FURTHER STATISTICS AND CRITICAL THINKING - 2020/1

Module Overview

This module follows on from the semester 1 module ‘Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis (PSY1020)’. It aims to further students’ understanding of statistical methods and foster the skills needed to think critically about psychological research.

Module provider

Psychology

Module Leader

ASKEW Chris (Psychology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Prior completion of PSY1020 Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis is required

Module content

The weekly lectures and workshops will cover theory and practice and related to the following indicative topic areas:
• Identifying and evaluating critical arguments
• Evaluating theory & evidence
• Constructing critical arguments
• Analysing repeated measures designs with ANOVA
• Factorial/mixed designs using ANOVA
• Nonparametric tests
• Analysing categorical data

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

NA

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate understanding of both critical thinking and quantitative data analysis.

1. Critical thinking coursework (3 pages worth 25% of the module mark)
This assignment has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their skill in constructing a sound argument about a psychological question based on a critical evaluation of research.

Assesses LO 1 and LO 2

2. Exam (a 90-minute, 60 question MCQ exam worth 75% of the module mark)
This assessment is designed to assess the full breadth and depth of both the critical thinking and statistics module content, with questions related to each major topic. Student will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of theory and subject knowledge, including interpreting output from statistical tests.

Assesses LO 1, LO 2, LO 3 and LO 4

Formative assessment and feedback
The module contains a high level of discussion about analysing psychological research and using it to answer psychological questions. Through this, good critical thinking is modelled by the lecturer, practised by the students and continual feedback is given about how their arguments in classroom discussion map onto the standards of critical thinking outlined in the lectures. The tutorial further supports this in a smaller group that supports interaction from all students.

Weekly statistics workshops consist of a worksheet and data sets to analyse. Students receive feedback on their progress via a feedback sheet of worked solutions. In addition, workshop tutors provide individualised verbal guidance and feedback during the sessions. In the statistics lectures, students complete MCQ questions and receive immediate feedback to enable them to check their understanding of the module content and become familiar with the format of the exam.

Module aims

• Enable students to develop sound arguments based on critical evaluation of psychological research
• Provide students with the knowledge and skills to analyse quantitative data sets

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

There will be 11 weeks of 2-hour lectures. The principles of quantitative research methods and critical thinking will be presented in combination with practice applying these techniques. Accordingly, there will be a 2-hour hour critical thinking workshop and 12 hours (6 x 2 hours) of statistics workshops.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PSY1032

Other information

NA

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.