96056 Research Project 3
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Credit points: 12 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 96051 Clinical Placement 2 AND 96052 Clinical Placement 3 AND 96053 Advanced Clinical Skills 1 AND 96054 Research Project 2 AND 96073c Clinical Placement 4 AND 96074c Advanced Clinical Skills 2
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Description
This subject is designed to support the final completion and dissemination of a clinical psychology research project. This subject is designed to provide hands-on support to students throughout the data analysis, interpretation, and write-up stages of a clinical research project. The objective of the subject is to train and support students through to final completion of a clinical research project that is at a standard suitable for submission for peer-reviewed publication.
After successful completion of this subject it is expected that students are able to:
- collect and analyse data relevant to a clinical research project
- interpret data in line with a chosen research methodology and set of research questions
- produce a research article formatted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and
- prepare a research article for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
| 001. | Locate scholarly literature relevant to a given topic |
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| 002. | Critique selected research |
| 003. | Formulate a research question |
| 004. | Undertake a review of the literature related to a research question |
| 005. | Select a research methodology relevant to a given research question |
| 009. | Conduct approved research |
| 010. | Interpret research data using appropriate methodology |
| 011. | Evaluate research data in the context of the literature |
| 012. | Communicate research findings and outcomes |
| 013. | Assess the impact of research |
| 014. | Suggest modifications and directions for further research |
| 015. | Apply research in a given clinical context |
| 057. | Use written and spoken communication in a manner appropriate to the target audience |
| 062. | Communicate own work to supervisors and other stakeholders |
| 063. | Openly reflect on own work with supervisor |
| 064. | Maintain a professional relationship with supervisor |
| 066. | Accept supervisory input |
| 067. | Conduct ongoing self-evaluation |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
The learning outcomes for this subject are as follows:
- Engage in reflexive practice to evaluate and integrate emerging evidence into practice, and to promote the growth of personal and professional learning, and the education of others. (01.1)
- Interpret, implement and evaluate psychological assessments and interventions using psychological theories, models and evidence to optimise client or organisational health. (02.1)
- Lead and collaborate, supporting an interdisciplinary approach, to provide ethically and legally accountable client-centred care, with awareness of own capabilities and limitations. (02.2)
- Engage in systematic enquiry, evaluating the evidence and reporting on individual and population psychological health status, using appropriate methodologies. (02.3)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes:
Lifelong learning
Graduates of the Master of Clinical Psychology are lifelong learners, committed to and capable of reflection and inquiry in their quest for personal development and excellence in professional practice.
Professional capacity
Graduates of the Master of Clinical Psychology are client-focused, ethical practitioners with the understanding and proficiency to be leaders in their profession, capable of effectively researching and communicating solutions in a global context.
Global citizenship
Graduates of the Master of Clinical Psychology contribute to society, resolving to undertake those actions and responsibilities that will enhance their role in local, national and global communities
Teaching and learning strategies
Collaborative Learning:
Much work as clinical psychologists involves working with multi-disciplinary teams as well as teams made up of multiple psychologists. Therefore, clinical psychology students should develop skills in teamwork. In this subject, students are required to work with their research supervisor to complete a research project relevant to the field of clinical psychology.
Self-Directed Learning:
There are no scheduled workshops for this subject. Students are required to engage in self-directed learning in order to complete their research project on time and to a high standard.
Ongoing Feedback:
Feedback is an important teaching and learning strategy employed throughout the subject. Research supervisors will provide regular feedback to students throughout the semester on whether they are meeting their research milestones. In addition, research supervisors will provide extensive written feedback on one draft of the student’s thesis (excluding the discussion section).
Content (topics)
In this subject, students will engage in:
- Data collection and cleaning of a clinical data set, commonly with appropriate statistical data analysis (eg, multivariate statistics, systematic review, or with meta-analysis).
- Interpretation of statistical analyses, particularly in terms of answering hypotheses.
- Organising a thesis in terms of literature review, method, results and discussion sections, including appropriate cross-references.
- Writing a concise abstract that summarises the whole thesis, including literature review, method, results and discussion, in approx. 200 words.
- Writing the thesis in the format of a selected clinical psychology or other psychology journal, including a reference list with correct in-text citations.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Research project
| Intent: | Clinical psychologists are required to have high level research skills. This assessment task is designed to allow the student to demonstrate competence in conducting clinical psychology research. This research project is developed consistent with the APAC accreditation requirements. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task is aligned with the following subject learning objectives: 001, 002, 003, 004, 005, 009, 010, 011, 012, 013, 014, 015, 062, 063, 064 and 066 This task is aligned with the following course learning outcomes: .005, .006, .009, 01.1, 02.1, 02.2 and 02.3 |
| Type: | Thesis |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 65% |
| Length: | 5000 words (maximum) |
| Criteria: | A detailed description of the thesis format, content, and marking criteria is available on Canvas. |
Assessment task 2: 3-Minute Thesis research presentation
| Intent: | This assessment task is designed to evaluate the student's ability to communicate research findings to peers and colleagues, as is common in many clinical and research contexts. The skills required to present research within a short timeframe to a diverse audience are highly valued and distinct to longer format presentations to specialised audiences. These skills include concise communication, effective distillation of complex ideas, accessible communication to a broad audience, time management, and the ability to engage audiences quickly which mirrors real-world scenarios where brevity is valued (e.g., the “elevator pitch”). Such real-world scenarios might include presentation of ideas or findings to clinical colleagues at a meeting, or pitching a research idea to a potential collaborator, partner or funder. |
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| Objective(s): | This task is aligned with the following subject learning objectives: 002, 003, 004, 005, 013, 014, 057 and 062 This task is aligned with the following course learning outcomes: .005, .006, .009, .010, 01.1, 02.1, 02.2 and 02.3 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | The presentation time limit is 3 minutes, with 2 minutes to answer questions from the audience. Timing will be strict so as to accommodate all presentations within the timeframe. |
| Criteria: | Marking criteria will be available on Canvas at the start of the semester. |
Assessment task 3: Supervisor evaluation
| Intent: | This assessment task is designed to evaluate the student’s ability to undertake clinical psychology research. The research project is developed consistent with the APAC accreditation requirements. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This task is aligned with the following subject learning objectives: 063, 064, 066 and 067 This task is aligned with the following course learning outcomes: .005, .006, .009, 01.1, 02.1 and 02.2 |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 10% |
| Criteria: | Marking criteria will be available on Canvas at the start of the semester. |
Minimum requirements
Students are required to maintain regular meetings with their research supervisor.
Required texts
Coursework Assessments Procedures
Graduate School of Health Policy, Guidelines and Procedures (login required)
Additional required readings will be provided via Canvas.
References
American Psychological Association (2019). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Bennett, S. et al. (2017). Appraising and interpreting systematic reviews. In: Evidence-based practice across the health professions (3rd edition) (Hoffmann, T. et al, eds), (Chapter 12), p.292 – 322. Sydney: Elsevier.
Borenstein, M., Hedges, L. V., Higgins, J. P., & Rothstein, H. R. (2009). Introduction to Meta-analysis. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155 - 159.
Ellis, P. D. (2010). The essential guide to effect sizes: Statistical power, meta-analysis, and the interpretation of research results. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Field, A. (2018). Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (5th ed.). London: Sage Publications. Or, earlier editions.
Field, A. P. & Wilcox, R. R. (2017) Robust statistical methods: A primer for clinical psychology and experimental psychopathology researchers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 98, 19 - 38.
Hayes, A. F. (2017). Introduction to Mediation, Moderation, and Conditional Process Analysis: A Regression-based Approach (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Huitema, B. E. (2011). The analysis of covariance and alternatives: Statistical methods for experiments, quasi-experiments, and single-case studies (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Kendall, P. C. & Comer, J. S. (2014). Research methods in clinical psychology. In, Oxford handbook of clinical psychology, Updated edition (D. H. Barlow, editor), 52 – 74. London: Oxford University Press.
Moher, D. et al. (2009). Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement. BMJ, 339, b2535 [or] PLoS Med, 6(7): e1000097.
Moher, D. et al. (2010). CONSORT 2010 Statement explanation and elaboration. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 63 (8), e1 – e37. For reporting experimental designs.
Nelson, H. D. (2014). Systematic reviews to answer health care questions. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Shadish, W.R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Smith, J. D. (2012). Single-case experimental designs: A systematic review of published research and current standards. Psychological Methods, 17, 510 – 550