PSY4401 · Advanced psychological inquiry

Overview

In this unit you will be introduced to advanced psychological inquiry, covering ideas about the nature of psychological knowledge and understanding. You will engage with both quantitative and qualitative methods. You will prepare for, and conduct, a semi-structured interview followed by a process of self-reflection. You will also analyse a quantitative dataset and prepare a short report to communicate your findings, allowing you to develop the critical thinking and writing skills required to generate a high-quality research project. At the conclusion of this unit, you will have a greater understanding of the different forms of knowledge that exist, and the research methodologies that can be used to enhance our understanding of the world around us. By equipping you with this knowledge and skill set, this unit is designed to prepare you for your GDPA research project. More broadly, the critical thinking, writing, reflection and interpersonal skills developed in this unit are relevant and transferable to various career pathways both within and beyond psychology.

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Assessment in this unit includes hurdle assessment tasks. Failure of any hurdle assessment task may result in failure of the unit.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. Demonstrate cultural responsiveness, in psychological inquiry;
2. Apply ethical considerations and critical thinking to psychological inquiry;
3. Apply effective planning and interpersonal skills in the context of semi-structured interviews;
4. Engage in the process of self-reflection to develop the capacity for reflexivity in research;
5. Make defensible judgements regarding data preparation, analysis, and interpretation;
6. Effectively communicate psychological research in the form of a written report.

Workload

You should expect to spend an average of 20-25 hours per week per unit. Broadly, this time will cover: • Video materials (2hrs) • Synchronous & asynchronous discussion (2hrs) • Synchronous web-based 'class-time' for skills-based activities (2hrs) • Weekly readings (4-6hrs) • Weekly skills-based assessment (4-6hrs, including formative assessment) • Knowledge-based assessment (4-5hrs, including revision) Each week there will be a one hour ‘Live class’, facilitated by your instructor. This will be followed by a live office hour, where you can ask questions and chat with your classmates and instructor about anything to do with the unit or psychology in general.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.