Upon receipt of a higher professional education in the field of psychology, the standards of each university provide for the writing and protection of term papers. They show the level of mastering the discipline by the student and are good practice to systematize the knowledge gained. It is important to understand that the choice of a topic in psychology and the further organization of research is a serious stage in professional development. In the process of writing the work, you can not only show your abilities in the chosen scientific field, but also successfully use them in practice.
Coursework in Psychology: Theme Selection
Education at the Faculty of Psychology involves writing and defending term papers in various special fields. It is necessary to understand the stages of the study and the requirements for this type of work.
If you learn to organize your research activities correctly, you can very easily go to the final stage of training and easily defend your graduate qualification work. Moreover, with the advance choice of specialization and the topic of graduation work
(graduation project), you can carry out various research projects, but in one vector. In this case, they will become the stages of developing a diploma and will affect the depth of study of the material and the quality of the study.
It does not hurt for a successful start to determine the supervisor who will oversee your research. He will help at the preliminary stage to analyze the topics of term papers in psychology and to formulate the problem that remains to be investigated. Since the student himself does not always have sufficient knowledge of information on the field of scientific activity.
The choice of topic is determined by the interest of the author in the subject. The topic should be relevant, that is, demanded by society from a practical point of view. To determine the degree of knowledge of the topic, you should familiarize yourself with specialized sources of information, reference books and monographs of recent years. For example, the journal "Questions of Psychology" or "Psychological Research", almanacs of universities, will help outline the prospects of interest to the author, the field of psychological knowledge.
Once the topic of work is defined, you can proceed to the next step: developing a work plan.
Work plan
At this stage, a working version of the study of the topic in psychology is created, which will change several times during its study. The plan helps to build a sequence of work and give a general idea of its content. Familiarization with theoretical sources will help to understand the problem and how to solve it. It is better to think through the contents of the experimental part in detail and focus on theoretical sources, limited to the specifics of the practical material. This will help to avoid the danger of "drowning in information." Coursework in psychology should have the following sections:
- Content.
- Introduction
- The theoretical chapter of the study on the topic.
- The practical part of the work.
- Analytical material revealing the purpose of the work.
- Conclusion, with conclusions throughout the study.
- Bibliography.
- Applications
All parts together form the logic of the topic and must consistently reveal the tasks to achieve the goal of the study.
Justification of the relevance and purpose of the study
The content of the work is written at the very end, includes a list of sections indicating the corresponding page of the work.
It may vary in volume and number of sections, but the logical structure remains unchanged.
Introduction - that part of the work that reveals the problem of psychology to be investigated.
Relevance and Purpose. It is determined in the process of a brief review of the material studied, substantiates the formulation of the problem and its relevance for the purpose of scientific research.
Based on the relevance, the goal of the study is formulated. She, in fact, is the topic of the course work. If, for example, the social psychology of the personality is subject to study , and the theme of the work is “Self-esteem of the personality”, then the aim of the study is to identify social factors that affect this process.
Tasks. To reveal the goal, course on social psychology should contain specific research objectives. The list of theoretical, practical and analytical problems determines the nature of the chapters of the work that answer the questions posed in the introduction. Usually the number of chapters corresponds to the number of research tasks and determines its volume. If the social psychology of personality is studied, the following tasks are legitimate:
- A theoretical study of the influence of society on man.
- A practical study of factors affecting personality formation.
- Analysis of the results of the study with recommendations for their practical application.
Definition of the subject, object and hypothesis of scientific work
It is important to correctly limit the subject and object of study. The subject is what is studied in the work. The object is the research base.
If a term paper on social psychology is written, then the subject of research may be, for example, the deviant behavior of adolescents, and the object is students in grades 5–7 of high school.
Hypothesis. This is a definite postulate that appears in a hypothetical form and requires practical proof. If the psychology of the development of the child is studied, then the hypothesis is the judgment: conflicts in the family affect the level of anxiety of the child.
If the subject of the study is children's practical psychology, then usually an experimental study is carried out on the basis of a kindergarten. And the results of the experiment can become the basis for creating a practical technique. In this case, the real significance of the work has a pronounced result.
At the end of the introductory part, the logic of the structure is substantiated and a list of basic scientific points of view on which the study is based is given.
The theoretical part of the course work
The first chapter of the course work is a theoretical study of the problem. It consists of three sections:
- Definition of category apparatus. In this part of the work, the conceptual research tools are determined. The interpretation of the basic terms, definitions and concepts to be used in the work is given.
- Analysis of theoretical views on the problem. The objective of this part of the study is to show the level of development of the topic, existing schools and approaches, as well as the history of the formation of the problem.
- Determining the position of the author. In the conclusion of the theoretical part, the author’s position is substantiated on the basis of the study of theoretical material on the research topic. It is advisable to rely on classical materials on psychology. If the psychology of parenting is studied, without reference to the work of Vygotsky L.S. not enough. Knowledge of classical works indicates a qualitative approach to the study of the topic.
Case Study: Steps and Purpose
This is the experimental part of the work. Depending on the subject of study, it is organized on a specific object that meets the objectives of the study.
A large number of experimental studies are organized on the basis of educational institutions, preschool institutions, social institutions and organizations. These are the natural social conditions for the formation of personality. Experimental studies of social groups also become an empirical basis for verifying the truth of hypothetical judgments.
The experimental part of the course work confirms or refutes the hypothesis of the project, demonstrates the author’s ability to use the conceptual apparatus. Allows you to put the results into practice.
The experimental part includes mandatory sections, the number of which depends on the objectives of the study. This chapter provides for three stages of the organization of scientific work:
- Determination of the purpose and tools for organizing the experiment.
- Registration of the actual data obtained as a result of the experiment with explanations, in graphs, numbers, diagrams.
- Presentation of conclusions about the results of the experiment, confirming or refuting the hypothesis.
The experimental part carries the main semantic load of the study, and therefore serves as the basis of the work. It is permissible and advisable to start writing from the experimental part. The psychology of parenting is effectively studied in kindergarten, at the stage of primary socialization of the child. A study based on a comparison of the experimental data of two groups, one of which is an experiment and the other is used to compare the results, easily reveals the level of reliability of the hypothesis.
Analytical chapter of the work
In this part, there is a return to theory. But this theory is based on actually reliable data obtained during the experiment.
The third chapter contains both the theoretical material of the first part and the conclusions from the experimental part. It is important here to show how developed the fundamental points of the theory. What place can the studied problem take in the course that general psychology studies? Topics in term papers contain a problem that requires a practical solution. Therefore, in the analysis it is necessary to confirm the significance of the study for the practice of application. For example, based on the data obtained in the study, to develop a methodology or practical recommendations for possible use in life.
Conclusion and Conclusions
The conclusion should answer the questions posed in the introduction. A capacious and specific answer is given for each research task, which is located in the corresponding section of the work.
The logical sequence of answers to the problems leads to the disclosure of the topic and the fulfillment of the
research objective. In conclusion, it should be said about the level of relevance of the work and the confirmation or refutation of the hypothesis. Coursework in general psychology may contain
not a hypothesis, but a general judgment that formulates the author’s view on generally accepted approaches in the context of a new historical reality.
The conclusion is a summary of the main ideas of all chapters of the work. It is appropriate to use quotes from classical works in it. Those whose theoretical principles were used in the course work. Quotes add emotionality and a certain artistic flavor to the work.
Bibliography and applications
The list contains a list of sources that reveal the topics of term papers in psychology.
Making a
bibliographic list requires strict compliance with those requirements that are given in the methodological developments of the university, on the basis of which the work will be protected. The bibliographic list must contain materials of the last three years, specialized sources, reference manuals, publications in professional publications, monographs and articles. Required links to Internet resources when using them. It is advisable to check the work for plagiarism, at present this is one of the requirements for the protection of term paper.
In the Appendix, the research tools (questionnaires, descriptions of technologies), demonstration material (images, tables, charts) that are not included in the material of the chapters are taken out. They are made out strictly according to the requirements of the university. The number of applications should correspond to the volume of work and serve as proof of the results of its experimental part.
Useful Tips for Writing and Protecting Coursework
- Speaking for the defense should reveal your logical path in the process of achieving the goal. It should not be voluminous. Do not exceed ten pages of text, excluding materials for demonstration, which is called handout and is prepared in several copies for members of the commission.
- The choice of the topic of term papers in psychology should have a strategic goal - preparation for the defense of the final qualification work. All term papers should, from different angles, reveal an area of professional interest. This achieves maximum concentration on the subject of research and the effectiveness of training in general.
- The right choice of supervisor will help you quickly advance in scientific research. If the view on the problem being studied does not coincide with the approaches of the leader, this will be a great chance in preparing for defense, the leader in this case will simultaneously act as an opponent.
- The topics of term papers in psychology can be general and highly specialized. Narrow specialization requires depth, wide - research volumes.
Successful and fruitful work.