24504 - Research and Master Thesis

Learning outcomes

By the end of this activity, students will show: - the mastery of basic/fundamental topics of psychosocial and organizational research - the mastery of research methods for psychosocial and organizational studies - the ability to carry out a psychosocial and organizational research.

Course contents

RESEARCH METHODS AND SCIENTIFIC WRITING 30h Pietrantoni Luca

RESEARCH SKILLS 1 15h Moscatelli Silvia

RESEARCH SKILLS 2 15h Menegatti Michela

RESEARCH SKILLS 3 15h Massei Fabio

Course contents of RESEARCH METHODS AND SCIENTIFIC WRITING (PIETRANTONI LUCA):

Scientific writing

APA style

Writing an empirical paper

How to report results in a scientific paper

Course contents of RESEARCH SKILLS/1 (SILVIA MOSCATELLI):

How to do a literature review

Research designs (correlational, experimental, quasi-experimental)

How to formulate a research question and a research hypothesis

Course contents of RESEARCH SKILLS/2 (MICHELA MENEGATTI)

Surveys and questionnaires

Designing items/questions for a questionnaire

Psychometric properties of a scale (reliability, etc.)

Course contents of RESEARCH SKILLS/3 (FABIO MASSEI)

Talent Management and the role of assessment centers

Assessment center tools: putting research into practice

Applied research in WOP-P

Readings/Bibliography

Scientific writing

Pyrczak, F. (2016). Writing empirical research reports: A basic guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Routledge.

Clark, V. L. P. (2014). A Guide to Key Features for Writing Papers in the APA Style.

Nuijten, M. B., Hartgerink, C. H., van Assen, M. A., Epskamp, S., & Wicherts, J. M. (2016). The prevalence of statistical reporting errors in psychology (1985–2013). Behavior research methods, 48(4), 1205-1226.

Literature review:

Hart, C. (1998). Doing a literature review. London: SAGE

Research designs:

Stangor, C., & Walinga, J. (2010) Introduction to Psychology. 1st Canadian edition (Chapter 3: Psychological Science).

Surveys and questionnaires

Krosnick, Jon A., & Presser S. (2009). Question and Questionnaire Design. In J. D. Wright & P. V. Marsden (eds.) Handbook of Survey Research (2nd Edition). Elsevier: San Diego.

Workplace assessment and coaching

Scott, J. C., & Reynolds, D. H. (2010). Handbook of workplace assessment (Vol. 32). John Wiley & Sons.

Chapter 13 (Executive and Managerial Assessment) and chapter 15 (The role of assessment in succession management)

Hernez-Broome, G., & Boyce, L. A. (Eds.). (2010). Advancing executive coaching: Setting the course for successful leadership coaching (Vol. 29). John Wiley & Sons.

Teaching methods

In-Class attendance. Attendance and active participation are highly important. The joint effort of teachers and students is needed. Although we don’t want to rely in the mere strength of negative reinforcements, penalty will be applied for every class missed without due motivation (1 point for every missed 2 hours).

Policy on the Use of Technology in the Classroom. Technology is useful, only when aimed to improve performance in the classroom. Therefore all hand held devices (cell phones, cameras, etc.) should be turned off and packed away during class sessions. Computers in the classroom are a tool for work, and should be used for note-taking only. If computers are used for texting, e-mail, or Internet connection (without the explicit permission of the professor), the professor may stop the use of a computer in that class. Students who need to use voice recorders for class lectures are kindly invited to ask for the explicit permission of the professor in order to do so.

Ethical code. All students are expected to follow the ethical code of the University of Bologna. http://www.normateneo.unibo.it/NormAteneo/codice_etico.htm

The following actions are not acceptable. PLAGIARISM: representation of another’s work or ideas as one’s own in academic submissions. CHEATING: actual or attempted use of resources not authorized by the instructor for academic submissions. In addition, students are expected to treat each other, themselves and the course instructor and teaching assistant with respect and courtesy, including respecting, and possibly capitalizing on, diversity of all types.

Penalties of late and short / long work. Our Master is very challenging, so that cooperation by everyone is needed to make the effort sustainable. Delays in agreed deadlines for assignments area threats for the quality of our work. Any assignment which is submitted after the relevant deadline, without being covered by adequate evidence of medical problems or of another serious emergency, or by the prior permission of the tutor concerned, will be penalized as follows: 1 point will be deducted for every day after the relevant deadline.

Assessment methods

The range of marks in Italy is from 18 to 30 points. 18/30 is the threshold to pass or fail. Your grade will be comprised of:

The exam will consist of multiple choice, and true-false questions taken from readings, in-class exercises, presentations and papers. Type of questions: interpreting SPSS outputs, interpreting Figures and Tables, mediation and moderation, APA style. It will last 50’.

Office hours

See the website of Luca Pietrantoni

See the website of Silvia Moscatelli

See the website of Michela Menegatti

See the website of Fabio Massei