PSD_TMPS Theory and Methodology of Psychology

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 15 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Martin Jelínek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Urbánek, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Marek Blatný, DrSc.
Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jarmila Valchářová
Supplier department: Department of Psychology – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to build on the theoretical and methodological knowledge gained in the Master's study of psychology and to expand and deepen them, especially with regard to monitoring current trends and their use in planning of research projects.
Learning outcomes
Student should have knowledge of both classical and new models and theories in psychology. These models should be used in his/her doctoral thesis and student have to explain it with respect to the research problem. He/she has to have complex knowledge of philosophy of science, methodology and research methods and he/she should be able to use and explain these knowledge in his/her research.
Syllabus
  • Introduction to understanding science. Different ways of acquiring knowledge. Common sense. Problem of demarcation. Theory and experience. Functions of science. Causality. Finality. Causality as reality or construct of mind. Mistakes in reasoning the causal relations between phenomenas. Open and semi-open system in psychology. Understending causal relations within whole system. Methodology. Method, methodics and technic. Essential methods in psychology. Exterospection and introspection. Object and subject of psychological searching. Positivism and phenomenology. Hermeneutics. Pragmatics. Nomothetic and idiographic paradigm. Logics in research. Induction and deduction, abduction. Concept and meaning. Therms. Definition. Subject and object of research. Psychic phenomena. Research in other humanities. Problem. Known and unknown. Problem in science as an knowledge about unknown. Problem as a question. Different kinds of questions. Theory as solving the problem. Structure of scienticic theries. Hypothesis. Verification. Kvalitative and kvantitative aspect of research. The gap or two sides of the same river. Kvalitative approach in research. Kvality and kvantity. Functions of kvalitative part of research - description, clasification, explication. Developing of theories. Kvantitative part of research. Scale. Operacional definition. Variables and invariants. Kinds of research variables. Internal and external validity. Sample and population. Sampling. Designs with two and more groups. Extent of sample. Various research designs. Prospective and retrospective design. Experimental and correlative design. Explorative and confirmative research. Research methods Observation. Structure. Selectivity. Observation shedules. Rating scales. Interview. Structure. Interview with indivudual. Group interview. Focus groups. Differend kinds of use - research, diagnostics, therapy. Dialogue. Managing of interview. Exploring the interview. Questionaire. Theme - questions. The kinds of questions. Validity and reliability. Use of questionaire in diagnostics and research. Experiment. Specifics of experiment in psychology. Experiment and theory. Various designs of experiment. Field and laboratory experiment. Anylysis of action results. Content analysis. A criteria of sorting of content elements. System of categories. Cognitive and emotional content of mind. Psycho-semantics. Relation betveen language and mind. Language and individual experience. Searching language use. Qualitative and quantitative aspects of research - the gap or two banks of the same river?
Literature
    required literature
  • Goodwin, K. A., Goodwin, C. J. Research in Psychology: Methods and Design, 8th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2016.
  • Mertens, D. M. Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology: Integrating Diversity With Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods, 4 th Edition. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2014.
  • Field, A. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics, 5th Edition. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2017.
  • Willig, C., Rogers, W. S. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 2th Editon. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2017.
  • Weiner, I. B. (Series Ed.), Schinka, J. A., Velicer, W. F. (Vol. Ed.). Handbook of psychology: Vol. 2. Research Methods in Psychology (2nd. ed.). New York: Wiley, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-470-61904-9.
  • Weiner, I. B. (Series Ed.), Graham, J. R., Naglieri, J. A. (Vol. Ed.). Handbook of psychology: Vol. 10. Assessment Psychology (2nd. ed.). New York: Wiley, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-470-61904-9.
  • Kuhn, T. S. Struktura vědeckých revolucí. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 1997.
  • Popper, K. R. Logika vědeckého zkoumání. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 1997.
  • Feyerabend, P. K. Rozprava proti metodě. Praha: Aurora, 2001.
Teaching methods
Lectures, homework, class discussion. Individual consultation.
Assessment methods
Preliminary study on a specified subject matter 3 weeks before the exam. Oral exam.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
Note related to how often the course is taught: individuální konzultace - každý měsíc.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2007, Autumn 2007, Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2009, Spring 2010, Autumn 2010, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Spring 2013, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Spring 2016, Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2025/PSD_TMPS