UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
MA IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
MSocSc
2013

CONTENTS

1GENERAL RULES

1.1Commencement of courses

1.2Withdrawal from the degree

1.3 Compulsory presentations

2COURSE STRUCTURE – MASTERS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

2.1 Coursework component (PSY5027W)

2.2 Dissertation (PSY5019W)

3 COURSE STRUCTURE – M Soc Sc (PSY5011W)

4 NOTES ABOUT THE DISSERTATION

4.1 External supervisors

4.2 Work with outside agencies

4.3 Students as research subjects

4.4Submission of dissertation for examination

5SUPERVISION

5.1 Departmental guidelines for supervision

5.2Staying in contact

6STUDENT CONSULTATION

7SAFEGUARDING OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL

8 SCHOLARSHIPS

Enquiries for the 2014 programmes may be directed to

Postgraduate Secretary in Room 2.15 (021 650 3417).

1

1GENERAL RULES

The Faculty of Humanities’ Handbook for Postgraduate Studies can be downloaded from or consulted at

1.1Commencement of courses

The Masters courses commences on Monday04 February 2013.

The Head of Department and Course Convener for the second year will meet with students in the Psychology Department, P.D.Hahn building, Level 2, Room 2Aat 13h00. At this meeting students will be welcomed and a general outline of the course will be given. Registration will provisionally be on Monday04Februaryat 14h00 –Beattie Building

1.2Withdrawal from the degree

Should you wish to withdraw from the degrees it is in your interest to advise the Department by 01 August 2013. If you withdraw after this date your official university record would show a fail result in Psychology for the degree and this may preclude you from being accepted for tfuture programmes. (See General Rules for Students. Booklet No. 3. "A candidate who fails in the MA examination will not be permitted to present herself/himself for the examination again.")

1.3 Compulsory presentations

All students must have their dissertation proposals approved by a departmental committee before the end of May. The committee will be convened by the supervisor in consultation with the Master's course convener. Please ensure that you schedule the proposal presentation in good time: not everyone can be fitted into the last week of May. Failing to have the proposal accepted by this deadline will place your continued registration for the degree in jeopardy.

All students must present their research when it is nearly ready for examination to a departmental research seminar, attended by academic staff and students. Supervisors will not approve the submission of the dissertation to the Faculty unless this presentation has been made. Attendance at these seminars is compulsory for all Master's students, and attendance registers will be taken. Thursdays from 14.00 to 15.00 will be kept free for the presentations, so please do not schedule anything in those times.Book a specific date with the course convener as soon as you and your supervisor are in agreement that your work is ready for presentation.

2COURSE STRUCTURE – MASTERS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

2.1 Coursework component (PSY5027W)

Students are required to take two semester courses selectedfrom the following list that may include the following:

Multivariate statistical methods

Critical qualitative psychology

Aging and the human brain

Social and emotional development: A neuroscience perspective

Introduction to programme evaluation

Each modulecontributes 12.5% to the finalassessment for the degree.

Students in the MA programme must attend classes for which they have enrolled. Apologies must be tendered to the lecturer concerned and to the course convener (in writing) when a student is unable to attend. Failure to attend classes without a satisfactory reason will not be acceptable and may result in a "no D.P. (Duly Performed) Certificate".

Module instructors will set their own requirements for handing in assignments for their modules. Each lecturer will set deadlines for her or his module. Students who do not have prior permission from the course convener to exceed their deadlines will be penalised.

Generally students must submit two copies of every assignment to the Postgraduate Secretary, Rosalind Adams. The Secretary will forward the assignments to the course instructors. Late assignments will be penalized.

Students may request the instructor to revise the evaluation of an assignment which may be done on the basis of clearly articulated arguments in consultations between instructor and student. Failing satisfactory resolution, the student may request the course convener to have the assignment brought specifically to the attention of the external examiner.

2.2 Dissertation (PSY5019W)

The dissertation should be based on original research work and notexceed 40 000 words. It contributes 75% to the final mark.

The raw data for research projects must be available on request until such time as the project mark is finalised.

General information about dissertations appears below.

3 COURSE STRUCTURE – M Soc Sc (PSY5011W)

This is a master's degree by dissertation only. Students develop their own research topic in conjunction with a supervisor, conduct the research and then write a dissertation of no more than 50 000 words. Research degrees are encouraged where the field of research is clearly defined, the student wishes to concentrate on a specific research topic, and has demonstrated the ability to do so.

4 NOTES ABOUT THE DISSERTATION

4.1 External supervisors

Occasionally students wish to work under the guidance of a co-supervisor who has skills not available in the Department. This is only permissible if a motivation is formally approved by the supervisor and convener.

4.2 Work with outside agencies

Formal, written permission is essential before research for projects can be undertaken with outside agencies. Do not approach schools for research purposes without consulting the course convener. In all cases, prior permission must also be obtained from the Head of the Department of Psychology.

4.3 Students as research subjects

Where students wish to use other university students as research subjects, permission will have to be obtained from the Departmental and / or the University Ethics Committees. Students should consult with their supervisors about this. The UCT code of conduct for research with human subjects can be found at:

4.4Submission of dissertation for examination

The Faculty web site explains the submission timetable well:

If you wish to graduate midyear you need to submit a letter of intent to the Faculty Office by 10 February. Your dissertation needs to be submitted by 1 April. If you wish to graduate at the end of the year you need to submit a letter of intent to the Faculty Office by 22 July. Your dissertation needs to be submitted by 1 September. The Faculty Office will let you know how many copiesunless you are a member of staff in which case you need to hand in six copies.

If you have had any financial support your bursars may require a copy of your thesis.

5SUPERVISION

Students are encouraged to approach staff for supervision and guidance in the writing of assignments, since previous course evaluations have suggested that some students feel reticent about asking for supervision and erroneously believe that supervision encroaches upon their own originality and autonomy. In contrast, access to supervision is a service for which students pay fees and is thus not a privilege, but a right. Failure to consult adequately with the supervisors before handing in a final draft of an assignment has frequently had the result that students find out too late that the work does not meet either the standards or expectations of the instructor.

Students are advised to consult the supervision interests of staff members, as reflected on the Department’s web site.

The Faculty requires students and their supervisors to sign a Memorandum of Understanding, outlining how they propose to work together. More details can be found here:

5.1 Departmental guidelines for supervision

The Department issues the following guidelines regarding the duties and responsibilities of supervisors and students involved in postgraduate research.

Supervisors

  • Supervisors should accept students for work on topics in which they have some expertise or interest.
  • Supervisors should ensure that the research topic is such that it can be brought to successful conclusion within limits of equipment, resources, material and staffing of the Department and the Faculty.
  • Supervisors must ensure that candidates for research projects obtain any ethical clearance which may be necessary.
  • Supervisors must ensure that their own research and other commitments (including research or contact leave arrangements) will permit successful completion of project.
  • Supervisors should draw to attention of students that there are Faculty and Departmental rules regarding forms of assessment and time limitations for completion.
    Supervisors must assist students with the construction of plans detailing the completion dates of the project.
  • Supervisors must insist on seeing drafts of major sections of the work as they are written, and should respond as quickly as possible to such written submissions.
  • Supervisors must insist on seeing a complete draft before the project is submitted for examination.

Students

  • Doing the research and writing the thesis in the final instance is the responsibility of the student.
  • Students are responsible for the planning of the research project, but can expect advice and counsel from supervisors.
  • Students should take the initiative in raising problems and difficulties they are experiencing.
  • Students should maintain the progress of the work in accordance with the time estimates agreed with the supervisor.
  • Written material must be submitted as agreed with the supervisor, allowing sufficient time for the supervisor to read it.
  • It is the student's decision as to when the thesis should be submitted, taking due account of the opinion of the supervisor.
  • The University of Cape Town places time limits on the various kinds of research projects, and students must inform themselves about the limit for their particular study. Generally speaking, the time limit for a research Master’s dissertation is two years, and for a Ph.D. thesis, four years.

In addition, please note the following:

Supervision is a two-way process, and it is crucial for both supervisor and student to reach a negotiated agreement on the issues mentioned above early on in the research process. The Faculty also makes a set of guidelines available about supervision, and these can be found at:

5.2Staying in contact

The Department will use your UCT e-mail address to correspond with you. Please forward your UCT e-mail to your preferred e-mail address, if you have one.

Please access your e-mail regularly. Important information regarding your programme will be posted on VULA, a learning management system, and e-mailed to your regularly. Your supervisor will also use your e-mail to provide feedback and suggestions; some of these e-mails may be urgent and need quick action. Please reply promptly to all queries sent to you via e-mail.

6STUDENT CONSULTATION

Students are requested to take note of the following procedures concerning the proper channels for handling student concerns:

  • difficulties or complaints should in the first instance be addressed to the lecturer concerned;
  • if satisfaction is not reached, and the Department has a course convener, the difficulty should be referred there;
  • if a satisfactory resolution is not reached, the matter should next be referred to the Head of the Department;
  • if satisfaction is still not reached, the matter should be referred to the Dean;
  • in truly exceptional circumstances, if no satisfaction has been reached after the matter has been to the Dean, recourse may be sought from the Vice-Chancellor.
  • No step in this succession should be omitted as this will result in the relevant person or persons not having been given an opportunity of learning what the difficulty is and of setting it right.

Course evaluations in the past have suggested that it is a valuable practice for students to meet collectively once a term or so in order to evaluate their own progress and to pool their individual experiences in coping with the course.

7SAFEGUARDING OF CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL

Written reports should follow well-established tradition: clients, patients, research participants are NEVER identified by name in published material, but by numbers or false initials.

At postgraduate level (Honours, MA, PhD) students work under the supervision of a senior psychologist. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that all reports containing confidential information are filed in a separate section of the Departmental Library. Should any student require access to such material, he/she must have written consent from his/her supervisor to ensure that access to such material is first screened for the purposes of serious study.

This applies also to all audio-visual aids which should normally only be used for bona fide training or research purposes. Similarly, volunteer or paid subject material which contains information the subject would prefer to remain confidential, should be kept in the separate collection in the Departmental Library.

All materials of persons receiving help (i.e. clients, patients) should be kept at the Child Guidance Clinic. Access to such material should be limited to persons who have the permission of the Director.

With reference to published material, including theses concerning case studies, excerpts from dreams, therapy sessions, and so on, subjects should be asked to sign an initial agreement form, e.g. "I agree to participate in the research project/psychotherapy as explained to me by ...... I agree to allow ...... to publicly announce or to publish research findings based on my participation, on condition that confidentially of the origin of the findings are maintained." The Child Guidance Clinic has a form signed by parents stating that the Child Guidance Clinic is a clinical research centre and case material, which is confidential, may be used for research purposes.

8 SCHOLARSHIPS

A complete list of the available bursaries and loans is obtainable form the Postgraduate Funding Office, University of Cape Town, Otto Beit Building, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, 7701.

Telephone: (021 650 3622) or via the web-site address: