Psychology And Health Inequalities - Msc

at Keele University

Semester one core modules
 

PSY-40109 Approaches and Methods in Health Inequalities (15 credits, Semester 1)

Learning about how to engage the public in research, you will focus on some of the common methods and analyses used in health research, including randomised clinical trials, epidemiological approaches, discourse analysis and interpretative phenomenological analysis. You will choose two different methodological approaches to evaluate a specific health issue of your choice, for example, observational methods to investigate the behaviours that lead people to exercise less, or qualitative interviewing to explore the barriers to accessing healthcare for specific populations. As part of the course, you will receive guidance on ethics, how to be sensitive towards interviewees and how to collaboratively develop recommendations from research.

PSY-40085 Critical Approaches to Health, Social and Political Psychology (15 credits, Semester 1)

Challenging your understanding of what psychology is, you will consider the role of the environment and social context in shaping individual psyche, and how we can break down barriers that may exclude individuals and groups from full participation in society. You will be encouraged to reflect on your own assumptions and values, and those of organisations and social influencers, through perspectives offered by, for example, discourse analysis and social representation theory, around topics such as LGBTQ+, loneliness, infant feeding.
 

PSY-40095 Advanced Research Skills, Design, and Analysis (15 credits, Semester 1)

Through hands-on workshops and interactive sessions, we prepare you to plan, conduct and analyse your own psychological research. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, you will learn to generate research questions, translate these into the design of your research, appropriately analyse data, and report your findings by writing a structured psychology lab report, using standard (APA) formatting. You can tailor your studies by focusing on the methods, design and analysis most useful to you.
 

Semester two core modules
 

PSY-40081 Advanced Studies in Health Inequalities (15 credits, Semester 2)

Drawing on published research from psychology and related disciplines, such as sociology, linguistics, public health etc., you will engage in lively ‘journal club’ discussion sessions to familiarise yourself with cutting-edge, contemporary issues. You will be able to focus on health inequalities of particular interest to you, for example, past students have considered bisexual women's health, infant feeding, social representations in old age, ageing, sleep and the impact of homelessness on health.
 

PSY-40083 Using Research to Influence Policy and Practice (15 credits, Semester 2)

You will explore how research can be used to influence policy and practice, across a range of settings such as government, charity sector, and education. Gaining hands-on experience of writing for a policy setting, you will be tasked with writing a policy brief on a policy related to a health issue of your choice in a similar style as the POST notes produced by the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology.
 

PSY-40038 Research Apprenticeship in Psychology (15 credits, Semester 2)

You will work with staff as part of their research teams, gaining valuable experience of working on an active research project alongside an experienced research mentor. Apprenticeships are offered across a range of subjects, fields, and activities and represent the diverse expertise of our academic staff. These will support and extend your research skills. Projects could involve designing and preparing full or partial research reports, systematic literature reviews, grant proposals and ethics applications, with the real possibility that research findings may eventually be published.

ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

This course is open to graduates with a first or upper second-class degree in relevant subjects such as psychology, public health, nursing, sociology, anthropology, etc. or overseas equivalent. Applicants without a degree will be considered on a case-by-case basis, where they can provide evidence of relevant professional experience or other experiential prior learning. 
 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ENTRY REQUIREMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

• IELTS 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component. 

International - Full time £17,900 per year
 

This MSc provides an opportunity to learn about and gain experience in a range of critical social and health psychology research methods, which can be used to effectively engage different community and patient groups, through Patient and Public Involvement (PPI), to address issues relating to health and other more widespread concerns.
 

This could lead to careers across the public, private and third sector, for example, working in research, education, public engagement and consultation, public administration, health promotion, policy or advocacy.
 

You will have a wide range of transferable research skills that will enable you to support organisations, from NGOs and NHS trusts to health charities and pharmaceutical companies, to tackle problems from a psychological point of view by gaining a better understanding of behaviours which might affect positive or negative outcomes.