📖Program Curriculum
Understanding the psychological aspects of national and international political developments is increasingly important in a world where there is frequent political upheaval and tension not to mention big issues within societies like gender inequality racism climate change alienation and structural inequalities that need to be addressed head on.
Studying psychological theory as it relates to social and political issues you will develop the advanced research skills needed to investigate social behaviour and its influences considering the effect of bias prejudice cultural identity morals values and attitudes on human decision-making emotions and interactions.
Better still you will gain substantial first hand experience conducting multiple psychological research projects and experiencing a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research methods. In doing so you will develop new ways of thinking about yourself and those around you as well as society at large. For example one student looked at how research could be used to bridge the gap between ordinary people and people in power by interviewing prospective voters in Brazil during an election year to discover what they looked for in a 'role model' politician.
The MSc Applied Social and Political Psychology can be studied as either a one-year full-time or two-year part-time course with a September start date. It also possible to study more flexibly part-time on a modular basis accumulating degree credits by taking individual modules over a period of maximum of five years.
You will complete 180 credits to obtain the master’s qualification comprising eight modules. For full-time students six core and two optional modules are spread over two semesters (120 credits in total) while the Dissertation is worked on throughout the duration of the course (60 credits). You will agree the topic for your Dissertation with your supervisor during Semester 1. You can choose optional modules from within Psychology or other relevant Schools across the University. For example the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences offers modules relating to human rights global security and international relations. Part-time students take 90 credits for two years with the dissertation taken in the second year.
There are two interim awards available depending on how many modules have been successfully completed: a Postgraduate Certificate for any two modules (60 credits); and a Postgraduate Diploma for all four taught modules (120 credits).
Semester one core modules
PSY-40099 Rethinking Research: Knowledge Power and Diversity (15 credits Semester 1)
Developing inclusive research practices and being able to represent the voices of marginalised groups is critical to changing society and politics. This module aims to develop a critical awareness of how research knowledge is generated and how structural inequalities are created and reinforced by research norms and practices. At an advanced level you will learn key skills in how to design analyse and evaluate applied social and political psychological research that is both inclusive and captures human diversity.
PSY-40085 Critical Approaches to Health Social and Political psychology (15 credits Semester 1)
Challenging your understanding of what psychology is you will consider the role of the environment and social context in shaping individual psyche and how we can break down barriers that may exclude individuals and groups from full participation in society. You will be encouraged to reflect on your own assumptions and moral values and those of organisations and social influencers through perspectives offered by for example discourse analysis social representation theory social dominance theory social ecology and moral philosophy around topics such as gender inequalities climate change social hierarchies LGBTQ+ loneliness and parenting.
PSY-40095 Advanced Research Skills Design and Analysis (15 credits Semester 1)
Through taught and interactive sessions we prepare you to plan conduct and analyse your own psychological research. Using quantitative and qualitative methods you will learn to generate research questions translate these into the design of your research appropriately analyse data and report your findings by writing a structured psychology lab report using standard (APA) formatting. You can tailor your studies by focusing on the methods design and analysis most useful to you.
Semester two core modules
PSY-40105 Global Issues: How to Organise for Social Change (15 credits Semester 2)
You will consider how social and political psychological theory as well as a host of theories from other fields (e.g. moral philosophy social ecology) and research can be applied to both understand and tackle contemporary global issues. Exploring topics such as social injustice environmental injustice protests and activism policing radicalisation and de-radicalisation stigma and inequalities you will engage with 'big questions'. This touches on some of the biggest challenges facing individuals and communities and the ways in which social change can contribute to positive solutions.
PSY-40087 Action Research: Co-Creating Research to make a Difference (15 credits Semester 2)
This module develops your understanding of how research can be carried out to bring about social change within diverse communities and community organisations. After learning about the core principles of what defines action research you will gain 'hands-on' experience. You will co-create a group action research project taking it from initial design stage through to data collection analysis and dissemination. You will then write a 2000-word advocacy policy brief targeted at decision and policy makers.
PSY-40038 Research Apprenticeship in Psychology (15 credits Semester 2)
You will work with staff as part of their research teams gaining valuable experience of working on an active research project alongside an experienced research mentor. Apprenticeships are offered across a range of subjects fields and activities and represent the diverse expertise of our academic staff. These will support and extend your research skills. Projects could involve designing and preparing full or partial research reports systematic literature reviews grant proposals and ethics applications with the real possibility that research findings may eventually be published.
Dissertation
PSY-40045 Dissertation (60 credits preparation in Semester 1 & 2 writing up over summer)
You will undertake an independent project in your chosen field of interest under the supervision of an experienced member of staff developing in-depth experience of research methods in your specific research area. It is your chance to apply the skills and knowledge gained throughout the course to design conduct analyse and report an appropriate piece of empirical research demonstrating a level of knowledge and understanding far beyond what you have learned in class. By way of example previous topics have included a study of how marginalised groups engage in competitive victimhood and undermine the prospects of building collective solidarity and collective action. Another focused on the impact of a particular victim group’s forgiveness messages following terror attacks.
Optional modules
You will study two additional 15-credit modules one in the first semester and another in the second semester chosen from a wide range of modules available across the University. This includes the Psychology Placement listed below.
The list of optional modules is selected at the beginning of the academic year giving you greater flexibility to tailor your course. You can advance your knowledge of closely linked subjects choosing psychology modules such as Using Research to Influence Policy and Practice. Alternatively you can diversify choosing modules from a different discipline altogether. For example modules from the School of Social Political and Global Studies include Foundations of Human Rights The Changing International Agenda or Equality Discrimination and Minorities. Those keen to pursue research or PhD study may prefer additional research options including Enhancing Reproducibility in Research which covers one of the most pressing issues facing scientists today. You will learn best practice approaches to combat the ‘replication crisis’ which has found the results of many scientific studies are difficult or impossible to reproduce.
Semester 1 (in brackets is the School if the module is not taught by Psychology)
PSY-40089 Psychology Placement (Semester 1 or 2). You will be encouraged to participate in the optional placement module as a valuable personal and career development opportunity. This module allows you to relate your learning to actual research or practice in your chosen professional setting and it will place you in a strong position post-graduation. We will draw on our existing collaborations with external organisations to help you find meaningful placement opportunities. Alternatively we can support you to find a placement with an organisation that you identify yourself. You will gain authentic work experience in a relevant social and political psychology environment. As an example and depending on availability this could include a different academic setting a government organisation or a charity. The placement can be either based at the organisation's facilities or be digitally based; therefore you could take a placement in an organisation which you might not be able to commute to.
LAW-40047 Equality Discrimination Minorities (School of Law)
LAW-40048 Foundations of Human Rights (School of Law)
PIR-40093 The Changing International Agenda (School of Social Political and Global Studies)
Semester 2 (in brackets is the School if the module is not taught by Psychology)
PSY-40089 Psychology Placement (Semester 1 or 2). See description above.
PSY-40107 Enhancing Reproducibility in Research
A 2016 survey of over 1500 researchers by the prominent journal Nature found that 90% believed there is a "replication crisis" in research. The factors leading to a lack of reproducibility are complex and many ranging from the behaviour of individual researchers through to the incentive structures within academic publishing and funding. This module will provide an in-depth exploration of the main threats to reproducible research together with concrete solutions to counter these. The module will also provide hands-on experience of coding with an open-source statistical programming language and how to create a fully reproducible report of quantitative data analysis. Note that no prior programming experience is required. The module will leave you well-positioned to enhance the trustworthiness and quality of the research you conduct.
PSY-40083 Using Research to Influence Policy and Practice
You will explore how research can be used to influence policy and practice across a range of settings such as government charity sector and education. Gaining hands-on experience of writing for a policy setting you will be tasked with writing a policy brief on a policy related to an issue of your choice in one of the domains covered in class in a similar style as the POST notes produced by the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology.
PIR-40119 Race and Justice: Civil Rights in the U.S.(School of Social Political and Global Studies)
LAW-40046 Human Rights and Global Politics (School of Law)
LAW-40058 International Refugee Law (School of Law)
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