Delivered at:: School of Psychology

Course type:: Compulsory course

When:: 1 year, 2-4 module

Instructors

Abstract

The course is designed for master students, and is based on the previously learned courses (“Social psychology”, “Cross-cultural psychology”, “Research Methods in Psychology” and “Experimental psychology”). The research seminar of the 1st year is aimed to facilitate students' work during first several stages of planning and conducting the research. During the 1st year students will learn about the standards of contemporary scientific research, will know how to plan and organize their own research in the area of economic and organizational psychology, will develop their own project proposals, will train to create convincing presentations of their studies in order to participate in the scientific discussion. During the second year, students consistently prepare their master's theses and discuss with teacher and group parts of their work: plan of empirical research, research tools, results of preliminary mathematical processing, final results of mathematical processing, text of the dissertation. Novelty of this two-years course lies in the facts that (1) the course is aimed to integrate international and Russian standards of scientific work, which is a new practice in the training of master students in the field of psychology in Russia; (2) the integration is achieved through the adjustment of APA standards for conducting and presenting psychological study to the requirements of Higher School of Economics for master’s thesis; (3) course format is usual for master students training in Higher School of Economics, however it does not have analogues for master students training in “Economic and Organizational Psychology” area in Russia. Methodical novelty of the course may be explained in terms of (1) use of reviews as an instrument for understanding and differentiating a good quality research; (2) group discussions at all stages of the development of students’ research projects (this gives students a unique opportunity to receive feedback not only from teachers, but also from the group, which helps to understand the weaknesses of the project, and improve it); (3) all work is organized in a way that students can always connect the tasks with their own research interest, which increases students’ motivation significantly.

Learning Objectives

To introduce to students the international standarts of good quolity research in the field of economic and organizational psychology;
To develop students' abilities to participate in the scientific discussion;
To help students to develop their own research projects;
To teach students how to plan and organize their own research.
To develop skills for theoretical analysis in the field of economic and organizational psychology;
The 2nd year research seminar is aimed to introduce the international standards of good quality research in the field of economic and organizational psychology to students. During the seminar students will learn how to develop their own research projects, how to plan and organize their own research in the area of economic and organizational psychology. They also will obtain the skills of participation in scientific discussions. Specific topics addressed are: (1) Relevance of methods and data processing to hypotheses of the study; (2) Development a questionnaire or design of experiment for main study; (3) Development of the project proposal: revised structure and content; (4) Development of a timetable with the description on stages and timing of main research; (5) Data collection and analysis; (6) Finalizing of master theses; (7) Development of the skills of presentation of master theses.

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students are able to understand whether the selected design is adequate to test the proposed hypotheses
Students are able to use in their research the latest methods of mathematical- statistical data (SEM, multilevel analysis).
Students possess techniques of group discussions, brainstorming to discuss novelty of master dissertation, formulation of research problem, and research hypotheses.
Are able to critically analyze existing theories and articles in order to generate own text Are able to structure scientific text in a coherent way
Are able to formulate problem statement, research questions, and hypotheses of the proposed study. Know how to develop their own research projects
Are able to participate in the scientific discussion; Are able to present effectively the results of the study.
Know how to plan and organize their own research Are able to describe and justify chosen research design and methodology.
Know the international standards of high quality research in the fields of economic and organizational psychology Are able to assess critically perspectives, scientific and societal relevance of particular research directions
Students are able to critically analyse their preliminary obtained results
Students are able to critically analyze and discuss empirical methods of each student’ thesis
Students are able to describe of methods, sample and time frames of the empirical study
Students begin to collect empirical data after approval of the study plan at the workshop.
Successful preliminary defense of students' theses
Sudents are able to assess the correctness of applying the selected processing methods to the data, which were obtained

Course Contents

First year, topic 1. Writing an introduction
First year, topic 2. Writing a theoretical overview: information search and quality standards
First year, topic 3. Research design and methods in social psychology
First year, topic 4. Finalizing a year essay
Second year, topic 1. Introduction. Presentation of the theoretical bases of master study. Formulation of hypotheses
Second year, topic 2. Writing and discussing the plan-prospect of the research in the master thesis
Second year, topic 3. Measurement instruments
Second year, topic 4. Methodological part of dissertation.
Second year, topic 5. Discussing research design of the master thesis
Second year, topic 6. Discussing final plan of empirical study of master thesis
Second year, topic 7. Presentation of first results of mathematical-statistical analysis from empirical study
Second year, topic 8. Presentation of final results of mathematical-statistical analysis from empirical study
Second year, topic 9. Preliminary defense of the master thesis

Assessment Elements

Hypotheses
Presentation of theory and hypothesis of the study based on the term paper
Plan of the study
Presentation the Plan of the study and of work-schedule, signed by the scientific supervisor
Questionnaire
Presentation of the study's hypotheses, variables and Questionnaire, designed according to the APA standards
Methodological part of dissertation
In the method section, you need clearly describe the design of a sample, procedure, and measures according to the APA standards.
Revised theoretical part
Revised theoretical part (show new version and explain changes) according to the APA standards.
Empirical study
Preliminary results
Presentation of preliminary results
Empirical part
Presentation of full empirical results
Preliminary defence
Preliminary defence of the text and presentation
1-1. Test on the 1st topic
Grades for this task can’t be an ob|ect for duscussion or appeal except for some ob|ective mistakes in grading - e.g. when the correct answer was calculated as a wrong one.
1-2. Test on the 2nd topic
1-3. Test on the 3rd topic
1-4. Participation in class activities
Students may get a detailed feedback from the tutors on particular parts of their term paper during the relevant class activities or during the consultations. However, tutors will not give any feedback just in a written form via e-mail except for some special cases related with students absence due to some valid reason.
1- 5. Predefence of term paper

Interim Assessment

2022/2023 4th module
0.166 * 1-1. Test on the 1st topic + 0.3 * 1- 5. Predefence of term paper + 0.2 * 1-4. Participation in class activities + 0.167 * 1-3. Test on the 3rd topic + 0.167 * 1-2. Test on the 2nd topic
2023/2024 3rd module
0.1 * Questionnaire + 0.1 * Preliminary results + 0.2 * Empirical study + 0.1 * Hypotheses + 0.1 * Methodological part of dissertation + 0.1 * Revised theoretical part + 0.1 * Plan of the study + 0.1 * Preliminary defence + 0.1 * Empirical part

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Beins, B. (2012). APA Style Simplified : Writing in Psychology, Education, Nursing, and Sociology (Vol. 1st ed). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=443323
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2003). The Craft of Research (Vol. 2nd ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=228256
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2008). The Craft of Research, Third Edition (Vol. 3rd ed). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=272563
Coolican, H. (2014). Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology (Vol. Sixth edition). East Sussex: Psychology Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=753537
Goodwin, C. J., & Goodwin, K. A. (2017). Research in Psychology : Methods and Design (Vol. Eighth edition). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1639428
Gournelos, T., Hammonds, J. R., & Wilson, M. A. (2019). Doing Academic Research: A Practical Guide to Research Methods and Analysis.
Guidebook and Regulations for Graduate Study in Research Methodology. (2013). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6EC28709
McGuire, W. J. (1997). Creative hypothesis generating in psychology: Some useful heuristics. Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.1
Preparing literature reviews : qualitative and quantitative approaches, Ling Pan, M., 2017
Proposing empirical research : a guide to the fundamentals, Patten, M. L., 2020
References/Bibliography APA Based on the “Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association ” 6 th edition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.BC8916D8
Rosenthal, R., & DiMatteo, M. R. (2001). META-ANALYSIS: Recent Developments in Quantitative Methods for Literature Reviews. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 59. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.59
Susan B. Smith. (2012). A Guide for Writing APA Style Research Papers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.BCE37201
Thomas, R. M., & Brubaker, D. L. (2000). Theses and Dissertations: A Guide to Planning, Research, and Writing : A Guide to Planning, Research, and Writing. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=303423
Thyer, B. A. (2012). Quasi-Experimental Research Designs. New York: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=422245
White, L. (2005). Writes of Passage: Writing an Empirical Journal Article. Journal of Marriage & Family, 67(4), 791–798. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00175.x
Writing empirical research reports : a basic guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences, Pyrczak, F., 2017

Recommended Additional Bibliography

CRĂCIUN, A. (2014). Fundamental Statistics for Behavioral Sciences. Romanian Journal of Experimental Applied Psychology, 5(2), 61–62. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=asn&AN=118569304
Gavin, H. (2008). Understanding Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications Ltd. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=518813
Green, B. N., Johnson, C. D., & Adams, A. (2006). Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: secrets of the trade. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.86A0B01A
Hastings, C., & Herbert, B. E. (2016). Effective Strategies in Writing and Research: Workshop Presentations. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.29A7997F
Horst, J. S. (2016). The Psychology Research Companion : From Student Project to Working Life. London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1067605
Janusheva, V. (2017). Choice and Formulation of the Topic in the Five-Paragraph Essay and Quality of the Students’ Written Expression in Rm. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.2BC3AF8
Kaul, A. (2005). The Effective Presentation : Talk Your Way To Success. New Delhi: Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=283706
Patten, M. L. (2017). Educational and Psychological Research : A Cross-Section of Journal Articles for Analysis and Evaluation (Vol. Third edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1360606
Ylijoki, O.-H. (2001). Master’s Thesis Writing from a Narrative Approach. Studies in Higher Education, 26(1), 21–34. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070020030698

Master’s Programme 'Applied Social Psychology'

Research Seminar "Economic and Organizational Psychology"