MSc Research Methods in Psychology

Carve out your future career in psychological research or practice with instruction in the advanced theory and methods that underpin psychological science. With a hands-on approach to learning, practical activities built into all elements of learning give you direct experience of the connections between theory, evidence, and practice. A wide range of elective modules allows you to tailor the programme to your requirements, and provides instruction in the specialist techniques and transferable skills you need to shape the psychologist you want to be.

Careers with this subject

The programme provides advanced training and experience that puts graduates at a competitive advantage in academic or professional psychological practice. Insight and instruction of core psychological research competencies provide a foundation for the exploration of the knowledge and skills specific to particular career-pathways. Selection amongst the wide-range of elective modules provides experiential-learning of advanced topics relevant to clinical practice, techniques in behaviour change, and human neuroscience. These options allow you to shape the psychologist that you want to become, with the skills and experience requisite for doctoral training, or immediate professional or commercial practice.

Key features

Study part-time over 2 years. Our hands-on approach to learning embeds practical activities throughout the programme, so you can put new knowledge into practice and build the skills for future careers; Wide range of elective modules allows you to shape the psychologist you want to become, allowing a deep-dive on techniques in clinical practice, neuroscience and behaviour change; Taught lectures are concentrated on three specific days of the week (although some sessions may fall outside this pattern), allowing full or part-time study to be combined with research, work experience, or external commitments; Advanced instruction on all aspects of the research cycle: from the formulation of the research question, experiment design, data analysis, through to the written and oral communication of your findings and applications for further research funding. Work with world-leading researchers and practitioners in the exploration of a research topic of your own choosing. Our extensive range of specialist facilities and laboratories, including neuroimaging, observation, virtual reality, and the Plymouth Babylab, allow you to make an original contribution to your chosen area of specialism.

Most students will hold an honours degree, usually a 2:1, preferably in Psychology but also in cognate subjects (e.g. computational neuroscience), although we would also consider applicants who can demonstrate their ability to thrive on this programme due to professional experience.