History of Psychology and Research Methods

This course provides an introduction to research methods and their use in psychology research. Other central themes include the historical development of the subject’s core issues and the growth of modern psychology. The course also provides an introduction to scientific methodology and its use in psychological research, which is then grounded in a historical perspective. The course covers on the entire research process, including: generating a research question, the research design (experiments, qualitative design etc.), the data gathering phase (sampling, interviews, observation, questionnaires etc.), data analysis (descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, coding and categorising of text data etc.) and reporting and conveying the research results. Ethics serve as a key focus throughout, looking at how they apply to current regulations and guidelines, as well as in a historical perspective.  Compulsory submissions will be formulated in a way that helps students develop their ability to write in a scholarly manner. The course focuses on teaching the elements that characterise established scholarly writing, including methods of structuring and referencing (APA).

Knowledge ·The student has a foundational understanding of the historical development of the field of psychology and a familiarity with the scientific thought processes and use of concepts within qualitative and quantitative research in psychology ·The student has a knowledge of the academic writing style used in the field of psychology, and the significance of development and change in key approaches used to understand psychological phenomena. ·The student has a knowledge of the current regulations for research (NSD, REK, Lovdata) and of ethics, grounded in a historical perspective.    Skills ·The student can apply methodical concepts in their analyses of different types of knowledge and convey this in writing. ·The student can reflect on contemporary theory and practice in the field of psychology, grounded in a historical context. ·The student can find research literature and do simple literature searches. ·The student can prepare simple scholarly texts in line with the formal requirements. ·The student has an understanding of the entire research process and can carry out fundamental analyses of research data and report, convey and discuss the result.    General competence: ·The student can express themselves in writing in a way that satisfies the basic requirements for scholarly standards. ·The student can convey core subject matters related to the history of psychology and its research methods, and know which form of research method best suits different types of quantitative and qualitative research questions ·The student has an insight into the ethical challenges connected to research.

Lectures, up to 4 times a week. Organised colloquiums and writing seminars