School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Experimental Research Design and Analysis
  • Unit Code

    PSY6830
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    1
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    Online
  • Unit Coordinator

    Ms Priscilla VINDIN

Description

In this unit students will learn core principles of experimental and quasi-experimental research designs and associated parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses for research in psychology. Students will evaluate factors that impact internal and external validity of experimental research and consider relevant ethical issues. Students will learn about the scientist practitioner model of professional psychology and consider a range of approaches to evidence in psychology.

Non Standard Timetable Requirements

Students undertake one unit at a time in the fully online, accelerated delivery mode (6 weeks).

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Critically analyse experimental research designs and techniques for psychological research.
  2. Propose experimental research designs and statistical analyses to ethically investigate applied issues in psychology.
  3. Appraise evidence from experimental research within a cultural context to generate responses to psychological research questions.
  4. Evaluate the use of evidence within the scientist practitioner model of professional psychology.

Unit Content

  1. Internal and external validity in experimental research designs.
  2. Research designs for investigating individual and group differences.
  3. Inferential statistics, parametric and non-parametric statistical analyses for experimental research designs.
  4. Ethics in experimental research.
  5. Data visualisation and research communication.
  6. Types of evidence and the scientist practitioner model of professional psychology.

Learning Experience

Students will engage in learning experiences via ECU’s LMS as well as additional ECU learning technologies

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ONLINE
TypeDescriptionValue
AssignmentResearch critique20%
ExerciseData analysis and interpretation40%
AssignmentResearch proposal40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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