Developing Research Skills for Applied Professional Practice
| Module title | Developing Research Skills for Applied Professional Practice |
|---|---|
| Module code | PSYM315Z |
| Academic year | 2025/6 |
| Credits | 60 |
| Module staff |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 65 |
|---|
Module description
This module allows students to develop their professional doctoral level research skills by undertaking the design and development of a research proposal. The module consolidates the basics of qualitative and quantitative research design and epistemology, introducing skills in critical evaluation including consideration of feasibility, ethics and methodology. Students also learn how to design and conduct a systematic literature review.
This module comprises one of the necessary modules for the Research component of the Professional Clinical Doctorates offered by Exeter University (including the DClinRes, DClinPsy, DPPClinPrac, DForenPsy and DClinPrac(Res)). It has been benchmarked against standards for professional doctorates provided by the British Psychological Society for training programmes including Clinical Psychology and Forensic Psychology. Alongside the Academic and Applied/Clinical modules, Research modules form the basis of training in the knowledge, skills, values and competences required to practise as doctoral level clinical professionals and complies with HCPC and University Regulations for PGR Programmes - see Chapter 10 of the Postgraduate Research Handbook https://www.exeter.ac.uk/about/governance/tqa/pgr/
Module aims - intentions of the module
The overarching aim of this module is to provide students with the skills necessary to design and develop a doctoral standard piece of novel, clinically relevant, research. We aim to train highly skilled, ethical practitioners who are able to lead and challenge practices to promote equality, equity, anti-discrimination and inclusion in all areas of their research work, and who are able to involve effectively service users, carers, members of the public, commissioners, clinicians and other interested peoples to develop quality meaningful research.
Specific questions that will be addressed may include how do you:
- Critically evaluate current knowledge, theory and the evidence base relevant to areas of professional practice?
- Work competently within professional and regulatory codes of practice, ethics and research?
- Work ethically, respectfully and collaboratively with clients, experts by experience, supervisors and other professionals?
- Develop readiness to approach your work with critical reflection and self-awareness, including identifying own strengths and learning needs?
- Identify resources that will further learning from your individual professional development needs and fit with the requirements of your own future professional contexts?
- Take a constructively critical and reflective approach to your own and others’ work to facilitate effective communication both verbally and in writing for lay, professional, and academic audiences, and to nurture your own particular academic strengths?
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Access and critically evaluate complex research relevant to your professional work to a reasonable level
- 2. Apply research to solve complex problems in your professional area to a high standard
- 3. Develop a high-quality research proposal for professional doctorate research
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. Understand at a high level with the support of supervisors the core clinical/professional research designs and methodologies
- 5. Apply the broad principles of good research practice as specified in discipline relevant research frameworks and policies and negotiate complex research processes effectively.
- 6. Design a major piece of research that: is at a good level, and with supervisor support could be developed into work that is original; forms a distinct contribution of knowledge of the subject; demonstrates your ability to relate the subject matter to the existing body of knowledge within the field; and is of a satisfactory level of literary presentation.
- 7. Design a literature review, using discipline relevant methods to search for, evaluate and synthesize evidence. Demonstrating that with supervisor support you are able to conduct such reviews, and identify appropriate implications based on the quality and nature of the acquisition of the underpinning evidence.
- 8. Involve service users and other partners, clinicians and commissioners (e.g. supervisors, other disciplines, collaborators) throughout the research process in a highly skillful and respectful manner, or demonstrate potential to do so
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 9. Show innovation, ability to become independent and confident i in undertaking research relevant to professional practice
- 10. Collaborate effectively with all partners, clinicians and commissioners (e.g., clients, service users, ethical bodies, providers of services) throughout the research process
- 11. Demonstrate excellent ability to act in accordance with the Research Governance Ethics frameworks, analyse and manage the implications of ethical dilemmas and work proactively with others to formulate solutions
- 12. Demonstrate reflective and reflexive practice and specifically to consider the impact of inclusion, equality and diversity on the design, implications, and potential limited applications of research/evidence in research work, and to identify and lead challenge to practice as appropriate following principles of equality, equity, anti-discrimination and inclusion.
Syllabus plan
Example of the usual structure of the module:
Weeks 1-10: Introduction to research methods and proposal
Weeks 11 – 20: Individual and group tutorials/supervision to support project design and development.
Group teaching sessions/tutorials/Learning Sets will typically be used to support students in the acquisition of research design skills and methodological and epistemological understanding; and in the exploration of clinical research processes relevant to the evidence-base of theory and/or practice in their clinical area (ILOs 1-6).
Individual tutoring/ supervision will typically be used to support project design and development including ethical considerations (ILOs 6-7)
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 550 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 20 | Workshops, group tutorials, Lectures |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 30 | Individual research tutoring/supervision |
| Individual self-directed study | 550 | Individual self-directed reading, research, and assessment preparation |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation | 20 minute oral presentation, and 10 minutes for discussion and feedback | 1-12 | Oral feedback from staff and peers. |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research Proposal | 80 | 5,000 words max | 1-12 | Written response from markers |
| Mini Viva Voce examination | 20 | "Mini-viva including discussion of research proposal. Approx. 40 minutes | 1-12 | Oral and written feedback from staff |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 word research proposal (80%) And Mini Viva Voce Examination (20%) | Where the student has received minor amendments, or major i or major ii, reassessment is of the same work to check recommended changes are made. Where the student receives Major iii the student has to resubmit a new piece of work of the same type. | 1-12 | Minor amendments 4 weeks Major amendments 8 weeks |
Re-assessment notes
It is advised that students discuss re-assessment requirements with their supervisor prior to submitting the revised proposal. If the piece of work is being resubmitted this should include tracked changes or highlighting showing changes, and a letter to the marker outlining the changes. If the initial grade is Major amendments iii, or a refer grade, then a new piece of work will be required, and this will be re-assessed as per the original assessment (thesis and viva). The marking scheme followed can be found here: Chapter 10 of the Postgraduate Research Handbook https://www.exeter.ac.uk/about/governance/tqa/pgr/ . See also, https://www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/specificsites/tqa/pgr/PGR_Handbook_Chapter_10_Annex_1_Flowchart_of_Professional_Doctorate_Assessment_Process_AUG24.pdf
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Basic/ suggested reading:
- American Psychological Association. (2019) Publication manual (7th ed). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-guide.pdf
- Barker, C., Pistrang, N., & Elliott, R. (2015). Research methods in clinical psychology: An introduction for students and practitioners (3rd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley.
- Bryman, A. (2015). Social research methods. Oxford university press.
- Clark-Carter, D. (2010). Quantitative psychological research: The complete student’s companion (3rd ed.). Hove, UK: Psychology Press.
- Field, A. (2019). Discovering statistics using SPSS (6th ed.). London: Sage.
- Harper, D., & Thompson, A. R. (Eds.). (2011). Qualitative research methods in mental health and psychotherapy: A guide for students and practitioners. John Wiley & Sons.
- Lepper, G, and Riding, N. (2006). Researching the Psychotherapy Process. A practical guide to transcript-based methods. Palgrave.
- Moher,D.,Shamseer,L.,Clarke,M.,Ghersi,D.,Liberati,A.,Petticrew,M.,..&Stewart,L.A.(2015). Preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P) 2015 statement. Systematic reviews, 4(1),1-9
- Rohleder, P. and Lyons, A.C. (2015). Qualitative research in clinical and health psychology. Palgrave.
Other resources/ Web based and electronic resources:
- ELE – you can find methodology references; lecture PowerPoints (usually with references on the final slide) and guides to research – on the programme ELE pages.
- Research methods presentations and tutorials. NHS Ethics, Psychology Research Ethics Committee ELE site, e-Learning resources.
| Credit value | 60 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 30 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/12/2024 |
