Undergraduate Course: Qualitative Methods in Psychology (PSYL10174)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course provides a conceptual and practical introduction to the use of qualitative methodologies in psychological research, with a particular focus on discursive psychological, interpretative phenomenological analyses, and Foucaultian discourse analysis. |
| Course description |
The course will present the rationale for the various qualitative approaches and their underlying epistemologies, and engage students in current debates regarding ethics, epistemology, and evaluation of qualitative research within Psychology. It will introduce different ways of collecting qualitative data, such as interviews, internet data and recording naturally occurring data. It will demonstrate and compare several ways of analyzing qualitative data, including discursive psychological (DP) analysis, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), and Foucaultian discourse analysis; and provide extended practical experience in conducting and reporting a DP analysis.
The course will be taught through a series of bite-size lectures, online discussions, homework activities, and practical labs, all of which are designed to give students practical experience in design, data collection and analysis which will feed in to producing and reporting a DP research project.
The course work is designed to give students experience in designing, conducting, and analysing their own qualitative research.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | This course assumes some knowledge of Psychology and Psychological Research. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
78 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Completion of five quizzes (30%)
Research report of Discursive Psychology study (70%) |
| Feedback |
Formative verbal feedback will be given during weekly practical classes.
Formative feedback will be given on the research project at all stages in the labs.
Feedback is given on the coursework quizzes by providing answers and explanations where relevant.
Feedback will be given on summative assessment at the end of the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- show an understanding of and apply the rationale underlying qualitative methodologies
- demonstrate knowledge of different means of collecting qualitative data, and related conceptual, ethical and practical issues
- learn how to design, conduct, analyse and report own discursive psychological research project
- acquire a basic practical understanding of how to do discursive psychology analysis
- gain an understanding of the underlying rationale and process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and FDA, and IPA interviewing techniques.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will gain significant research and analytic skills.
Students will be able to demonstrate skills in the collection, analysis and interpretation of qualitative data.
Students will also be able to demonstrate an ability to acquire and apply specialist knowledge.
Students will be able to demonstrate skills in working as a team.
Finally, students will be able to communicate effectively about research in writing. |
| Keywords | qualitative methods,data collection,ethics |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sue Widdicombe
Tel: (0131 6)50 3411
Email: S.Widdicombe@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Susan Scobie
Tel: (0131 6)51 5505
Email: sscobie@ed.ac.uk |
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