Learning objectives
The objective of this activity is to give students the basic skills for doing research by knowing the scientific requisites of citations and the rights/duties of participants and researchers. At the end of the activity, students will be autonomous in their judgment and conduction of a research plan that respects the ethical matters.
Prerequisites
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Course unit content
During the activity, students will have the opportunity to reflect on several applicative psychological issues. In particular, they will be trained on two topics: the use of online scientific resources and the ethical protocol for research in psychology.
In the first part of the activity, students will be trained to find articles through the use of key words or highlights. Group work will be organized for the identification of different typologies of publications, organization of a scientific paper and the citation reports. Moreover, the journals’ evaluation system and the procedures for publication will be presented.
In the second part of the activity, students will have the possibility to reflect on researcher’s duties and participants’ rights. In particular, they will discuss the following issues: privacy and confidentiality, participants’ physical and psychological wellbeing, same opportunities for all, feedback on the results. Furthermore, the students will be introduced to the issue of plagiarism and to how to present a request to the ethical committee.
Full programme
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Bibliography
During the part concerning the use of online scientific resources, students will work on some scientific papers, under the teacher’s supervision.
The materials concerning the ethical protocols and rules are:
Codice etico dell’attività di ricerca in psicologia- AIP (www.aipass.org)
Gobbo C. (2010). Fare ricerca con bambini e adolescenti: aspetti etici per buone pratiche didattiche in psicologia dello sviluppo e dell’educazione. Età Evolutiva, 95, 103-115.
Gobbo C. (2012). Etica della ricerca: lo strano caso del plagio. Giornale Italiano di Psicologia, 2, 209-231.
Teaching methods
The attendance to the lessons is mandatory. A small part of the activity will be conducted through frontal lessons, while the majority will be based on individuals’ and groups’ work and reflections. Work group and case discussions will be tools for developing in students the capacity to apply their knowledge and to be autonomous in the research practice.
Assessment methods and criteria
At the end of the activity, students will have to write a short essay (three pages) in which they comment on two/three scientific research papers, with a focus on methodologies and ethical issues. The essay will be evaluated on a range from pass to excellent.
Other information
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