Program Overview

Program Overview

The PSY451 Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology subject introduces students to current methodological and statistical techniques used in psychological research. A number of methodological approaches and data collection techniques are examined and evaluated. Students are also introduced to hypothesis testing, a range of common parametric and non-parametric inferential tests, and computer analysis of data.

Availability

The subject is available in the following sessions:

• Session 1 (30): Online and Bathurst Campus
• Session 3 (90): Online and Bathurst Campus

Subject Information

Grading System

The grading system for this subject is HD/FL.

Duration

The subject duration is one session.

School

The subject is offered by the School of Psychology.

Enrolment Restrictions

Students may not complete PSY451 and PSY201 in the same award.

Assumed Knowledge

The assumed knowledge for this subject is PSY101 and PSY102.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• be able to demonstrate an understanding of the value of quantitative research
• be able to describe the applications, limitations, strengths, and weaknesses of a range of research methodologies
• be able to select appropriate methodology(ies) for answering research questions
• be able to describe the concepts, principles, and processes involved in developing high quality research
• be able to describe and apply the ethical principles to be followed in carrying out research in psychology
• be able to select, compute, and interpret selected parametric and non-parametric statistics appropriate to nominated research methods
• be able to use a computer package (e.g., SPSS) to analyse data
• be able to follow the conventions of the American Psychological Association for reporting research

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• the foundations of research
• introduction to quantitative methods
• sampling
• ethical principles in psychological research
• topics in parametric statistics
• topics in non-parametric statistics
• power, effect size, and confidence intervals
• conventions for report writing in psychology