MSc in Research Methods in Psychology

The modules published below are examples of what has been taught in previous academic years and may be subject to change before you start your program.

Compulsory

• Generic Research and Professional Skills in Psychology and Neuroscience: introduces students to the various skills and issues that are important to academic psychologists and neuroscientists irrespective of their particular area of research
• Methods of Data Analysis in Psychology: offers advanced training in research design, statistical analyses, and qualitative methods
• Philosophy and Methodology of the Social Sciences: introduces students to the basic theoretical approaches in the social sciences, covering the methodological and epistemological issues involved in conducting social scientific research
• Qualitative Methods in Social Research: offers both a theoretical and practical introduction to the collection, analysis, and writing of qualitative social science research
• Quantitative Research in Social Science: provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of quantitative analysis - underlying principles, research design, sampling strategies, uncertainty, missing data, and some statistical approaches to data analysis.

Optional

Students must choose two optional modules.

• Animal Models in Psychology and Neuroscience: focuses on the animals frequently used in psychology and neuroscience research; discussing key physiological and behavioral characteristics of the animals, why these characteristics make them good or bad models for given areas of research, and how these behavioral and physiological characteristics must be accounted for when designing experiments.
• Data Science for Psychology and Neuroscience: introduces modern data science methods such as machine learning and data mining, with emphasis on the practical utilization of these methods in the context of psychology and neuroscience.
• Mechanisms of Behaviour: Integrating Psychological and Neuroscience Perspectives explores many physiological and neural systems that modulate patterns of behavior in a range of species, including humans.

Dissertation

Student dissertations will be supervised by members of the teaching staff who will advise on the choice of subject and provide guidance throughout the research process. The completed dissertation of not more than 15,000 words must be submitted by a date specified in August.

Teaching

Teaching format

Over two semesters, students will take five compulsory modules, a research project module, and one optional module.

These are taught through lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials.

On average, class sizes range up to 80 students for lectures and 20 students for seminars.

The final three months of your course will be dedicated to a 15,000-word research project dissertation.

Assessment

Assessment comprises entirely of coursework; there are no exams.

Many students progress from the MSc to PhD study, and some graduates have been successful in applying for EPSRC PhD studentships.

Others have successfully applied for research assistantships to initiate their research careers.

Some graduates have applied for positions in government, health care, and management services.

Further study

Many graduates continue their education by enrolling in PhD programs at St Andrews or elsewhere.

The MSc in Research Methods in Psychology is accredited by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 1+3 PhD studentship program.