Psychological Research Methodology I (PSYC1040)

Course overview

The School of Psychology recommends only two of the three first year courses is undertaken in the first semester of study.
Psychology is founded on the scientific method. This course introduces students to the theory and practice of research and report writing in psychology. Lectures will cover topics such as: science and the scientific method; research methodologies, techniques and designs; the practice and problems of measurement in psychology; exploring, displaying, describing and analysing research data; and report writing. Weekly workshops/tutorials will involve: experimental design; ethical concerns; collecting, handling, describing, analysing and reporting data; report writing; and exercises and questions relating to the entire course content.

INTRODUCTION

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and its physiological, cognitive (mental processes) and social bases. There are three introductory and complementary first-year psychology courses, each worth 2 units. These three courses are: NEUR1020 (Brain and Behavioural Sciences); PSYC1030 (Developmental, Social & Clinical Psychology)ﾠand PSYC1040 (Psychology Research Methodology 1). The major thread running through all three courses is that psychology is a research-based, scientific discipline.

PSYC1040 is an integrated series of lectures and tutorials which introduce the theory and practice of research in psychology. PSYC1040 is a prerequisite for all level 2 courses in psychology. However, you can take it concurrently with level 2 courses if you haven't completed it in first year.

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Aims and outcomes

This course aims to introduce students to the fundamental principles of experimental research in psychology and the scientific method in general. Our goal is that students develop a set of skills that will enable them to critically assess psychological literature, formulate hypotheses, conceive of and conduct a research study, organize and concisely present experimental data, perform appropriate statistical tests on that data, and report experimental designs, procedures, results, and conclusions in a scientific report.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

In-Semester Saturday Exam

• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

20% 40 multiple choice questions each worth 0.5 marks.

Due date

In-semester Saturday

29/03/2025 - 12/04/2025

Exam will be held on 29 March, 05 April, or 12 April

Other conditions

Time limited.

See the conditions definitions

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

This Quiz will be accessed via the course Blackboard site.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Research Report

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

25%

Due date

23/05/2025 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06

Task description

Submission guidelines

This report should be submitted via Turnitin on the course Blackboard site. Please keep a copy of your submission receipt.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

For full details please review the School of Psychology Student Guidelines - Extensions and Deferred quiz/exam.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

Final Exam

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

45% 45 multiple choice questions each worth 1 mark

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

Weekly Quizzes following each lecture

Mode

Written

Category

Quiz

Weight

10% 1% per quiz. Best 10 quizzes count towards the final grade.

Due date

24/02/2025 - 30/05/2025

Following the scheduled lecture each week.

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04

Task description

Submission guidelines

Quiz will be administered via Blackboard

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Only 10 out of the 12 quizzes count towards your final mark so there is no form of extension for this assessment.

We strongly encourage students experiencing significant interruptions or chronic illnesses of greater than two weeks to contact UQ Student Services to seek information and/or assistance: http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/

Late submission

The quiz is open for 48hrs. No late submissions will be accepted.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Additional assessment information

Calculators

Calculators are permitted in this course.

Appealing Assignment Marks

If you are unhappy with your mark for your research report, or would like more feedback, you must talk to the tutor who marked it first. We recommend that you take your reportﾠaway for a few days, read the comments and then approach your tutor and discuss it with them. If you are still unhappy with your mark, you can then apply for your assignment to be remarked. Please consult myUQﾠfor information on how to apply for a remark (UQ Policy and Procedures (PPL) Assessment Procedure, Section 3, Part G Assessment Procedure / Document / Policy and Procedure Library (uq.edu.au). The deadline for remark applications is listed in the policy. No exceptions will be made to this deadline. Also note that this remark is final and your mark (and possibly your grade for the course) can go up or down.

Difficulties Submitting Assessment

If students experience difficulties submitting assessment they should retain proof of their attempt and email py-undergrad@psy.uq.edu.au as soon as possible (preferably before the assessment deadline). For turnitin, this can be screenshot of the submission portal, while for an online quiz, a screenshot of the difficulty encountered should be saved.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

PSYC1040 Blackboard Site

You should access the PSYC1040 Blackboard site at least once a week. The site provides information and supplementary material for the entire course, including assessable material such as weekly quizzes. On the site can be found: Announcements, Lecture recordings, Quizzes, Practice exercises, and your marks for assessment items. To access the site: Sign on to my.UQ and click the link to e-learning. Alternatively, you can go directly to the Blackboard login page at https://learn.uq.edu.au/.

Tutorial Materials

Except for the information readily available in the readings and textbook, most of the additional materials used in tutorials can be found at the PSYC1040 Blackboard site. This information will be updated weekly.

The Discussion Forum

On the PSYC1040 Blackboard site you'll find a link to the PSYC1040 forum. Feel free to use the forum to ask questions, give answers to questions, make constructive comments, and to contact other PSYC1040 students for help and advice. The forum is monitored by the PSYC1040 tutors. Only topics directly related to PSYC1040 content are permitted. Off-topic or offensive material will be removed. Please also follow the rules about cheating and collusion - the forum should never be used to discuss specific details ongoing pieces of assessment (e.g. answers to quizzes). You can, however, ask more generic questions like "Where do I learn more about Question X?"

Study Program and Study Advice

PSYC1040 is not ﾠa course that you can reliably pass by leaving most of the work until the last minute. The easiest and most efficient way to approach and succeed in the course is to digest and understand each topic as it is presented. Below is a list of things to do if you want to be successful in PSYC1040.

• Devoteﾠ10 hours per week to PSYC1040ﾠ- PSYC1040 is a 2 unit course, meaning that it is designed on the assumption that students spendﾠ10 hoursﾠon it each week. The assumed 10 hours are made up of 2 hours of lecture, 2 hours of workshopﾠand 6 hours of independent study.
• Attend Tutorials - It's very important to attend your weekly tutorials. In addition to discussing and conducting the practical and report writing, the main purpose of the tutorials is to provide assistance for completing the textbook exercises and the other workshop ﾠquestions on the Blackboard site. So you should ﾠtake your readings and textbook with you to tutorials. The lecturer and the tutors will cover selected or requested questions from the readings and textbook. Tutorials also allow time forﾠany other aspect of the course content you may need help with.
• Study Textbook -ﾠAs mentioned above, PSYC1040 is tied closely to the readings and the textbook. ﾠIf there is anything in the readings or textbook that you do not understand and that cannot be sorted out in lectures, you should seek assistance in tutorials.
• Complete Exercises from each week's Readingsﾠ- The only way to really come to grips with the subject matter of PSYC1040 is practice; practice at putting what you know or, rather, what you think you know to the test by attempting as many exercises and problems as possible. To this end, there will be ﾠrecommended questions in your textbookﾠthat you shouldﾠcomplete before each class.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.

School guidelines

Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course:

• School of Psychology Student Guidelines