Research Project

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

Estimated total time commitment of 480 hours.

Selection into the fourth-year Honours program or Advanced Graduate Diploma of Psychology.

No corequisites are required for this subject

An accredited psychology major sequence

There are no non allowed subjects

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards of Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit Website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

There are no scheduled classes for this subject. Instead students undertake a research project and obtain experience in all aspects of conducting and reporting of independent empirical research. The thesis project will be submitted as two documents. The first comprises a review of relevant literature submitted early in the semester 2. The second comprises an empirical study submitted as a journal article later in semester 2.

The subject aims to:

• Develop independent research skills
• Become familiar with the relationship between research design and ethical research procedures
• Work with an academic mentor-supervisor to gain direct knowledge of psychology as a research-based discipline
• Acquire skills in formulating and reporting empirical research

A Literature Review of 4,000 words (worth 40%), due at the beginning of semester 2.

Empirical thesis in the format of a journal article of 6,000 words (worth 60%), due at the end of semester 2.

There are no prescribed texts

Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. 6th Edition, July 2009

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• critically analysing the existing knowledge about a research topic prior to one's own research (eg. sophisticated conceptual analysis of relevant content area/literature/intervention program etc., critical appraisal of one's own and others' research, generation of productive research questions);
• constructing a research plan (eg. research design, methods of observation) to address one's research question;
• executing one's research plan adequately to obtain data;
• analysing the data to address the research question appropriately; and
• discussing the implications of the results coherently within the context of the existing knowledge relevant to the research topic.