7PSY103 Research Project in Clinical Psychology Handbook 2024-25

7PSY103 Research Project in Clinical Psychology

Welcome to the project module. This part of the programme allows students to carry out a novel and potentially publishable piece of research. The pre-requisite of this module is to pass the research methods and data analysis (7PSY1022) module. This module is also worth 60 credits. This module has two components; the pre-registration which accounts for 10% of the overall module, and the research project, which accounts for 90% of the final marks. Please note, that you have to pass both components of the module to pass overall.

The specific aims are outlined below.

Project Aims:

The aims of this module are to enable students to:

• Carry out a comprehensive quantitative or qualitative investigation involving a psychological topic in the area of Clinical Psychology. This includes a research proposal, including applying for ethics approval, a systematic literature review, the implementation of a suitable research design, data analysis, interpretation, presentation and critical discussion of results.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge and Understanding

Successful students will typically:

• Demonstrate expert knowledge in relation to a specific area of on-going research relevant to Clinical Psychology providing the background and the foundation for the project. Be competent in dealing with any ethical requirements of the investigation they plan to undertake. Master competently the challenges associated with designing, implementing, analysing, interpreting and disseminating their psychological investigation.

Module Content

There are no formal lectures. Guidance is given by project supervisors, and in sessions on preparing an ethics application and on software available to use for online data collection. Students will develop, under the supervision of an appropriate member of staff, a research question which they will operationalise. Relevant data collection and analysis guidance will

be provided. Students are expected to demonstrate a high level of critical awareness of contemporary literature an in-depth data analysis.

Word length for the project is 8000 words.

Note: the limit of 8000 words is a strict limit and any words exceeding this limit will not be marked.

Please note the suggested structure below – students and supervisors can arrange their own deadlines by mutual agreement. Please bear in mind that the deadline for the project hand-in is by 5pm on Friday 5th September 2025 on Canvas.

Schedule of sessions: Please refer to the Project pages on Canvas for latest schedule. Please note, support sessions will be hosted in Semester B and Semester C.

Schedule of work

Note: the project timelines may differ somewhat depending on the nature of the project. Work completed ahead of the suggested schedule will allow more time to write the project report, and consequently increase the opportunity to achieve a higher grade. However, projects that fall behind the above schedule are at risk of not allowing sufficient time for data collection, analysis and writing the project report, and consequently this may be reflected in your grade. It is important that the ethics application is submitted by 20th May 2025 so as to stay on track to finish the project in time.

The Structure of the Pre-registration

The pre-registration accounts for 10% of the module. Please note, you have to pass this component of the module to move on to the project.
The pre-registration should be a concise and coherent summary of the proposed research. In particular the research proposal should include:

• Project title
• Research question(s)
• Full details of your methodology, including sample size
• Comprehensive data analysis plan, including cleaning data, dealing with missing data Further guidance on writing the research proposal is on CANVAS. There you will see pre- registration templates for quantitative, qualitative and meta-analysis projects. Your supervisor can give feedback on 1 draft of your proposal.

The Structure of the Research Project

The research report should be presented in structure, style, content and format as if for publication in a scientific journal. The aim of the following checklist is NOT to provide a COMPLETE description of what a project report should contain but rather to draw your attention to some important features of a good report.

Supervision Process

You should meet regularly with your supervisor, throughout your project. Remember your supervisor is there to guide you, not do the work for you. It is up to you to have regular contact/communication with them.

The supervisor will normally provide written feedback to students as follows: once on the Abstract, Introduction, Method and Results. Please note, no supervisor feedback shall be given on the written Discussion section of the report (although students and supervisors can verbally discuss the main themes of the discussion section). Supervisors are not required to provide feedback on drafts that are submitted to them after the negotiated deadline. The draft sections of the abstract, introduction, methods and results may be sent separately or all at the same to the supervisor for feedback. Please discuss with your supervisor when you will you send drafts, so the supervisor is aware when these are likely to arrive.

Obtaining Ethical Permission

All students who plan to do research with human subjects must apply to the Health Science Engineering & Technology Ethics Committee with Delegated Authority (HSETECDA) at the University of Hertfordshire for ethical approval of their proposed study and no work, even in the form of a pilot study, can be undertaken until this approval has been granted.

Please see the documents in the Ethics Resources unit on the module web site on Canvas for further guidance and links to the ethics forms. Ethics applications are written by the student with guidance from the supervisor on the EC1 form which is then submitted by the supervisor to the HSETECDA administrator. Note that all ethics applications submitted via the new Ethics online system. All applications must include an appropriate Risk Assessment that has been approved and signed (electronic copy) by the Department of Psychology, Sport and Geography Health and Safety Advisor, Jon Gillard (j.gillard@herts.ac.uk). A copy of the notification granting ethical approval and giving the protocol number must be copied into appendices of the electronic copy of the completed project report. It is not necessary to include the full ethics application in the project report.

Students are required to observe ethical principles at all times during the conduct of their project, especially in relation to matters of confidentiality of information and in relation to procedures applied to individuals. Students will be advised on these matters by their project supervisors in accordance with the standard statement of principles adopted by the Health Science Engineering & Technology Ethics Committee with Delegated Authority (HSETECDA).

Data: please note, it is expected that all students will share a copy ofdata with their supervisor via a GDPR compliant one drive. This data should be shared ahead of submission to facilitate marking.

MSc Research Project in Clinical Psychology Marking Sheet (7PSY1031)
Name of student:
Title of project:
Name of 1st or 2nd marker:

Research Projects can differ considerably in their aims, data material or data analytic procedures. When marking a project, please consider the specific criteria stated below relating to the introduction with an integrated literature review, the method and results chapter and the discussion.

The marking criteria (see below) relating to each chapter of the MSc Research Project Report are widely used when reviewing the strengths or weaknesses of empirical papers and should serve as a checklist for assessing the academic quality of the report. More specifically, your mark should take into account the thoroughness of the literature review and the coherence of the rationale for the research questions that were derived from it, the correctness, professionality, and detail of the results presented and the depth of the discussion. The discussion should draw appropriate conclusions by providing a critical examination of the findings, commenting on their relevance as well as identifying strengths and limitations of the project. Structure, format and writing style of the MSc thesis as a whole must also be taken into consideration.
Depending on the nature of a project, some of the criteria stated below may be of less importance or not applicable at all. Please exercise discretion as appropriate.

To make the marking process transparent and facilitate the agreement of an overall mark between the two markers, please give separate marks for the introduction, method and results as well as the discussion chapter.

For each chapter, please award one of the following marks:

The following percentage marks apply:

0%, (No report submitted Fail) 10%, (little or nothing of merit) 25%, 32%, 35%, 38%(clear fail)
42, 45%, 48% (marginal fail)
52%, 55%, 58% (PASS)
62%, 65%, 68% (COMMENDATION)
72%, 77% (very good) 85% (excellent) 95% (outstanding)

The final grade for the report will then be determined as an average across the 4 marks.

Note: Should any of the chapters receive a grade below 45%, the project overall cannot receive a pass grade. Similarly, with two or more marginal fails, an overall pass grade cannot be awarded.

1)Introduction

A)Content related criteria:

• Relevance and breadth of the literature presented
• Clarity and detail of the literature search including relevant appendices
• Depth of the review and critical analysis of individual papers
• Development of a clear rationale for the project following from the summary of the literature review
• Formulation and explanation of the hypotheses or research questions of the study

B)Format and style

• Structure and style of the presentation
• Coherence in argumentation and clarify of expression Percentage mark for the introduction:

2)Method chapter

• Chosen study design is appropriate and presented in good detail
• Full description of the recruitment process of participants or individual cases is given; sample selection mechanisms are described; the chosen sample size is justified by a power calculation
• Experimental or intervention procedures or techniques are explained properly
• Measurements used and/or the construction and evaluation of new measurements are presented in detail. A clear definition of all relevant variables is provided
• For a qualitative study: appropriate details on purposive sampling, development of an interview schedule, interview setting, process of transcription, method for coding and analysing the transcripts; comments on how rigour was ensured for the analysis and interpretation of findings.
• Percentage mark for the method chapter:

3)Results chapter

• The presentation of results is systematic and coherent and the results chapter is well structured
• Statistical data analytic procedures are appropriate and suitably sophisticated in relation to the study's objectives
• Results are presented in detail, with clarity and in proper statistical notation
• Layout of tables and figures is professional meeting APA standards
• Comments explaining the results are appropriate and pertinent
• For a qualitative study: apply relevant criteria of rigour and validity; themes and subthemes have been verbally presented with clarity and detail, and their interpretation is coherent and substantiated (e.g. use of conceptual maps; quotes) Percentage mark for the results chapter:

4)Discussion section (including reference list and Appendices)

• Findings are thoroughly discussed distinguishing minor from major results
• Findings are compared with relevant results from research articles presented in the introduction
• Clear conclusions in relation to the objectives of the study are drawn
• Limitations of the present study are identified and discussed drawing on established criteria of validity in research
• There are some suggestions for future research or how shortcomings of the present study could be rectified
• The discussion shows coherence in argumentation and conciseness in expression throughout
• References are complete and in APA format
• Appendices are well structured with useful annotations
• Style of writing, structure and coherence of the chapter Percentage mark for the discussion chapter:    %