PA200-5-SP-CO:
Psychosocial Research Methods
2026/27
Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Monday 18 January 2027
Thursday 25 March 2027
15
16 July 2026
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA C890 Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies,
BA C89072 Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies,
BA C89A Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (Including Placement Year),
BA C89B Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (Including Year Abroad),
BA C89C Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (Including Foundation Year)
This module introduces students to methods for generating, collecting, and analysing research material in the fields of psychosocial and psychoanalytic studies.
The module is divided into two parts. In the first part, the students are encouraged to develop an understanding of why research is important, what it consists of, and how to adopt the researcher’s position. The module’s second part introduces four key research methods that are essential to any undergraduate research student and provide the basis upon which postgraduate training can develop. These are: interviewing techniques, participant observation and ethnography, thematic analysis, and working with cultural objects.
Questions considered include:
- Why is doing research important? How does qualitative differ from quantitative research?
- What are the key ethical issues when we work with human participants? Why is doing research ethically important? How can we address power dynamics, conscious and unconscious communication emerging in research?
- What makes an interview (as a research method) effective? How can psychoanalysis inform interviews with human participants?
- What is 'thematic analysis’? How can it help us analyse interviews, as well as cultural objects?
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce key concepts in qualitative research including reflexivity, ethics, distinctions between objectivity and discourse, interviewing and others.
- To equip students with the necessary knowledge required to design a rigorous qualitative dissertation proposal, and transition to postgraduate education.
- To familiarise students with the benefits and limitations inherent in qualitative research methodologies.
- To introduce core techniques such as participant observation, interviewing, thematic analysis, and provide students with an opportunity to reflect on their application of these methods.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate a foundational understanding of key theoretical and practical issues in qualitative research.
- Critically evaluate the role and significance of established methodologies in the collection and analysis of research material.
- Demonstrate an understanding of thematic analysis, participant observation, and cultural object analysis.
- Conduct interviews with human participants in an ethical way.
Key Skills:
- Proficiency in key principles of research design.
- Analytical skills; coding, and organising interview transcripts.
- Sensitivity and awareness of key issues in research (ethics, consent, power dynamics).
- A strong understanding of psychoanalytically informed research methods.
Employability Skills:
- Proficiency in key qualitative research methods.
- Experience in data collection.
- Application of a variety of interviewing techniques (semi-structured, free-associative narrative interviews).
- Effective communication skills for working with human participants.
- A greater capacity for reflexive thinking and the application of research ethics.
PART ONE: Becoming a Researcher
Week 2 – Introduction to Psychosocial Research
Situate PS research
Constructivism & how it defines our approach to research
critique of objectivism/ interpretivist paradigm
Qualitative vs Quantitative Approaches?
Week 3 – Becoming a Researcher
reflexivity
uncertainty vs neutrality
Week 4 – Research Ethics
Epistemological violence
Extractivism/ power dynamics
Transference
PART TWO : Practices of Inquiry
Week 5 –Conducting Interviews
Autobiographical (active listening)
Free associative (chain of signifiers and associations)
Semi-structured
Task: 20mins interview with a friend/colleague & edited transcription
Week 6 – Analysing Interviews
Discussing the interview experience & submitting interview transcript for assessment
Week 7 – Thematic Analysis
Week 8 – Ethnography/observation
Week 9 – Working with Cultural Objects/ texts
Week 10 – ‘After Method’
Week 11-- Module Review
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour interactive lecture/seminar per week
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
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
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Yes
Yes
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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