Course Syllabus
Learning area
RESEARCH METHODS IN EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Learning objectives
Knowledge and understanding
- Identifying a research topic
- Understanding the different steps that structure a research project
- The different styles of results dissemination and communication
Applying knowledge and understanding
- Designing a research project and the plan to accomplish it
- Disseminating research results: preparing a talk, a poster, and an article
Making judgments
- Critical analysis and evaluation of scientific works
- Acitivities: peer review of research proposals, Q&A sessions about the developed projects
Communication skills
- Communicating efficiently scientific theories, investigations, and data
- Activities: preparation of a written research proposal, simulation of a scientific conference (posters and talks)
Learning skills
- Analyzing existing literature in order to establish the state of the art in a given field
- Activities: literature review, exploring research networks
Contents
The course will provide the tools to design and execute a research project. Students will be presented with the entire path leading to a research project, from literature review to result dissemination. The course will illustrate how to modulate the project at the different steps from the formulation of the initial proposal to the communication of the results. Students will have the opportunity to practice their knowledge designing a project, evaluating their peers' proposals, and practicing the different styles of disseminating the research results
Detailed program
Writing an effective research proposal
- Identify a research issue and the gap in the literature
- How to fund your research: identifying the “producer” of the project
- Outline the state-of-the-art of the theoretical and methodological framework
- Identify objectives and deliverables
- Defining the method to achieve the research objectives
- Ethical Implications
- Research impact, risk analysis and contingency plans
- Time management and project planning
Disseminating and Communicating research results
- The research products in a conference: talks and posters
- The journal article: preparing the manuscript (sections and formats)
- The journal article: the submission process (APA style and the guidelines for the authors)
- Peer review
- Science communication and public engagement
Teaching methods
- 24 hours: interactive lessons and classworks, including exercise on published research, development research projects, paper evaluation and preparation of a talk/poster
- 8 hours: hands-on experience with a day-long conference simulation
The course will be held in presence and attendance is required
Assessment methods
The last class will host the simulation of a conference: students will be asked to prepare their own contribution for the simulated conference, on the basis of the work carried out during the course. By doing so they will show to be able to identify the relevant information to run a research and communicate its results, as well as actively preparing the physical materials to do it (poster/presentation).
Textbooks and Reading Materials
Detailed information about the teaching material will be published on the e-learning page associated with the course.
