Postgraduate Taught

Application Deadline

Applications for September 2013 must be submitted by 31 March 2013.

General Information

The MSc in Clinical Psychological Research provides research training and taught content in clinical psychological research, building on areas of staff research expertise at Keele. It prepares students for a Clinical Doctorate, a PhD in psychological research relevant to clinical psychology and other relevant careers.

Our training is based closely on our staff research interests. These currently reflect strengths in interventions to help people on the autistic spectrum; Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; psychological caregiving in physical illness; the mental health needs of people with learning disabilities; building clinical research capacity; interprofessional learning; neuropsychological investigations of memory and executive function in patients with Parkinsons Disease, anteriormedial thalamic lesions, Schizophrenia and Major Affective Disorder; neuropsychological changes in McArdle’s Disease and pathologies of belief such as the Capgras Delusion and Cotard’s Delusion; and effects of various agents on human cognitive performance, including alcohol, mild head injury and repetitive movement.

This course aims to build on our research expertise by providing structured psychological training in clinical psychological research so that those successfully completing the course can proceed along a career path related to clinical psychology.

Funding

Keele University bursaries of £1000 towards fees are available for all Keele graduates. Applicants are welcome to discuss sources of funding with the School of Psychology.

Career Destination Information

As well as providing research training in clinical psychological research preparatory to undertaking training at Doctorate level, this course offers the opportunity for students to seek employment as a researcher in a variety of allied professions.

Application Deadline

This is a popular MSc course and places are awarded competitively. Applications for Sep 2013 entry must be submitted by 31 March 2013.

This course provides an opportunity to obtain advanced training in clinical psychological research along with the opportunity to conduct research in a variety of settings. The course aims are:

• To develop students’ understanding of different theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches within clinical psychological research
• To develop advanced expertise relevant to clinical psychological research
• To provide students with the opportunities of working in a setting pertinent to clinical psychological research

This course is open to graduates with a first or upper second-class degree in psychology or overseas equivalent. Individuals without such qualifications but with other relevant experience should contact the course director to discuss whether they would benefit from the course.

In order to obtain a Masters degree, students are required to obtain 180 credits, including a 60-credit dissertation. The course modules are set out below. Credit value for each module is given in brackets.

Course Modules

Core Modules (70 credits)

• Theory and Methodology in Psychology (30 credits): Focuses on philosophical issues in social science and psychology and specific research techniques in psychology
• Qualitative Data Analysis (20 credits): Covers practical application of interpretative methodologies through the exploration of content, discourse and narrative analysis of interview and textual data
• Quantitative Data Analysis II (advanced) (20 credits): Covers a variety of analytic methods including extensions of the regression model, analysis of variance and multivariate data reduction techniques such as factor analysis

Specialist Modules (50 credits)

• Special topics in Psychology 1 (15 credits): Students choose from currently available Level 3 modules in Cognitive Neuropsychology, Behaviour Analysis in Clinical Psychology, or Health Psychology
• Special topics in Psychology 2 (15 credits): The second special topic is based on independent study, leading to the preparation of an essay under one-to-one supervision of a Special Topic supervisor
• Research Apprenticeship (20 credits): Students work on a staff-led research project as an apprentice, gaining experience of designing and conducting psychological research

Dissertation (60 credits)

Students may select any appropriate topic in the area of Clinical Psychological Research, providing that specialist supervision
is available. It is normally expected that Psychology students will undertake an empirical dissertation, designing, conducting, and reporting on an original piece of psychological research using appropriate design, methods, and data analysis strategies.

The course is assessed through coursework, verbal presentation of research, poster presentations, unseen examination and independent research written up as a final dissertation (15,000-20,000 words). The pass mark in each module is 50%, and all modules must be passed to obtain the MSc.

A distinction will be awarded for exceptional performance (broadly an overall average of 70% or more including 70% in the dissertation). A merit will be awarded where overall performance is in the range 60-69% (including 60% in the dissertation).

• Home/EU = £3,900 (full-time), £2,150 (part-time).
• International: £11,300

There are a number of bursaries on offer to both home and overseas postgraduate students. Please see this page for details and eligibility.