers through the work you have already completed on your MSc, or you might be beginning from scratch.
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When doing a literature search, begin with broader terms and narrow it down. For example, if I wanted to look at the impact of viewing negative images on social media to self-esteem, I might search in PsychInfo for the terms *self esteem* and *social media*. Then I might narrow down to a specific social media platform.
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When I do a literature search, I always work backwards in time – I usually limit my search to the last 2-3 years, and then gradually increase if I find nothing fruitful.
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You should not limit to your chosen methodology – you might find a really useful quantitative paper that could provide an excellent rationale for a qualitative follow-on project.
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Keep a record of the papers you are entertaining. I tend to use an Excel spreadsheet for this, but there are now also excellent pieces of software such as Mendeley that you could use. Keeping notes in this manner is a really useful way to find those important pieces of information that you need to come back to. Here’s an example of a fictional record to illustrate how I keep track of relevant research for a given project:
Don’t include a lot of papers – keep your word count in mind. Key position papers, ones that clearly outline a theory, are the best for this type of work.
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Choose papers from which you can create a clear rationale:
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What has already been done?
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What is missing?
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What does previous work miss?
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What does previous work suggest for future research?
