PY0797 - Professional Practice Occupational Psychology Research

What will I learn on this module?

Through a combination of lectures and seminar discussions you will engage with academics and other practitioners to examine how professional knowledge can be constructed. These activities will help you produce a research plan that incorporates -defining a research problem, developing a rationale, formulating a research statement, and form the clear and critical research question that will guide and inform your doctoral project. You will examine the relationship between research and practice in occupational psychology and consider how to effectively develop concepts, use theoretical frameworks and apply reflective approaches. You will use these skills to support the development, undertaking, and successful completion of either supervised research in an applied workplace context, or the critical evaluation of a portfolio of evidence detailing professional practice and development. You will appraise how the development of evidence enables an analysis of current occupational psychology knowledge and practice. Throughout, you will consider how improvements in professional practice and workplace decision making can be created.

The core of the module will enable you to critically consider the theory and evidence that underpins approaches in occupational psychology and to apply this to your thesis subject. In this regard, you will cover key occupational psychology literature as well as engaging in reflexive practice to position yourself as a practitioner within the proposed research. You will learn the principles of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. You will also engage with the ethics of research, which are a fundamental value of the practising occupational psychologist.

Finally, you will learn about effective research proposal design, which is an essential aspect of the programme. This will assist you in formulating a clear and original occupational psychology-based doctoral project, which will be the basis of your research for the duration of the doctoral programme. Your doctoral research will result in an original contribution to the field that addresses real world problems and emerging challenging in the context of occupational psychology.

How will I learn on this module?

You will learn within tutor-led lecture sessions that are devoted to specific topics on a week-by-week basis, and in seminar-style discussions that will enable you to work effectively in groups in order to discuss and evaluate questions and debates drawn from contemporary issues facing both occupational psychology and the workplace in general. Taught and workshop sessions can be delivered in face-to-face teaching environments and/or via online provision through platforms such as Panopto and Blackboard Collaborate to facilitate synchronous and asynchronous teaching and learning provision.

How will I be supported academically on this module?

You will be supported through module information and teaching materials available through the ELP system in addition to an online Library Reading List that contains numerous eBooks, online journal articles and digitised chapters to ensure that you will have access to numerous learning materials for lecture and workshop tasks and the module assessment. Additionally, outside of formal teaching sessions, you will have access to tutors via tutorial slots and you can raise any issues with the tutor via email.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of a recent and relevant body of knowledge at the forefront of occupational psychology.

2. The ability to recognise the applicability (and potential limitations) of methods relating to an appropriate doctoral research subject.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
1. The ability to examine and evaluate differing theoretical and practice based occupational psychology ideas.

2. The ability to formulate clear research ideas and questions and articulate and synthesize a research plan into a coherent and viable doctoral-level research proposal.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

1. An understanding of the core ethical principles that underscore and inform research activity and planning.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment (two parts):

Part One. Critical Appraisal: students will develop an understanding of a complex professional context, reflexively positioning occupational psychology theory and evidence to identify challenges, limitations and opportunities for workplace or professional practice improvement (3000 words).

The assessment will address MLOs:

K&U 1, 2
IPSA 1


Part Two. Doctoral research proposal (2000 words): a focused proposal that communicates the research question, methodological approach and the substantive focus of the doctoral research (written thesis or practice-based).

The assessment will address MLOs:

K&U 1, 2
IPSA 1,2
PVA 1
Feedback will be provided to you electronically through the Turnitin system.

Pre-requisite(s)

N/A

Co-requisite(s)

N/A

Module abstract

The Professional Doctorate in Occupational Psychology provides a programme for practitioner occupational psychologists to further enhance their theoretical and applied understanding of occupational psychology. The module will develop your expertise in relevant occupational psychology literature and research methods that will provide a foundation from which you will be able to conduct original research and produce new knowledge designed to inform practice, which is focused on real-world problems and emerging challenges in occupational psychology.

In this module, you will critically engage with a range of issues, approaches and methods relating to doctoral research planning. You will be introduced to theory, ideas and debates related to workplace settings. You will learn to examine this complexity by identifying limitations in the scope of current evidence and knowledge bases. You will be introduced to research methods appropriate to your professional context that will allow you to examine identified research and evidence gaps. Through this module you will be guided to develop your own research proposal which you will pursue as the central component of your professional doctorate.

Course info

Credits 30

Level of Study Research

Mode of Study 43 months Part Time

School Psychology

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Fee Information

Module Information

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