Master's Thesis Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology

Course goals

After finishing the master's thesis the student has gained experience with conducting psychological empirical research. At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

• formulate a scientific research question
• formulate testable hypotheses based on scientific arguments
• design or modify a study to test the hypotheses
• collect data autonomously or with others; develop materials if needed
• analyze data to test the hypotheses
• write a clear and structured report according to the APA guidelines
• present and defend research findings
• collaborate with other team members in research projects
• reflect on ethical issues during all phases of the research process
• provide and accept constructive feedback
• review and evaluate scientific empirical research based on scientific arguments

Relation between assessment and objective
During the master's thesis psychology students will gain experience with almost every aspect of scientific research. With the research proposal it is tested whether students can prepare a scientific study design and write a concise study proposal. Evaluation of the practical work (e.g., testing participants, analyzing) and presenting the study will be part of the final grade. The most important part of the master's thesis is the research report (format: scientific article). Hence, in the grading, the thesis, the presentation and the process will be considered, covering the whole of academic research and communication skills and knowledge.
 

Content

The topic of the master’s thesis has to be a quantitative empirical investigation within the domain of developmental psychology and needs to be linked to a theoretical framework. Most theses are conducted in the context of on-going research projects in the department. These projects focus on themes in the fields of normal as well as problematic development of children and adolescents in different social contexts (home, school, peer group).

Research for the thesis may also be conducted outside of the university. In such cases sometimes supervision can be supplied by the organization where the research is performed, but always a member of departmental staff (CCAP) must be involved too: either as first or as second supervisor.

Grading
The final grade consist of three components. First, the primary product and basis of grading of the master's thesis is the thesis itself. In principle, it should be written in English, but exceptions are considered, if based on good grounds. Second, the student needs to present and defend the thesis in English (no exceptions). The third criterion for grading concerns the research process, which will be monitored by the supervisor across the whole course of the research project.