MSc Occupational Psychology

The module aims to provide an introduction to individual and organisational health and the ways in which organisational environments can be designed to facilitate this. The module begins with a discussion of the antecedents of individual and organisational health and wellbeing, and also discusses the likely symptoms of when health and wellbeing are poorly managed by organisations. The ways in which this process can be mitigated is then discussed in light of the impact of individual differences as well as the impact of health and safety management systems. After this, the module broadens out to discuss the organisational context for health, wellbeing and performance in more detail through the design of work, organisational structure and culture, and planned change for improving organisational effectiveness.

The module aims to provide an introduction to the ways in which individuals learn and develop within organisations. The module begins with a discussion of how people learn, training design and delivery and the organisational context in which all of this occurs. Following this, a specific application of training, namely Stress Management Training (SMT), is explored in detail. Next, training is contrasted with a contemporary form of development activity known as coaching. Finally, these different forms of development are discussed within the context people’s careers, and the ways in which career counselling can be used to help people navigate their professional lives are examined.

This module is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of leadership and talent in organisations. Moreover, students will learn about methods for assessing leadership potential and talent, along with approaches to enhancing leadership ability and talent. The module will also cover use of technology in leadership development and talent management. By using case material and practical examples, students are introduced to the importance of theory and research-based practice in these fields.

The objective of this module is to provide an introductory overview to the theory and practice of personnel assessment and selection. A guiding principle of the module will be the scientist-practitioner perspective, with particular emphasis on the value of scientific, theory-driven research for understanding and addressing pragmatic problems. This module provides the knowledge requirement for the DOP core curriculum domain of ‘Psychological Assessment at Work’.

This module covers skills required for effective research design and analysis of data in work environments to enable inferences about cause and effect relationships. You will also learn to critically evaluate the research appearing in academic and business literatures. Lecture topics include the following:

• Basic principles of research design, scientific method, role of theory
• Sample selection, data cleaning, data screening, descriptive statistics
• Association: correlation and covariance
• Design of experiments: one way and two way ANOVA, contrasts, repeated measures
• Regression: simple, multiple, logistic, time series, awareness of multi-level modelling
• Measurement: classical test theory, reliability, validity, factor analysis and item response theory, structural equation modelling

Topics for this course will vary from year to year because the course comprises two series' of external speakers – the first is professionals working in industry (professional skills workshops) and the second is academics working in universities (distinguished speakers series).

The topics are determined through discussion between the course co-ordinator and the presenters.

The research project constitutes a major part of your final mark (60 credits) and requires you to execute and document an original research investigation. The research focus can be on any area of your degree programme, can use a number of different research methodologies, and can employ a specific population (e.g., salespersons), a general working sample, or pre-existing/archival data.

The research is conducted under the guidance of an academic supervisor and it allows you to make an original intellectual contribution to your discipline. The student is required to conceptualise, plan, and execute the research, and after this to write it up into a journal-style report.

If you intend to conduct a field study (i.e., in an organisation) it is a good idea to start thinking about your research project early, as gaining access to an organisation can be a time-consuming process.

Although the research project is a challenging part of the module, many students find they benefit greatly from the experience. By the submission deadline, you will not only have developed your skills as a researcher but also gained experience applying theory and research to areas of concern in your discipline. Furthermore, it is not unusual for high-quality MSc research projects to be subsequently presented at conferences, and/or published in academic journals. Unless otherwise agreed, the research project supervisor will share authorship, with the student, on any publications and conference presentations arising from the research project.