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Unit outline_

PSTY5206: Psychotherapy Research Methods

Semester 1, 2021 [Online] - Westmead, Sydney

This unit will support students to build skills, knowledge and attitudes in research methods in psychotherapy, mental health and trauma-informed care appropriate to critical and reflective practice in Psychotherapy. This learning will provide a foundation for appraisal and design of psychosocial research and further scholarship in the area. The student will gain an understanding of the case study, qualitative and quantitative methods, and mixed methods approaches, linguistics and dyadic research and the applications of these methods to epidemiological, process and outcomes research. The student will also develop and demonstrate critical thinking that considers philosophical approaches and analytic investigation. The student will be able to describe the research cycle. The student will apply the concepts to critical appraisal of journal articles and synthesise learning by proposing a research project.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Brain and Mind Science
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
PSTY5201 and PSTY5202 and PSTY5203 and PTSY5204 and PSTY5205
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
NURS5101
Assumed knowledge
? 

This unit assumes a working clinical knowledge of basic counselling and mental health, commensurate with a clinician having worked 2 or more years in a setting with general health counselling or mental health clients.

Available to study abroad and exchange students

No

Teaching staff

Coordinator Lea Crisante, lea.crisante@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Assignment Essay/presentation - draft
Research proposal
10% Week 07 1500-2000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Assignment Essay/presentation - final
Research proposal
50% Week 13 2000-3000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Skills-based evaluation Discussion boards
Post and reply required for weekly discussion boards
40% Weekly 1st post-min 250 wds/response 150 wds
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO14 LO13 LO12 LO11 LO10 LO9 LO8 LO7 LO6 LO5 LO4 LO3 LO2

Assessment summary

Discussion Boards:  Students are required to participate in discussion boards each week.  You will be provided 3 questions that you will need to address each week over the semester (Weeks 1-13).

Each discussion board will be open for a maximum of 3 weeks, opening a week prior to the due date where you will be expected to make your first post by the due date of the relevant week and respond to a students post by the final response due date.

What is expected of you for each weekly discussion:

  1. You are expected to make a post of no less than 250 words including one or more references by the due date.
  2. Every week, each student is expected to make a response of no less than 150 words to one of the other students’ posts.

Essay (draft):

A draft essay based on your research proposal will need to be submitted in Week 7 as a formative submission of between 1500 and 2000 words. It needs to be appropriately referenced with no less than 10 references cited.   Students will be given written feedback to use in the further development of their proposal and final write up of their research proposal.  

Essay (final):  

The final essay submission will need to be submitted in Week 13.  It is expected that the written essay have incorporated feedback that has been provided regarding the draft essay.   A length of 2000-3000 words is required with appropriate references and a bibliography of at least 20 references which are cited appropriately. 

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

 

Distinction

75 - 84

 

Credit

65 - 74

 

Pass

50 - 64

 

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

All assignments must be submitted by the due date. Students are expected to manage their time and to prioritise tasks to meet deadlines. Assessment items submitted after the due date without an approved extension using a special consideration or special arrangement form or request will incur the following penalties: • Late assignments that have not been granted extensions and are of a standard to receive a pass or higher mark will attract a penalty of 5% of the maximum mark per day (or part thereof) late including weekend days (e.g. if the assignment is worth 40 marks, the penalty is 2 marks per day late) until the mark reaches 50% of the maximum mark (e.g. 20 marks if the maximum is 40 marks). • Assignments that are not of a pass standard will not have marks deducted and will fail regardless. • Assignments submitted more than 10 days late without prior approval from the unit of study coordinator will not be accepted and will be given a zero (0) mark.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Multiple weeks Face to face session on Zoom - Attendance required Weeks 1, 5 and 8 Tutorial (3 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Week 01 Introduction to Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO10
Week 02 Research Design in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO2 LO4 LO9 LO11
Week 03 Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO2 LO3 LO4 LO8 LO9
Week 04 Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO3 LO4 LO9 LO10 LO12
Week 05 Introduction to Mixed Methods in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO3 LO4 LO5 LO9
Week 06 Developing a Research Proposal Independent study (2.5 hr) LO2 LO6 LO7 LO9
Week 07 Draft research proposal due Online class (2.5 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Week 08 Case Study Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO3 LO4 LO10 LO13
Week 09 Developing a Case Study Independent study (2.5 hr) LO13
Week 10 Epistemology in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO2 LO3 LO4 LO11
Week 11 Research Interviews Independent study (2.5 hr) LO12
Week 12 Ethics in Psychotherapy Research Independent study (2.5 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Week 13 Final essay submission Online class (2.5 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Weekly Weekly Discussion boards (Weeks 1-13) Online class (13 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14
Think tank Grand rounds Lecture (13 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10 LO11 LO12 LO13 LO14

Attendance and class requirements

Study Commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1-1.5 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester.  For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 90 - 120 hours of student effort in total.

Classes (Handbook)

There is a weekly Discussion board (1 hour) and online modules (average 1.5 hours per week). In addition there is a weekly 1 hour lecture ThinkTank Grand Rounds that is common to this unit and other units of study in the M.Med/Sci Med (TIP) program. Students also are expected to do reading as prescribed and to participate in discussion boards and complete other assignments.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

Textbook

Vossler, A & Moller, N.  (2015)  (Eds.)  The Counselling and Psychotherapy Research Handbook.  Sage:  London. 

All other readings for this unit can be accessed in Canvas.

 

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. describe the purpose and goals of psychotherapy research
  • LO2. understand contemporary issues in psychotherapy research e.g. psychotherapy effectiveness, evidence-based practice
  • LO3. appreciate the history of psychotherapy research and implications for contemporary research practice eg., quantitative versus qualitative research, epistemological issues
  • LO4. understand research designs and methods used in psychotherapy research
  • LO5. identify the differences between quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research
  • LO6. analyse and critique published papers
  • LO7. understand how to write a literature review
  • LO8. understand the use of standardised measures in clinical and research contexts
  • LO9. describe the ethical issues in conducting psychotherapy research
  • LO10. appreciate the significance of practitioner-based psychotherapy research
  • LO11. understand the research cycle and its application to the development of a research proposal
  • LO12. describe the rationale, methods and techniques of qualitative research
  • LO13. explain the purpose and use of the case study
  • LO14. Develop a research proposal on a specific research question

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Please note for 2021 there will be 3 Zoom facilitation meetings throughout the semester.

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.