SUBJECT

Title

Research Methods Practical 3.

Code

PSYB17 - 133

Type of instruction

practical

Level

Bachelor

Part of degree program
Credits

3

Recommended in

Semester 4, 5

Typically offered in

Autumn/Spring semester

Course description

Research Methods Practical 3 includes two optional courses: “Neuropsychology and Performance Measurement” and “Opinion Measurement”
 

I. Opinion Measurement

During the course, students get acquainted with the most important methods of opinion research with a special emphasis on the most effective methodological solutions for explicit and implicit attitude measurement. Both direct and indirect methods are presented and practiced. Participants of the course gain knowledge about how to handle an attitude either as a dependent or as an independent variable in a study. Our main goal is to provide our students with the skills and confidence to utilize their theoretical knowledge regarding attitudes and opinions in practice as well.

Learning outcome, competences
knowledge:

  • most important methods of attitude and opinion research
  •  survey questioning techniques
  •  attitude scale development
  • testing psychometric qualities of an attitude scale
  •  applying implicit attitude measurement

attitude:

  •  confidence in survey research
  •  insightfulness in measuring subjective opinions and attitudes
  •  openness and creativity in methodology

skills:

  •  survey research
  •  explicit attitude measurement
  • implicit attitude measurement
  •  database analysis and presentation

Content of the course
Topics of the course

  • survey questioning techniques
  •  scale development
  •  explicit attitude measurement
  •  implicit attitude measurement
  •  areas of applied opinion research

Learning activities, learning methods
frontal lecture, group discussion and demonstrations, group tasks and presentations
Evaluation of outcomes
Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:
requirements

  •  students are to plan, conduct and present their own opinion research projects in groups

mode of evaluation:

  •  the evaluation is based on the level of proficiency of the conducted and presented opinion research group-projects

criteria of evaluation:

  •  the efficiency of putting theoretical and methodological knowledge into practice in the form of multiple research projects
Readings

Reading list
Compulsory reading list

  •  Specified in class for selected neuropsychological methods.

Recommended reading list

  •  Babbie, E. R. (2015). The practice of social research. Nelson Education.
  •  Oskamp, S., Schultz, P. W. (2005). Attitudes and Opinions. London: Lawrence Erlbaum

Associates.

  •  Rudman, L. A. (2011/2014). Implicit Measures for Social and Personality Psychology. London: SAGE.