MSc Research Methods In Psychology

A  2.1 Honours undergraduate degree in Psychology or a related discipline. If you studied your first degree outside the UK, see the international entry requirements.

The qualifications listed are indicative minimum requirements for entry. Some academic Schools will ask applicants to achieve significantly higher marks than the minimum. Obtaining the listed entry requirements will not guarantee you a place, as the University considers all aspects of every application including, where applicable, the writing sample, personal statement, and supporting documents.

Application requirements

• CV or résumé 
• personal statement (500 words) 
• sample of your own, single-authored academic written work (2,000 words) 
• two original signed academic references 
• academic transcripts and degree certificates.

For fees and funding options, please visit website to find out more

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. 

The Careers Centre offers one-to-one advice to all students as well as a programme of events to assist students in building their employability skills.

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 and missing data, and some statistical approaches to data analysis.
• Psychology Masters Research Project: provides an opportunity to perform an empirical research project under the guidance of a member of staff to gain experience in the planning, implementation, data analysis, and interpretation of psychological research.

Optional

Students must choose two optional modules.

• Animal Models in Neuroscience and Psychology: focuses on the animals frequently used in psychology and neuroscience research; discussing key physiological and behavioural characteristics of the animals, why these characteristics make them good or bad models for given areas of research, and how these behavioural 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 utilisation of these methods in the context of psychology and neuroscience.
• Research Methods in Cognitive Neuroscience: explores the technology that allows us to observe the brain in action and to understand the physical bases of behaviour.
• The Narratives that Shape Psychology and Neuroscience: critically explores the narratives that shape Psychology and Neuroscience, while examining alternative narratives that broaden the canon.
• Psychology and Neuroscience Colloquium: involves engagement with a lecture series that is interdisciplinary and international by design, featuring research from cells to minds and groups while covering different theories and methods.

Optional modules are subject to change each year and require a minimum number of participants to be offered; some may only allow limited numbers of students (see the University's position on curriculum development).

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.