In the first semester you will be encouraged to advance your academic thinking and deepen your understanding of how knowledge is accquired and represented within psychology. The courses provide you with methodological skills required for independent reseach.
The aim of the course is to give students an advanced understanding of psychological research from a theoretical as well as practical perspective. The objective is to equip students with advanced training in research methods and associated professional skills that prepare them for a career involving psychological research as well as for the application of scientific knowledge and methods in professional settings. The teaching consists of lectures, discussion seminars, laboratory work and individual research projects.
Philosophy of Psychology (7.5 credits). The course looks at psychology as a science from a philosophical perspective. Focus will be on computational theories of cognition and the relationship to the newer dynamic, embedded and embodied theories of cognition. Two special sections will cover social construction, and Ethics in psychology.
Project work related to data collection (7.5 credits). The course focuses on the craft of psychological research. The first part of the course consists of eight day-labs in the four designated Master's areas (social psychology, personality and development psychology, work and organisational psychology and cognition and neuro-psychology). It concludes with a short, individual research project.
Analysis. The sub-course aims to provide students with an overview of various advanced methods of data analysis and the statistical tools necessary to analyse current research in the discipline of psychology. The focus is primarily on multivariate analysis. The teaching includes theory and practice in analytical methods, in particular quantitative methods of data analysis.
Methodological and design issues. The sub-course aims to give students in-depth knowledge of the more advanced research methods that are currently used in research in the field of Psychology. The sub-course focuses on the provision and discussion of information necessary to critically assess research methods and findings.
Linking theories and methods.This sub-course aims to link theories and methods by application of knowledge to generate new research questions and selection of appropriate tools to investigate them. The sub-course provides an insight into the processes associated with writing a successful research proposal.