Introduction to Management Psychology and Quantitative Workplace Data
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| PSTY4073 | School of Medicine | 4 | 20 | Full Year UK |
- Code
- PSTY4073
- School
- School of Medicine
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Full Year UK
Summary
This course empowers workplace researchers with knowledge and skills for the design, execution, interpretation, and presentation of workplace health and management research. The learning materials recognise that most students coming to the course have not completed an accredited undergraduate psychology degree; in response the course (a) provides foundation level coverage prior to the topic area and to quantitative data before introducing more sophisticated statistical techniques and (b) utilises workplace-specific research examples throughout.
The course covers approaches to the core topic areas within management psychology including the design of workplace health and management studies, the collection of data, and the evaluation of that data with a view towards the construction of an evidence-based argument for the introduction of policies, procedures, and interventions that are designed to generate occupational health and performance benefits. The underlying guiding principle is one of facilitating practitioners in the development of the knowledge, confidence, and vocabulary required to explain, justify and implement studies in the organisational setting.
Target Students
Students registered on the MSc in Management Psychology within the Division of Psychiatry and Applied Psychology.
Classes
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 10 weeks
- One 4-hour lecture each week for 5 weeks
Lectures will take place in the Semester 1 Block A, seminar activities may will take place in specified weeks.
Assessment
- 50% Presentation 1: Group Presentation - 30 minutes (Management Psychology Topic).
- 50% EXAM: 2 hour Exam (Statistics).
Assessed by end of designated period
Educational Aims
This course has four main aims:1.To provide an introduction to the nature and contribution of applied psychology to the world of work2.To focus on core topics of relevance to management psychology3.To help participants develop the critical skills required for postgraduate study and to undertake their research project.4.To introduce students to concepts and tests relevant to quantitative workplace data as follows:• Measures of central tendency • Measures of dispersion • Levels of measurement • Statistical significance • Introduction to SPSS • skew and kurtosis • Tests of association (correlation, linear regression, logistic regression) • Tests of difference (t-test, one-way ANOVA, chi-square test of independence)On completion of this module students should be able to:a)Understand the key issues and debates in relation to:•Management psychology•Organisations: strategy; structure; systems; staff; skills; style and shared values•What makes a sound theoretical contributionb) understand the circumstances in which a quantitative approach to data collection might be appropriate,c)distinguish between various research goalsd)develop research questions and hypothesese)demonstrate familiarity with approaches to quantitative data collection and associated pros and consf)understand statistical significance, demonstrate familiarity with measures of central tendency and dispersion, their strengths and weaknesses, and calculationg)demonstrate competence in the use of SPSSLearning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
A1 the theoretical basis of management psychology
A13 Sound knowledge and understanding of quantitative research methods
A14 Sound knowledge and understanding of research design
Intellectual Skills
B1 analyse and interpret evidence
B2 display the skills of problem-solving and reasoning
B3 demonstrate independence of thought
B4 appraise critically and evaluate
B5 apply psychological research methods
B6 problem-solve in relation to psychological, social and organisational issues in work and organisational psychology
Professional Practical Skills
Cl oral and written communication and presentation
C2 time management
C3 teamwork
Transferable (key) skills
D2 communicate effectively in writing
D3 communicate effectively by oral presentation
D4 retrieve information from databases and the Internet
D6 problem-solve in organisational psychology