Course Coordinator:Kay Pozzebon (kpozzebo@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Psychology
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Moreton Bay |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Please go to usc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This course introduces you to research methodologies used in psychological research. You will be introduced to a range of experimental, quasi-experimental and naturalistic research methods, including their strengths and weaknesses. Implications for the selection of data analysis techniques will be explored. You will learn to perform statistical analysis of psychological data including the use of SPSS to conduct these analyses. You will gain an understanding of ethical standards and procedures that apply when conducting research with humans and animals.
Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
Blended learning | |||
Learning materials – Online learning materials and activities | 1hr | Week 1 | 13 times |
Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Face-to-face workshops, on campus, in computer lab | 2hrs | Week 1 | 13 times |
This course will cover the following topic areas:
200 Level (Developing)
12 units
Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Mapping Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | Professional Standard Mapping * Australian Psychology Accreditation Council | |
1 | Explain and distinguish between a variety of research methods used in psychological research. |
Knowledgeable Empowered |
1.1.12, 1.3, 1.6 |
2 | Describe the ethical principles and practices employed in psychological research. | Ethical |
1.1.12, 1.4 |
3 | Explain the concepts of levels of measurement, sampling, and reliability and validity including how they apply to psychological research. | Knowledgeable |
1.1.12
|
4 | Explain and interpret the key features and concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics. | Knowledgeable |
1.1.12, 1.3 |
5 | Apply basic functions and applications of the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). |
Knowledgeable Engaged |
1.1.12
|
6 | Communicate information appropriately for the psychology discipline. |
Knowledgeable Creative and critical thinker |
1.3
|
CODE | COMPETENCY |
Australian Psychology Accreditation Council | |
1.1.12 | Graduates will be able to comprehend and apply a broad and coherent body of knowledge of psychology, with depth of understanding of underlying principles, theories and concepts in the discipline, using a scientific approach, including research methods and statistics |
1.3 | Graduates will be able to analyse and critique theory and research in the discipline of psychology and communicate these in written and oral formats. |
1.4 | Graduates will be able to demonstrate an understanding of appropriate values and ethics in psychology. |
1.6 | Graduates will be able to demonstrate self-directed pursuit of scholarly inquiry in psychology. |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
(PSY100 and PSY104) or (PSY100 and SCI110 and enrolled in an extended Psychology minor in AE304 or SE303) or (PSY100 and PSY101 if enrolled in AR374 or AR302 or AB314 or AR364 or SA301) or (PSY100 and PSY101 if enrolled in AR405 prior to 2023)
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Formative feedback on academic progress is provided to students through monitoring performance on activities undertaken in workshops.
Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
All | 1 | Report | Individual | 40% | 1,500 words |
Refer to Format | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 2 | Report | Individual | 40% | 1,000 words |
Refer to Format | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
All | 3 | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 20% | 1 hour |
Exam Period | Exam Venue |
All - Assessment Task 1:Introduction of a Report and Ethics | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goal: | To communicate your understanding of psychological research and write an Introduction of a Psychology Research Report, with consideration of ethics of the proposed study. |
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Product: | Report | |||||||||||||||||||||
Format: | Individual, written report. A more detailed outline of the requirements of this assessment will be provided online in Week 1. This assessment task will be due between Weeks 5 - 7 of the teaching semester. The final date of submission for this task will be determined once public holidays and the course timetable have been published prior to the commencement of semester. Please refer to your course Canvas site at the commencement of the teaching semester to confirm the due date for this assessment task. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving |
All - Assessment Task 2:Results of a Report | |||||||||||||
Goal: | To communicate your understanding of psychological research and to correctly conduct and interpret the inferential analyses and write the Results of a Psychology Research Report. |
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Product: | Report | ||||||||||||
Format: | Individual, written report. You will be required to write the Results and part of the Discussion of a Psychology Research Report. A more detailed outline of the requirements of this assessment will be provided online in Week 1. This assessment task will be due between Weeks 11 - 13 of the teaching semester. The final date of submission for this task will be determined once public holidays and the course timetable have been published prior to the commencement of semester. Please refer to your course Canvas site at the commencement of the teaching semester to confirm the due date for this assessment task. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Communication, Problem solving |
All - Assessment Task 3:End of Semester Examination | |||||||
Goal: | To assess your knowledge of the course content. |
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Product: | Examination - Centrally Scheduled | ||||||
Format: | The final examination will contain multiple choice and short answer questions. |
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Criteria: |
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Generic Skills: | Problem solving |
A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
Please note that you need to have regular access to the resource(s) listed below. Resources may be required or recommended.
Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
Required | Gravetter, Wallnau, Forzano, and Witnauer | 2021 | Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences | n/a | Cengage |
Required | Bennet, Heritage, and Allen | 2023 | SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide | n/a | Cengage |
Not applicable
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
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