To what extent should a social and psychological researcher care about the issues that arouse public concern? Is a researcher who is affected by policy developments an engaged researcher or a compromised one? This module begins your journey in postgraduate study by bringing into critical focus the practices of conducting and communicating social and psychological research today. The module equips you to ask questions about how research gets constructed and who is doing the construction. Designed for students fascinated by the dynamics of research who wish to actively intervene in professional or everyday environments influenced by social and psychological research.
Upon completion of this module, you will have the training in how to appraise qualitative and quantitative analysis and assess the veracity of different methods. You will be equipped to confidently assess social and psychological studies and communicate your assessments to academic and non-academic audiences, offline and online. You will also gain new skills for your own professional contexts, such as how to observe a social problem or phenomenon, frame it, and ask new questions about it.
This interdisciplinary module draws from criminology, cognitive studies, counselling, forensic and social psychology. Topics across these fields have been selected for their contemporary relevance, including questions on criminalisation of vulnerable people, such as homeless people and people seeking refuge. They have also been chosen to problematise common-sense understandings, e.g. humanitarianism and charitable giving or restorative justice. The topics are understood in their historical and scientific context, e.g. how ‘obedience’ became constructed as the concept we must understand to ensure the horrors of World War Two could not occur again, or how ‘homosexuality’ moved from ‘mental illness’ to socio-cultural identity.
The dynamics of research are rarely linear. However, the module is framed by three stages: how research is conceived, how it is interrogated, and how it is received. These stages are organised into the following three blocks:
Block 1: Concepts, constructing and commissioning research – How scientific concepts relate to everyday categories, where the lines get drawn and who is drawing them.
Block 2: Interrogating methods – From science as uncovering an unknown world to science as constructing a new one, and when to be pragmatic and find a workable solution.
Block 3: Publics and communications – Reception, Relevance and Reactivity. How does the public receive knowledge, and can moral panic set research agendas? How to communicate and influence.
The module is taught entirely online with structured sections involving readings, podcasts and a variety of interactive media resources. There is also plenty of opportunity for postgraduate independent study to pursue your own interests. For example, in the second half of the module, you will have a chance to select and develop your own case study in line with your everyday and professional contexts, developing key professional skills in time management and project development. Your tutor will support you via the module forum, and you will have the opportunity to debate with other students, conduct peer-to-peer reviews, learn from collaborations, and also experience innovative feedback and feedforward processes.
The module provides skills that are highly desirable in professional contexts where social and psychological research continually influences the terms of reference. From how to commission new research, critically appraise the existing evidence base, and communicate with diverse audiences. You’ll learn valuable investigative, evaluative and analytic skills that will benefit your career progression and add value to your employer.
You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material and mark and comment on your written work. Your tutor will provide advice and guidance by email and via the module forum.
Course work includes:
Assessment on this module has been carefully designed to allow you to develop, practice and deepen skills in interrogation and evaluation. The first tutor-marked assignment introduces the case study and allows you to articulate your module and qualification objectives in dialogue with your tutor. Both the second and third assessments develop skills in methods, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of different methods and defending the logic of your chosen method. In the final assessment, you will test your communication skills by developing a public campaign on a given topic.
The end-of-module assessment requires you to assess and write a report on a complex ‘case' relevant to a policy context, building on your understanding of the principles of social and psychological inquiry.
The module is delivered entirely online. Comprehensive guidance and support are available via a module website, which includes:
DD801 is an option module in our:
Principles of social and psychological inquiry starts once a year – in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026, when we expect it to start for the last time.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
This module is not available for standalone study. To study this module, you should have declared one of the following postgraduate qualifications as your study intention:
The minimum entry requirement is a recognised UK honours degree (2:2) or its equivalent.
Although the honours degree can be in any subject, you are unlikely to be prepared for this module if you have not had some experience in psychological or social scientific study. The module will sometimes assume a familiarity with psychological or social scientific language and concepts, as well as the characteristic ways in which psychologists and social scientists construct arguments and handle evidence.
Before you start your postgraduate studies, it is expected that you will have the ability to:
All our postgraduate modules are taught in English, so your spoken and written English must be of an appropriate standard for postgraduate study. If English is not your first language, we recommend that you will need a minimum overall score of 6 and a minimum score of 5.5 in each of the four components: reading, writing, speaking and listening under the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). Please see the IELTS website for details. If you are unsure whether your skill level in English is adequate, you may find it helpful to look at our Skills for OU Study site.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
You will be able to familiarise yourself with the module website up to two weeks before the start of the module. A bank of materials (such as key readings and study skill activities) will also be available on your qualification website to support you throughout your learning journey.
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of printed material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader (and where applicable: musical notation and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way). Other alternative formats of the module materials may be available in the future.
| Start | End | Register by | England fee |
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| 03 Oct 2026 | 30 Jun 2027 | 17 Sep 2026 | Not yet available* |
| *This start date is open for pre-booking, which means you can reserve your place ahead of the fees being confirmed. We’ll publish updated 2026/27 fees and funding information in late March 2026. |
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If your income is not more than £25,000 or you receive a qualifying benefit, you might be eligible for help with some of these costs after your module has started.
There may be extra costs on top of the tuition fee, such as set books, a computer and internet access.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to support your study costs. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in England.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to help with your tuition fees. To find out more, see Postgraduate tuition fee loans in Northern Ireland.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to help with your tuition fees. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in Scotland.
If you study this module as part of an eligible qualification, you can apply for a postgraduate loan to support your study costs. To find out more, see Postgraduate loans in Wales.
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