Learning objectives
1. Knowledge and understanding. Students will have to achieve a good knowledge of the scientific research process applied to psychological disciplines, in the different declinations of the main areas of basic and applied research.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. Students will be able to use the knowledge learned to design simple research designs consistent with the objectives and tools typical of psychological disciplines or in interdisciplinary contexts.
3. Independent judgment. Students will be able to identify and interpret the quality of the methodological data of the research process, and to develop adequate autonomy of critical judgment with respect to the evaluation of the validity and reliability of the psychological research available in the literature.
4. Communication skills. Students will be able to master and adequately use the correct technical-scientific vocabulary of the different research areas.
5. Learning ability. Students will be able to acquire the skills to deepen, in the subsequent years of the three-year course and in the Master's cycle, methodological principles and techniques specific to specific disciplinary sectors, in partial autonomy from the teacher and following their individual inclinations.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required.
Course unit content
The course aims to provide students with the knowledge necessary to evaluate and design a research design. General methodological aspects relating to the concept of science, research cycle, theories and models, formulation and testing of hypotheses will be discussed. Experimental, quasi-experimental, single-subject and non-experimental research designs (observational, survey, case study) will be explored.
Full programme
Psychology as a science: naive approach and scientific approach;
The research cycle: origin of the problem, formulation of hypotheses;
Measurement: operationalization of variables and measurement scales;
The validity of research: sources of validity, threats and control;
The ethical issues of research in psychology.
Descriptive methods: ecological and ethological observation, investigation with interviews and questionnaires.
Experimental methods: experimental designs with independent groups and repeated measures,
Quasi-experimental and correlational designs.
Applied research: single-subject experimental designs; case study.
Bibliography
J. Shaughnessy, E. Zechmeister, J. Zechmeister (2024). Research methodology in psychology (3rd ed.). McGraw Hill.
Exam topics: Chapter 1: pp. 1-24; Chapter 2: pp. 25-56; Chapter 3: pp. 57-61; Chapter 4: pp. 99,131; Chapter 5: pp. 135-159, 166-177; Chapter 6: pp. 179-203, 210-219; Chapter 7: pp. 221-251; Chapter 8: 259-281; Chapter 9: pp. 284-294, 301-306; Chapter 10: pp. 313-339; Chapter 11: pp. 341-366.
The last pages of each chapter are dedicated to summaries, exercises and reflections useful as a simulation of the exam.
N.B. The text will also be used in the Statistica Psicometrica (Psychometric Statistics) teaching of the second year (chapter 13 pp. 409-496, chapter 14 pp.497-520) and in the Tecniche di testing psicometrico (Psychometric Testing Techniques) teaching of the third year (chapter 3, pp.62-98 , chapter 6 pp. 204-210).
Teaching methods
Lectures integrated with classroom exercises on the topic of the lesson.
Assessment methods and criteria
The exam will be carried out in written form. There are two open questions and an exercise similar to the exercises carried out during the lessons. The evaluation will be as follows:
first theory question: 0-10 points; second theory question: 0-10 points. For evaluation purposes, the following will be considered: correctness of the answer (from 0 to 6 points), coherence of the argumentation of the answer (from 0 to 2 points), use of the correct technical-scientific vocabulary (from 0 to 2 points)
exercise: 0-10 points. For evaluation purposes, the following will be considered: correctness of the answer in the points foreseen in the exercise (from 0 to 6 points), ability to argue the answer (from 0 to 4 points).
Other information
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2030 agenda goals for sustainable development
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