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Open University in Ireland

Social & Psychological Inquiry

If you're working in a context which makes considerable use of social or psychological research or are fascinated by social research, this certificate will equip you with the knowledge, skills and confidence to appraise research and communicate your assessment to academic and non-academic audiences. Drawing together topics from criminology and psychology, it supports future study and adds value to your career by providing professional development in research literacy, managing research and conceiving of new studies.

Key features of the course
Focuses on critical appraisal of research and constructing new questions
Applies focus relating social and psychological research to everyday and professional contexts
Provides the opportunity to develop a case study relevant to your work environment or interests
Develops your communication skills to academic and non-academic audiences, offline and online.

Entry requirements

You must hold a UK honours degree (2:2 at least) or equivalent to study for this qualification. All teaching is in English, and your proficiency in the language needs to be adequate for postgraduate study and for contributing to online discussions by text and voice. If English is not your first language, we strongly recommend that you make sure you can achieve a score of at least seven in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). To assess your English Language skills in relation to your proposed studies, you can visit the IELTS website. Although experience of distance education may be an advantage, it is not essential. If you are not sure whether your qualifications and experience are suitable, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.

Duration

The minimum time to complete this qualification is one year with the required module on this certificate being studied during a fixed period each year from October to June.

Number of credits

60 credits

Careers or further progression

Career relevance
Completing the qualification will enable students to manage social and psychological evidence. In particular students will able to independently source, select and review social and psychological research, evaluate its relevance for complex real life issue/cases, assess its validity and persuasively clearly communicate their findings to academic and non-academic audiences. The postgraduate certificate will be of direct interest to existing professionals who wish to advance their careers or those wishing a career in all areas of public policy, social justice, management, advertising and marketing. It provides professional development for all those working in professions that value research literacy, analytic and communication skills.

There is more information about how OU study can improve your employability in the OUs Employability Statement from the OU Careers Advisory Service. You can also look at our OU study and your career pages to find out about potential career opportunities related to OU subject areas.

Further enquiries

Tel: (01) 678 5399
Fax: (01) 678 5442
Email: ireland@open.ac.uk

Subjects taught

Modules
To gain this qualification, you need 60 credits from the following:

Compulsory module

Credits Next start
Principles of social and psychological inquiry (DD801) 60 07 Oct 2017

You should note that the Universitys unique study rule applies to this qualification. This means that you must include at least 20 credits from OU modules that have not been counted in any other OU qualification that has previously been awarded to you.

Comment

On completion
On successful completion of the required module you can be awarded a Postgraduate Certificate of Social and Psychological Inquiry entitling you to use the letters PG Cert SPI (Open) after your name.

Course web page

Link to course fee

Key information

Qualification letters:

PG Cert SPI (Open)

Qualifications:

Postgraduate Certificate at UK Level 7

Attendance Types:

Distance

Counties:

Dublin

Apply to:

Course provider

Course web page

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