Psychological Research Methods: Child Development

The study of children’s development is central to our comprehension of human behaviour and cognition. Working with and doing research with children demands a particular and specialised set of skills.

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This programme offers research training and experience in a range of these skills.

Programme Objectives

It also provides valuable training for graduates from allied disciplines like education and sociology wishing to pursue research. Both taught and research postgraduates are integral to our research group and expected to participate in our regular meetings.

All students are provided with appropriate office space and equipment. In addition, each student has an academic supervisor in Psychology. Our aim is to support students making the complex transition towards being independent research scientists.

This MSc has a set of core modules in Psychological Research Methods alongside modules with a particular focus on developmental psychology. Unlike the Psychological Research Methods programme, this allows specialisation in child development: the dissertation and research placement will all be within the developmental area.

Psychology has excellent contacts with a wide range of professional bodies allowing research placement and dissertation opportunities in schools, nurseries, special needs units and child protection. We also have our own in-house playgroup facility whose enrolment includes groups of infants and toddlers, and pre-school children.

Entrance Requirements

Consideration is given to candidates with a first or second class Single or Joint Honours degree in Psychology (or related subject).

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your  proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (minimum 6 in each skill), or  TOEFL: Listening 23, Reading 23, Speaking 23, Writing 23.

Funding

information on possible sources of funding

Modes of Study

Full-time:
Two semesters for Diploma, 12 months for MSc

Part-time:
Four semesters for the Diploma, 24 months for MSc

September

Structure and Content

The programme is made up of the following modules:

• Child development: Early years Research and Practice: Comprises a series of participatory seminars with developmental psychologists covering a range of developmental topics. These include: socio-cognitive development in pre-school children; the social and cognitive characteristics of Autistic Spectrum Disorders; the health psychology of infant feeding practices; representation and social learning in infancy; cross-cultural differences in cognition; assessing language and communication development; working memory in typical development and ADHD 
  
• Psychological Research Methods I and II: Covers a wide range of techniques used in psychological research and demonstrates these techniques in relation to topics in a range of areas
• Advanced Statistics: Assumes a reasonable knowledge of statistics, although an additional introductory module is available. The main statistics teaching is aimed at introducing advanced methods such as multivariate statistics and the rationale of using statistical methods
• Key Skills for Psychology Researchers: Focuses on the research process, including ethical reviews, professional conduct and disseminating research effectively to specialist and non specialist audiences
• Qualitative Research Methods: Provides a broad but solid grounding in qualitative research methodology
• Research Placement: This month-long placement is carried out in January/February, allowing students to broaden their practical research experience. The placement may be external to Psychology and can be in a non-academic environment
  

We also offer some flexibility, allowing students to opt for a module from another subject area if this can meet personal training needs.

Dissertation

For those who go onto the MSc, approximately half of the programme of study is devoted to a research project, leading to a 12,000-word dissertation.

Delivery and Assessment

Teaching is delivered using a variety of methods including tutorials, demonstrations and practical classes, but the majority is seminar-based. Students are typically taught in small groups in specialist classes, with first-year PhD students or other postgraduate students (for example, in modules from other MSc programmes).

The individual module components contribute towards 60 percent of the MSc grade, with the research dissertation contributing the remaining 40 percent.

Timetable

Contact the School for information on your timetable and reading lists.

RAE Rating

70 percent of research in Psychology at Stirling was recognised as being of a quality that is internationally recognised in terms of originality, significance and rigour in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

Career Opportunities

The programme is designed for those going on to do further research in developmental psychology and careers where a knowledge of developmental research is beneficial. The structure of the programme includes both a placement and research project which allows considerable scope for those interested in more applied areas to develop relevant skills for these careers. More general training in research methods is also highly valued due to the insight given into the interpretation and analysis of all forms of data.