Entry requirements
Open to MSc Psychology (research) students
Description
The aim of this course is to teach students to critically evaluate and improve published empirical psychological research. Students will be introduced to the nuts and bolts of the peer-review system. They will also learn about the use of open science practices, including preregistration and blinded analysis. Throughout the course students will acquire expertise in different research methods and designs, including the use of fMRI, clinical trial designs and experimental psychological studies. They will be encouraged to consider the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary research in their own field of expertise. The course meetings and assignments are intended to train students to jointly and independently review empirical studies, suggest improvements and to apply open science practices and interdisciplinary methods within their research.
Course objectives
The course aims to:
Help students to analyse the different types of experimental methods used in psychological research, including their strengths and weaknesses; learn students to apply and evaluate open science tools and good research practices.
Train students’ ability to provide a critical and constructive review of a published empirical study.
Teach students to provide recommendations for improving a published research design, including the use of open science practices and interdisciplinary research approaches.
Provide students with feedback on their specific presentation skills and their academic writing
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
Education
Students must register themselves for all course components (lectures, tutorials and practicals) they wish to follow. You can register up to 5 days prior to the start of the course.
Exams
You must register for each exam in My Studymap at least 10 days before the exam date. You cannot take an exam without a valid registration in My Studymap. Carefully read all information about the procedures and deadlines for registering for courses and exams.
Exchange students and external guest students will be informed by the education administration about the current registration procedure.
Mode of instruction
This course consists of:
4 2-hour lectures (one every week)
4 2-hour workgroup meetings (one every week)
Attendance at the workgroup meetings is mandatory. See Brightspace for more information.
The lectures will provide an introduction to the different topics, including (1) Open Science, (2) Experimentation, (3) fMRI research and (4) Clinical trial design. The workgroup meetings are intended to apply the knowledge and tools from the lecture for the evaluation of an empirical paper. This in turn can be used as input for the writing assignment.
Assessment method
Writing assignment: Students will write a critical review of an empirical paper from a selected list and suggest improvements regarding design, method and analyses.
On-campus workgroup assignment: Students will complete an on-campus assignment with open-ended questions in which they are required to evaluate different aspects of published empirical findings.
The writing assignment and the on-campus workgroup assignement will be graded individually and each will make up 50% of the final grade for the course.
The Institute of Psychology follows the policy of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to systematically check student papers for plagiarism with the help of software. All students are required to take and pass the Scientific Integrity Test with a score of 100% in order to learn about the practice of integrity in scientific writing. Students are given access to the quiz via a module on Brightspace. Disciplinary measures will be taken when fraud is detected. Students are expected to be familiar with and understand the implications of this fraud policy.
Reading list
Each week relevant background literature for the topic of each lecture will be provided. Next to this, students can select an empirical paper for their writing assignment, which will also be used during the workgroup meetings. The most recent version of the literature list will be announced on Brightspace prior to the start of the course.
Contact information
Dr. Michiel van Elk m.van.elk@fsw.leidenuniv.nl