At the end of the course, students will have attained knowledge of the
main characteristics and phases of the scientific investigation, of the
main research design, of analyses and data processing in the field of
health psychology. Moreover, students will also have acquired the
necessary skills to perform data analysis using different univariate and
multivariate analysis techniques. In addition, students will be able to use
practical examples from different fields of research in health psychology.
Basic knowledge of statistics applied to psychology (descriptive statistics,
probability distributions).
Teaching will take place through lectures with a focus on discussion and
dialogue with the students, also with the use of slides.
The exam consists of a written test. The test is structured in 21
closedended questions, to be solved in 25 minutes, and 2 open-ended
questions with delimited space, to be answered in 30 minutes, through
which the learning of the basic concepts will be verified and to assess the
capacity of the student to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired to
concrete problems concerning specific research contexts and
professional intervention. To the closed-ended questions will be assigned
a point for each correct answer; open-ended questions, for which the
ability to combine synthesis and expository clarity is required, are
evaluated from 0 to 5 points, considering the relevance of the answer
with respect to the question, the capacity for synthesis, the property of
language. The final grade corresponds to the sum of the scores assigned
to each question. Students who will provide correct answers for all the
questions will obtain the maximum mark (30 cum laude).
The marks will be sent to the institutional email of each student through
the University information system.
The course will present an overview of the main arguments linked to the
characteristics of scientific investigation and levels of scientific
investigation. Specifically, the following topics will be covered: methods
and strategies of psychological investigation, models of data analysis,
multiple linear regression, and cluster analysis. Moreover, the topics
related to the use of psychological tests in order to profile psychological
characteristics and lifestyle, to the validity, reliability and standard error
of measurement of a psychological test; particular attention will be done
to the methods of investigation and usefulness of the information
acquired in health psychology.
The students not attending classes and the working students must
adhere to the program described above. For any request, they can
contact the professor either personally or by e-mail.
