Behavioral research methods 1: designing research

This introductory course covers the empirical research cycle, focusing on the design and implementation of behavioral studies. The cycle starts with a research question. For instance, how do users experience a built environment? Or what is the effect of the accuracy of a recommender system on trust in that system? The course teaches you to design psychological research to collect data to answer such questions. The course emphasizes a “learning by doing” approach to allow you to apply knowledge to real research problems. The first assignment involves designing and implementing a qualitative interview study, including interview training under supervision. The second assignment consists of tackling a real-world problem using quantitative research. For both assignments you will work together in groups of 4 to 5 students. This practical experience prepares students to analyze complex psychological questions, establishing a foundation for data handling and analysis skills further developed in 0HV70 and 0HV50.

After completing this course, students should be able to:

1. Identify core scientific approaches to knowledge and basic theory components.
2. Conduct qualitative interviews and evaluate ethical issues in research.
3. Select appropriate research strategies for specific psychological questions.
4. Design and refine research questions that meet scientific standards.
5. Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies as well as their strengths and limitations.

You must meet the following requirements

• Registered for a degree programme other than
• HBO-TOP Applied Physics, Pre-Master
• Industrial Engineering
• Completed none of the course modules listed below
• BRM 1 premaster (0HP00)
• Homologation course BRM (0HPH050)
• Methodology for IE research (1ZV00)
• Methodology for IE research (1ZV60)
• Statistiek (2DD70)
• Statistics for IE (2DD80)
• Research and statistics (7U9X0)
• Data Statistics (JBM010)
• Data Science research methods (JBM020)