PSYC12048 - Research Methods 2

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Both qualitative and quantitative research skills are highly sought after in many career paths. This unit builds upon Research Methods 1 (PSYC11012) to provide you with the knowledge and skills to conduct and appraise both qualitative and quantitative research in your university and/or professional careers in psychology. The unit will continue to build your skills in critiquing, designing, and analysing qualitative research. It will also further advance your skills related to designing quantitative research, including how to perform basic statistical analyses by hand and using industry-standard computer software. Students who are not confident in their mathematical abilities are encouraged to contact the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) to discuss 'refresher' options.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 1
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Pre-Requisite Completion of PSYC11012. 

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).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2025

Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Bundaberg
Cairns
Online
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).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Project (applied) 10%
2. Poster Sessions 30%
3. Portfolio 60%

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

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 90.32% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 20.26% response rate.

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.

Source: Student feedback (SUTE)
Feedback
More examples of how to perform statistical hand calculations would be useful in consolidating learning of concepts.
Recommendation
More hand calculation examples will be provided to students in future iterations of the unit.
Action Taken
Extra practice exercises were available in the live tutorials, as well through Academic Learning Centre (ALC), and peer-assisted study session (PASS) workshops.
Source: Student feedback (SUTE)
Feedback
Being provided with working out templates for hand calculations, rather than requiring students to create these by hand, would enable students to spend more time to dedicate to learning concepts.
Recommendation
Templates for hand calculations will be provided to students in future iterations of the unit.
Action Taken
These templates were provided in the weekly tutorial materials.
Source: Student feedback (SUTE)
Feedback
Audio quality of lecture videos could be improved.
Recommendation
Lecture videos with sub-optimal audio will be re-recorded.
Action Taken
The unit coordinator is working to continually optimise audio quality of new and existing recorded materials.
Source: Student feedback (SUTE)
Feedback
The structure of the unit, how the content was assessed, and support material provided enabled students to feel at ease studying research methods.
Recommendation
Continue with the current framework for the unit, while continuing to make improvements according to students suggestions as they are communicated.
Action Taken
The structure of the unit has been maintained, but its appropriateness will continue to be reviewed as part of ongoing quality assurance practices.
Source: Student feedback via email.
Feedback
Students appreciated the thorough and constructive feedback on assessment tasks, as well as the opportunity to apply what was learnt from this to later assessment tasks.
Recommendation
Continue to provide feedback on assessments that enables student understanding and opportunities to apply the lessons learnt from this.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback in live tutorial classes.
Feedback
Students like the series approach to the assessments in the unit that have a quantitative focus. They report the shorter, focussed scope of these tasks, coupled with timely feedback on performance, enables them to focus their efforts and reduce anxiety related to larger assessments.
Recommendation
The content and structure of the assessment schedule will continue to be monitored for efficacy.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student Unit and Teaching Evaluations (SUTE).
Feedback
Students reportedly enjoy the opportunity to learn about both qualitative and quantitative research methods
Recommendation
Continue the current structure of the unit, which incorporates both qualitative and quantitative research methodology in psychological research.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Student feedback via Student Unit and Teaching Evaluations (SUTE) and Unit Coordinator reflection.
Feedback
Some students reported valuing the 'At Your Pace' Online Statistics Workbook Resources, particularly the functions that allow them to test their understanding of the video content through interactive quizzes.
Recommendation
Consider including more interactive content that allows students to test their understanding in the pre-recorded lectures.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research approaches.
  2. Map a thematic analysis of qualitative research data.
  3. Calculate and report quantitative data in a professional format.

This unit addresses Foundational Competencies as specified by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). The unit specifically aligns to the following APAC graduate competencies:

1.1 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 the following topics: i. the history and philosophy underpinning the science of psychology and the social, cultural, historical and professional influences on the practice of psychology; and xii. research methods and statistics.

1.2 Apply knowledge and skills of psychology in a manner that is reflexive, culturally appropriate and sensitive to the diversity of individuals.

1.3 Analyse and critique theory and research in the discipline of psychology and communicate these in written and oral formats.

1.4 Demonstrate an understanding of appropriate values and ethics in psychology.

1.6 Demonstrate self-directed pursuit of scholarly inquiry in psychology.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Project (applied) •
2 - Poster Sessions • •
3 - Portfolio •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Communication • •
2 - Problem Solving •
3 - Critical Thinking •
4 - Information Literacy •
6 - Information Technology Competence •
7 - Cross Cultural Competence •
8 - Ethical practice •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10