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Psychology research thesis

Minor thesis requirements

The minor thesis component of the course must entail an empirical investigation of a high scientific standard directly relevant to counselling or educational and developmental psychology. Literature reviews and descriptive case studies are not acceptable. Students can complete this minor thesis by:

participating in an existing research program run by staff in the Faculty (recommended), or
developing a research proposal in conjunction with a staff member who has expertise in the area to be investigated.

Supervision

A meeting to introduce students to staff and their research areas is held in February or early March of each year. Students are advised to consult with prospective staff supervisors as early as possible.

Find a supervisor - see profiles of staff undertaking research in the areas of counselling and educational and developmental psychology.

Ethical approval

Consult your supervisor early on the need for ethical approval for your research. This must be done prior to data collection. Because the process of obtaining ethical approval can take several months, you need to commence it well before you plan to actually collect your data.

It is a good idea for full time students to move quickly on formulating plans for what they are going to research and to aim to get ethical approval to coincide with the beginning of the second semester of the first year. This enables them to collect data in the second semester and to have the data analysis done before the beginning of their first placement. From experience we know that students find it almost impossible to do much on the thesis while on placement.

Visit the Research degrees web page for more information regarding ethical approval and funding to assist with research projects, along with a link to the Research Student Orientation Handbook. Application forms for ethical approval can be found on the Human Ethics Process web page.

Research seminars

A research seminar is held each year at the beginning of Semester 1. At this meeting students have the opportunity to meet with staff and hear about staff members' research areas and current research programs. The next seminar will be announced in the Announcements box on the homepage.

Thesis format

The thesis must be typed using double-line spacing. For examples of previous projects and theses please visit the LMR.

Literature review

Literature review should include title page with student name, thesis title, name of course, and date of submission (month and year). The literature review should be organized around key headings that provide a meaningful structure to the review.

Research report

Research report should include a title page with student name, thesis title, name of course, and date of submission (month and year). The thesis should contain a declaration, acknowledgments, abstract (120 words), table of contents, main body of report, references and appendices. The main body of the report can often be conveniently organized a around brief literature review culminating in aims/hypotheses of study, methodology (participants, measures, procedure, analyses), results, and discussion.

Maximum length

16,000 words consisting of a 5,000 - 7,000 word literature review (30%) and an empirical 9,000 - 11,000 word research report (70%) in journal article format.

Referencing

Referencing must be in accord with the APA Publication Manual (5th Ed). This excellent resource covers just about everything concerning thesis style including referencing, grammar, punctuation and the technical aspects of scientific report writing.

Using your thesis as a preparation for a PhD

Students in the past have found that it is possible to use the minor masters thesis to save time in doing a PhD. When planning your minor thesis, consider designing your study so that it can be expanded. Obviously, you cannot use the data of the Masters thesis in a PhD, but you can (1) gain a thorough knowledge of the area which you have chosen to study and (2) do a literature review of which you only use a part for your M Psych thesis. This may save up to a year’s work for a PhD. In addition, you will already have a supervisor with whom you feel comfortable working. Some students graduate with the M Psych (Counselling) professional degree and then do a specialised PhD thesis, which gives them a much deeper expertise in an area of counselling psychology of interest to them. The PhD then becomes a form of personal development in your profession. By keeping the possibility of a PhD in mind, you give yourself more flexibility.