Master's Thesis Clinical Psychology

Course goals

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

• review and evaluate scientific empirical research based on scientific arguments
• formulate scientific research questions
• formulate testable hypotheses based on scientific arguments
• design a study to test the hypotheses
• collect data autonomously
• analyze data to test the hypotheses
• write a clear and structured report according to the APA guidelines
• collaborate with other team members in research projects
• reflect on ethical issues during all phases of the research process
• provide and accept constructive feedback

The primary product and basis of grading of the thesis course is the thesis itself. In principle, it should be written in English, but exceptions are considered, if based on good grounds. The main focus of the thesis should lie within the field of Clinical Psychology. A second criterion for grading concerns the research process, which will be monitored by the supervisor across the whole course of the research project.

Relation between assessment and objective
In the grading of the project the thesis and the process will be considered, covering the whole of academic research, communication skills, and knowledge.

Content

Conducting or participating in an empirical, scientific study is one of the essential elements of the master curriculum. The master thesis is the ultimate test of being capable of planning, conducting and reporting such a study.
 
Participation in a research project with the aim of writing a master thesis can start either at the beginning of the first or at the beginning of the second semester. Announcements for potential projects become available on a special Brightspace site well in advance of the starting points and students are invited to apply for a project well in advance of the official start. The announced projects are often studies proposed by teaching staff from the department, but sometimes external projects are open for student participation too. For the allocation to an internal project, students are requested to submit their top ten of internal projects in the first week of September and will subsequently be matched to one of their preferred projects. Under strict conditions, students can conduct a self-designed study or find an internal project themselves. In that case, the student needs to find a supervisor, contact the thesis coordinator well in advance (at least six weeks) before the official start of the thesis course. Only if the thesis coordinator accepts the proposal on the criteria of scientific quality and viability (often after feedback and revision) before September, (self-designed) research projects can be conducted.
 
Thesis studies can be conducted alone or in small teams (usually couples). It must be emphasized that - despite the group work - the thesis itself is an individual product. Supervision is provided on a regular basis by the thesis supervisor. Students will have the opportunity to join a small intervision group consisting of other students to share tips and provide feedback on each other’s work.
 
The master thesis needs to be written according to the general structure of reports of empirical psychological studies (introduction, methods, results and discussion) and hypotheses need to be tested using quantitative research methods. Additional use of qualitative techniques and methods is allowed.