Research Seminar I: Theory, hypotheses and testing

Course goals

 
First, to guide second-year SHP students through the complex tasks of coming up with a good research question and the operationalization thereof. Second, to guide students in writing up their research proposal. And third, to have the students develop those skills and engage in activities that are associated as important to being part of the academic community. All the aims of Research Seminar 1 described above are dimensions of evaluation. The development of the research question and methodology are evaluated in the beginning of the course in the form of graded presentations. The research proposal is evaluated both in terms of conceptual and methodological clarity, as well as on writing ability. And students' engagement to the academic community is graded through reports of a symposium visit.
 
Grading is therefore fully connected to the learning goals of the course.
 

Content

The research seminars are interactive, with a strong focus on students' presentations and discussions of their project and progress. In research seminar 1, the emphasis is on instructing, supporting and supervising students in writing their research proposal, which has to be submitted to the Board of Studies. Furthermore, the theoretical part of their thesis (background, problem definition, overview of research and theories (including theoretical models), research question(s) and hypotheses), and the design and preparation of their empirical study will be of core interest. Both written products will be written in close collaboration with the supervisor and conform to the format of a high impact journal article in the domain. As a general rule, papers are expected to follow the guidelines outlined in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition).

The course will take a "learning by doing" and "learn from each other" approach. Students will quickly write a first draft of their proposal, evaluate each other's proposal in small groups and continue to fine-tune their proposals until they are suitable for submission to the Board of Studies. Students will also act as each other's reviewer throughout the whole course: they learn how to give critical yet constructive comments to other students, and deal with other students' criticism. As is the case when dealing with funding agencies such as NWO, European Union and NIH, students will also learn how to make a case for why their proposals are better, more relevant or will have more impact than that of their peers.

By the end of research seminar 1, students will have (1) completed and turned in their research proposal to the board of studies (2) completed the introduction section of their thesis (including list of references), and (3) prepared the study procedures, developed materials and planned the recruitment of participants.