SUBJECT
Research Methods Practical 1.
PSYB17 - 131
practical
Bachelor
3
Semester 2, 3
Autumn/Spring semester
The course of Research Methods Practical I. aims to give information about survey techniques, tests and questionnaires in psychological research. The focus is on the methodological characteristics of the tools, the basic concepts of psychometrics and some practical aspects.
Learning outcome, competences
knowledge:
- about steps of a research planning procedure
- about the criteria of choosing different questionnaires and tests
- about the possible instruments of survey studies
attitude:
- openness towards the research of different psychological concepts
- sensitivity related to the research problems of psychology
- ethical sensitivity related to the psychological research
skills:
- can plan a psychological study until the step of the ethical approval
- can work in a research team
Content of the course
Topics of the course
- The differences between tests and questionnaires
- Scales. Methodological and statistical basics
- Reliability check
- Validity check
- The methodology of the establishment of a questionnaire, problems of the item-construction.
- Development of an own questionnaire
- Factory analysis, principal component analysis
- MMPI and MMPI-2, CPI. The use of profiles, evaluation
- Projective personality tests.
- Performance tests. The development and types of intelligence tests
- Research planning
Learning activities, learning methods
frontal method, interactive work, cooperative learning, individual and group work
Evaluation of outcomes
Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:
requirements
- active participation on the classes (max. 3 cases of non-attendance)
- knowledge about the materials of the course (presentations and literature)
- performance of practical tasks, homework, essays
mode of evaluation:
- precondition: continuous performance of homework as a precondition for the written exam at the end of the course (the student cannot miss any homework, if it is not submitted until the time of the next class, it causes -3% in the evaluation of the written exam)
- 30% of the final grade: research planning in a small group: choosing a topic and a research question, planning a study together with a presentation and the submission of the ethical permission form at the end of the semester
- 70% of the final grade: written exam at the end of the semester, with a result of at least 50%
Final grade: can range from 1-5, made of the result of the written exam (70%) and the result of
the common research planning work (30%), with using the rules of rounding.
criteria of evaluation:
- the construction of the research plan as a team, the submission of the common presentation and the ethical permission form
- the quantity and quality of the theoretical material and their possible applications
Reading list
Compulsory reading list
- American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. (Chapter 1)
- Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2012). Perspectives on Personality. New York: Pearson. (Chapter 3)
- Field, A. P. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (third edition). London: Sage publications. (Chapter 1, 2, 17)
Suggested reading list
- Butcher, J. N. (2006). MMPI-2 A practitioner’s guide. Washington: APA.
- Cohen-Swerdlik (2009). Psychological Testing and Assessment: An Introduction to Tests and Measurement (7th Ed.). The McGraw-Hill Companies. (Chapter 8. Test development.)
- Groth-Marnat, G. (2003). Handbook of Psychological Assessment. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. (Chapter 5, 7, 9, 10, 11)
- Lichtenberger, E. O., & Kaufman, A. S. (2009). Essentials of WAIS-IV Assessment. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1-207. (Chapter 1-5)
- Urbina, S. (2004). Essentials of psychological testing. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)