MSc Psychological Research

Comprehensive coverage of research methods and key findings across the broad field of psychology

Drawing from a vibrant and stimulating research culture, this programme will help you develop professional, critical and analytical skills. You will learn how to formulate research problems, and appreciate diverse approaches to research, including qualitative methods. 

On this MSc you will learn about the general principles of conducting psychological research and analysing data. You will gain basic training in a variety of specific methodologies including, but not limited to:

  • Brain imaging
  • Neurodisruption
  • Eyetracking
  • Clinical case analysis
  • Psychometric modelling
  • Discourse analysis

Building on the research methods training, you will take topical courses in one of the core research areas of our department:

  • Social psychology
  • Cognitive neuropsychology
  • Individual differences
  • Psychology of language
  • Human development

Why study Psychology at Edinburgh?

  • Psychology is rated 3rd in the UK by Times Higher Education for the quality and breadth of the research using the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021).
  • We're ranked 6th in the UK and 26th in the world for psychology (QS World University Rankings by subject 2023).

Showcasing Psychology at Edinburgh

Programme structure

This programme contains two semesters of taught compulsory (40 credits) and optional (80 / 90 credits) courses followed by a dissertation (60 credits). The taught courses and their assessments take place between September to December (Semester 1) and January to April (Semester 2). Planning for the dissertation will take place until April and carried out between April and August.

Dissertation

The dissertation (up to 8,000 words) is the capstone component of the programme and involves conducting original empirical research in a chosen area of psychology, and in close collaboration with a supervisor. You can choose to work in groups for your dissertations, although the write up is individual. Sometimes dissertations are subsequently published as journal articles.

There is a wide range of staff available for supervision within the department.

Course options

On this programme you will take the following core courses:

  • Psychological Research Skills - General advanced research methodology; semester 1
  • Univariate Statistics and Methodology using R - Introduction to R and statistical models; semester 1
  • Multivariate Statistics and Methodology using R - Advanced statistical modelling; semester 2
  • Qualitative Research Methods - Advanced methods for qualitative research; semester 2

Optional courses available in addition are:

  • Seminar in Personality
  • Current Approaches in Social Psychology
  • Psychology of Language
  • Specialist Techniques in Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Developmental Science
  • Brain Imaging in Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Clinical Neuropsychology
  • Neuroscience of Language
  • Atypical Development
  • Applied Psychological Testing
  • Qualitative Research Methods
  • Or any other course available to MSc students

When to apply

We operate a gathered field approach to applications. You may submit your application at any time.

All complete applications that satisfy our minimum entry requirements will be placed on a shortlist and held until the next batch processing deadline. Applications will then be ranked and offers made to the top candidates.

Find out more about the degree programme and how to apply:

Connect with us

If you have any programme-specific enquiries please get in touch with the programme director:

Professor Martin Corley (Programme director)

Feel free to get in touch with our friendly Postgraduate Team with any questions you might have about academic or English language requirements, course information, enquiries about your application and information on arriving at the University.

Postgraduate Team enquiries:

Email: pplspgoffice@ed.ac.uk

How to apply and fees & funding information:

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