Approaches to Applied Research

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Ana da Cunha Lewin
• Assessment: a 1500-word abbreviated laboratory report (25%), 1500-word critical analysis of a published paper focusing on applied research (50%) and one-hour timed test assessing the practical use of SPSS (25%)

In this module you will develop an understanding of the demands of applied research with a particular consideration of research in the field of educational psychology or similar applied context such as work or health. You will further develop your understanding of data collection and analysis and carry out a mini class experiment and a critical analysis of published research.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• understand and appreciate the challenges of applied research
• understand the rationale, strengths and limitations of research methods employed
• understand key concepts in research methods, including: how hypotheses are used to make predictions in experiments, the difference between dependent and independent variables, the impact of confounding or extraneous variable and Type I and Type II errors
• understand the challenges of data collection and data analysis
• understand the rationale for utilising different methods of analysis data along with the strengths and limitations of each
• carry out a basic statistical analysis using a variety of statistical tests both by hand and using SPSS
• review and carry out a basic critical analysis of published applied research.