University of Essex

HS763-8-FY-CO:
Clinical Research 1

The details

Year: 2025/26

Department: Health and Social Care (School of)

Campus: Colchester Campus

Term: Full Year

Level: Postgraduate: Level 8

Status: Current

Start date: Wednesday 01 October 2025

End date: Friday 03 July 2026

Credits: 60

Last updated: 04 February 2025

Requisites for this module

Pre-requisites: (none)

Co-requisites: (none)

Pre and / or co-requisites: (none)

Prohibited modules: (none)

Key module (requisite for): (none)

Key module for

CER C89F24 Applied Psychology,
DIP C89F24 Applied Psychology,
MSD C89F24 Applied Psychology,
DOCTC84036 Clinical Psychology (D Clin Psych)

Module description

This module runs in Year 1 of the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and is aimed at providing trainees with additional skills and knowledge relevant for conducting research in the field of clinical psychology and to meet the requirements of the DClinPsych.

Module aims

The clinical research module aims to develop:

The knowledge and understanding of a range of research designs suitable for clinical research in health, social care and community settings.

The ability to formulate a research problem linked to clinical theory into a clear research question that can be addressed using an appropriate research design.

An awareness and understanding of the professional, ethical, organisational and legal frameworks for conducting clinical research.

The ability to construct a clear research proposal comprising a clear research question linking to psychological theory, an appropriate design, reliable data collection tools and consideration of ethical issues

Values and attitudes contributing to the critical and reflective application of research tools in clinical contexts with due consideration of issues relating to cultural diversity, other individual differences and social inequalities.

Skills in inter-professional collaboration and planning in engaging services and professionals to plan access to research populations.

Module learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module, trainees will be expected to be able to:

Demonstrate competence in conducting logical and systematic searches of the literature, identifying the most relevant literature using Boolean operators and limits and running searches across different databases, downloading citations and obtaining full texts where available.

Demonstrate advanced knowledge of different research designs and methodologies in health-related research

Demonstrate an advanced level of critical appraisal of research designs, data collection and data analysis methods.

Critically discuss the principles of validity and reliability in qualitative and/or quantitative research and how these are ensured in the research process

Demonstrate advanced knowledge and understanding relating to ethical practice in research

Demonstrate advanced written skills, using an appropriate template for structuring a systematic review protocol.

Module information

The Clinical Research module ensures that trainees develop a broad understanding of topics relevant to conducting research within clinical psychology using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Learning and teaching methods

The module will be delivered via:

Trainee led sessions in which the allocated trainees: summarize the content of the reading material in the form of a 5-10 minute presentation and lead a critical discussion of the material
Lectures with compulsory reading required before the session
Thesis workshops

Bibliography*

Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2013) Successful qualitative research: a practical guide for beginners. London: SAGE. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/268645.
Silverman, D. (ed.) (2021) Qualitative research. 5E. Los Angeles: SAGE. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/667957.
Field, A. (2024) Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 6th Revised edition. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
CASP Checklists - CASP - Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (no date). Available at: http://casp-uk.net/casp-tools-checklists/.
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (no date). Available at: https://training.cochrane.org/handbook/current.
Noblit, G.W. and Hare, R.D. (1988) Meta-ethnography: synthesizing qualitative studies. Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Available at: https://methods-sagepub-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/book/meta-ethnography.
Barnett-Page, E. and Thomas, J. (2009) 'Methods for the synthesis of qualitative research: a critical review', BMC Medical Research Methodology, 9(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-9-59.
Seale, C. (1999b) The quality of qualitative research. London: SAGE. Available at: https://essex.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/action/uresolver.do?operation=resolveService&package_service_id=1588646960007346&institutionId=7346&customerId=7345.
Seale, C. (2007) Qualitative research practice. Concise ed. London: SAGE. Available at: https://methods-sagepub-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/book/qualitative-research-practice.
Polgar, S. and Thomas, S.A. (2020) Introduction to Research in the Health Sciences. 7th edn. Edinburgh, UK: Elsevier. Available at: https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/595097.
Fonagy, P. et al. (2015) 'Pragmatic randomized controlled trial of long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: the Tavistock Adult Depression Study (TADS)', World Psychiatry, 14(3), pp. 312–321. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20267.
Cohen, J. (1992) 'A power primer.', Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), pp. 155–159. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=1992-37683-001&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Clark, L.A. and Watson, D. (1995) 'Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development.', Psychological Assessment, 7(3), pp. 309–319. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=1996-93318-001&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.
Bond, F.W. et al. (2011) 'Preliminary Psychometric Properties of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire–II: A Revised Measure of Psychological Inflexibility and Experiential Avoidance', Behavior Therapy, 42(4), pp. 676–688. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2011.03.007.
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R.L. and Williams, J.B.W. (2001) 'The PHQ-9', Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), pp. 606–613. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x.
McPherson, S., Richardson, P. and Leroux, P. (2003) Clinical effectiveness in psychotherapy and mental health: strategies and resources for effective clinical governance. London: Karnac. Available at: http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9780429472954.
Evans, C., Margison, F. and Barkham, M. (1998) 'The contribution of reliable and clinically significant change methods to evidence-based mental health', Evidence-Based Mental Health, 1(3), pp. 70–72. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/ebmh.1.3.70.
Jacobson, N.S. and Truax, P. (1991) 'Clinical significance: A statistical approach to defining meaningful change in psychotherapy research.', Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(1), pp. 12–19. Available at: https://search-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pdh&AN=1991-16094-001&site=ehost-live&authtype=sso&custid=s9814295.

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam	Description	Deadline	Coursework weighting
Coursework	Systematic review protocol with critical appraisal

Exam format definitions

Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Reassessment

Coursework	Exam
100%	0%

Module supervisor and teaching staff

Supervisor: Prof Leanne Andrews, email: landre@essex.ac.uk.

Teaching staff: Dr Susan McPherson

Contact details: E: dcpadmin@essex.ac.uk

Availability

Available to incoming Essex Abroad / Exchange students: No

Available to Outside Option: No

Available to Audit: No

External examiner

No external examiner information available for this module.

Resources

Teaching materials: Available via Moodle

Lecture recording:* Of 30 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
30 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

Further information

Department website: Health and Social Care (School of)

* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.

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Module Directory

HS763-8-FY-CO:Clinical Research 1