All BSc PALS projects must be empirical in nature, and entail the investigation of a psychological research question from an analysis of data. It is a requirement that the student collects data from human participants and that this forms a significant part of the data that is analysed for the project. Data collected by the student may be combined with or compared to other new or existing data for analysis.

Projects must observe the Code of Ethics and Conduct of the British Psychological Society and the student must provide of evidence that any data analysed was collected with appropriate ethical approval. 

Aims

The student will develop and demonstrate an understanding of the research process in psychology including research design and ethical principles of research through the performance and writing up of a novel piece of empirical research under expert supervision.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the module students will

have developed and demonstrated an understanding of the research process in psychology including research design and ethical principles of research
 have successfully analysed and interpreted a novel data set
 have completed a major piece of writing comparable to a published journal article
Skills:

Effective communication. This involves developing a cogent argument supported by relevant evidence and being sensitive to the needs and expectations of an audience. In this course this is accomplished through the writing of a scientific report. The standard of written language should be at an acceptable standard with respect to grammar, punctuation and spelling
 Research study design
 Understanding and use of data. This skill is at the core of the project work
 Use of data analysis and other software tools as appropriate to the project
 Searching and making effective critical use of the literature and other published information sources relevant to the project
 Problem-solving and reasoning scientifically including the identification of research questions developed from theory and from data and the consideration of alternative approaches to their solutions; to evaluate others and original findings through critical judgements and logical argument.
 Effective personal planning and project management skills,
 Working under supervision.