CQUniversity Unit Profile
PSYC22004 Thesis II
Thesis II
All details in this unit profile for PSYC22004 have been officially approved by CQUniversity and represent a learning partnership between the University and you (our student).
The information will not be changed unless absolutely necessary and any change will be clearly indicated by an approved correction included in the profile.
General Information

Overview

This unit, Thesis II, is the second of two research units that form the cornerstone of the research component of the Master of Clinical Psychology and follows from Thesis I (PSYC22003). In this unit, you will complete data collection and/or analysis, interpretation and scientific reporting for the thesis. You will work under supervision to finalise and submit your research thesis thereby developing the research skills necessary for working as a Clinical Psychologist.

Details

Career Level: Postgraduate
Unit Level: Level 9
Credit Points: 12
Student Contribution Band: 10
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load: 0.25

Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

PSYC22003 Thesis I

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Offerings For Term 2 - 2020

Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Class and Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Class Timetable

Bundaberg, Cairns, Emerald, Gladstone, Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville
Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney

Assessment Overview

1. Thesis/Dissertation
Weighting: 100%

Assessment Grading

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.

Previous Student Feedback

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Feedback from Student email and feedback

Feedback

Formatting specifications in the manual are still based on a printed version of the Thesis and need to be changed to specifications for an online thesis.

Recommendation

The Thesis Manual will be updated with this information in preparation for 2020.

Feedback from Supervisor and student feedback

Feedback

The marking rubric for the Thesis is slightly confusing and needs to be clarified so it correctly reflects the method of weighted scoring used to achieve the final Thesis mark.

Recommendation

The marking rubric will be clarified for students and markers to reflect how the weighted scores are calculated.

Unit Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
  1. Apply advanced knowledge and skills to complete a research project that is applicable to clinical psychology
  2. Apply systematic inquiry skills to clinical problems including the acquisition, organisation and interpretation of data to allow critical analysis and disciplined, rigorous and scientific inquiry relevant to clinical psychology
  3. Demonstrate a high level of written communication skills and understanding of professional and scientific writing styles in the production of the final thesis
  4. Communicate research findings professionally, ethically and in a culturally appropriate manner fit for a range of audiences.

These learning outcomes are intended to link with the 2019 Australian Psychology Accreditation Council accreditation guidelines for Clinical Psychology and further to align with the Clinical Psychology guidelines of CG17 (Master of Clinical Psychology) course Learning Outcome no. 5: "Demonstrate the capacity to formulate, research and successfully complete a discipline based research project."

Alignment of Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Graduate Attributes
N/A Level
Introductory Level
Intermediate Level
Graduate Level
Professional Level
Advanced Level

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes

Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Thesis/Dissertation - 100%

Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes

Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Knowledge
2 - Communication
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills
4 - Research
5 - Self-management
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility
7 - Leadership
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes

Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 - Thesis/Dissertation - 100%
Textbooks and Resources

Textbooks

There are no required textbooks.

IT Resources

You will need access to the following IT resources:
  • CQUniversity Student Email
  • Internet
  • Unit Website (Moodle)
Referencing Style

All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 7th Edition (APA 7th edition)

For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.

Teaching Contacts
Jessica Paterson Unit Coordinator
jessica.paterson@cqu.edu.au
Schedule
Week 1: Getting started again Begin Date: 13 Jul 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

The 2020 thesis manual is available on Moodle

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 2: Have you found the journal you will be targeting? Begin Date: 20 Jul 2020

Module/Topic

Identify, with your supervisor, what journal you will be aiming to publish in.

Chapter

Read the Author Guidelines of your chosen journal

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 3: Writing the methodology section of your research report Begin Date: 27 Jul 2020

Module/Topic

This will be based on your chosen journal's guidelines

Chapter

Read the Author Guidelines for your chosen journal.

Read some papers from your chosen journal which are similar in methodology to your own, this will give you a good idea of what the journal is looking for in terms of detail. 

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 4: Continuing work on your literature reviews and sections of your research report Begin Date: 03 Aug 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 5: Continuing work on your literature reviews and sections of your research report Begin Date: 10 Aug 2020

Module/Topic

Supervisor guidance and approval for the literature review should be completed.

 

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Vacation Week Begin Date: 17 Aug 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 6: Continuing work on your research report Begin Date: 24 Aug 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 7: Concentrating on data analyses and interpretation Begin Date: 31 Aug 2020

Module/Topic

The literature review an introduction section of your research report should be complete. Data analyses and interpretation should be your focus now.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 8: Concentrating on data analyses and interpretation Begin Date: 07 Sep 2020

Module/Topic

Focus on interpreting your data in the Discussion.


Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 9: Completion of your Discussion Begin Date: 14 Sep 2020

Module/Topic

The final section of your Research Report, the Discussion, should be nearing completion by now.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 10: Bringing it all together Begin Date: 21 Sep 2020

Module/Topic

Check you have all the components of the thesis including appendices.

Chapter

Thesis sections checklist on Moodle.

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 11: Formatting, editing and proof reading Begin Date: 28 Sep 2020

Module/Topic

Do not underestimate how long this attention to detail can take.

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Week 12: Submission of Thesis online Begin Date: 05 Oct 2020

Module/Topic

An electronic version of the thesis is to be submitted through Moodle. Hard copy non-archival data and original questionnaires etc. are to be submitted to the HMAS Admin Office. 


Chapter

Check with the Thesis manual for submission requirements

Events and Submissions/Topic

An electronic version of the Research Project is to be submitted through Moodle by

5.00pm AEST Friday October 9th 2020. This copy must include all the sections

above. Submit your dissertation as a single word document electronically through the

Moodle site for PSYC22004 Thesis II.


PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING NAMING CONVENTION:

“Surname Initial MPC Dissertation” e.g., “Smith J MPC Dissertation”.


Students must submit items listed below to the Department Administration Office of

the Health, Medical and Applied Sciences (HMAS) (Rockhampton Building 6, 1st

floor), by 5.00pm Friday October 9th 2020. If your data will arrive after that date,

you must post it by COB Friday October 9th 2020, and let HMAS know. HMAS will

contact the unit coordinator to let them know who has or has not submitted.

I. A disk copy of all data (DVD or USB) with your name on it. This will be stored at

the University;

II. All original survey forms or questionnaires, or whatever media were used to

collect the data must be submitted for storage as required by CQUniversity

regulations and APS ethical guidelines - this is in addition to the inclusion of a

disk copy of the data set used for the analysis.


Thesis/Dissertation Due: Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2020) 5:00 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Begin Date: 12 Oct 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Exam Week Begin Date: 19 Oct 2020

Module/Topic

Chapter

Events and Submissions/Topic

Return of marked Theses

Assessment Tasks

1 Thesis/Dissertation

Assessment Title
Thesis/Dissertation

Task Description

  • A literature review (5000 words +10%, not including abstract and references)
  • A research report in the form of an article suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The word count of the research article is dependent on the specifications of the chosen journal but is approximately 3000 words.


Assessment Due Date

Week 12 Friday (9 Oct 2020) 5:00 pm AEST


Return Date to Students

Weighting
100%

Assessment Criteria

The Literature Review section of the thesis will comprise 30% of the student's overall thesis grade. The Literature Review should be a stand-alone piece of work that provides a broad overview of the general topic and overarching research concept the student is studying. It should conclude with identification of future research directions that are needed based on the current state of research surrounding the topic. It should act as a justification for the project that is described and presented in the research report component of the thesis, but should not discuss specific aims and hypotheses – this should be reserved for the introduction section of the empirical report.

The Empirical Report (Paper) section will comprise 70% of the student's overall thesis grade. The Empirical Report should also be a stand-alone piece of work that provides the background to a specific area of research interest, leading to meaningful and well-articulated research questions. The Empirical Report should detail the methods necessary to replicate the study, including the statistical analysis approach chosen. The results should clearly address the research questions, and lead into a thoughtful and concise discussion of how this report addresses an area of interest to the field of clinical psychology, and how the findings make a meaningful contribution to the field.

An Ethics Report should also be completed and submitted. A copy of this should be an appendix to the thesis.

The full marking criteria provided to examiners is included in the Thesis Manual, which can be found on the unit Moodle site.

Weighted grades will be calculated based on the examiner’s grades.


Referencing Style

Submission
Online

Learning Outcomes Assessed
  • Apply advanced knowledge and skills to complete a research project that is applicable to clinical psychology
  • Apply systematic inquiry skills to clinical problems including the acquisition, organisation and interpretation of data to allow critical analysis and disciplined, rigorous and scientific inquiry relevant to clinical psychology
  • Demonstrate a high level of written communication skills and understanding of professional and scientific writing styles in the production of the final thesis
  • Communicate research findings professionally, ethically and in a culturally appropriate manner fit for a range of audiences.


Graduate Attributes
  • Knowledge
  • Communication
  • Cognitive, technical and creative skills
  • Research
  • Self-management
  • Ethical and Professional Responsibility
  • Leadership

Academic Integrity Statement

As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.

Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.

When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.

Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.

As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.

What is a breach of academic integrity?

A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.

Why is academic integrity important?

A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.

Where can I get assistance?

For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.

What can you do to act with integrity?