MSc Sport Psychology

Year 1

Our innovative and contemporary topics and teaching methods will allow you to acquire the knowledge and skills to successfully contribute to performance and well-being initiatives in dynamic sport and health related contexts.

Our small and interactive group teaching approach (provided by a team with diverse academic and practice skills) and exclusive partnerships on campus will provide you with a truly unique community in which to thrive in your learning and professional development.

Semester 1

Research Methods in Psychology 1

This course will provide you with opportunities to learn and demonstrate critical ability to use a range of techniques and research methods applicable to advanced scholarship in Psychology. You will develop critical knowledge and understanding of how to conduct qualitative and quantitative research of relevance to Psychology, including critically understanding research philosophies, research ethics, research designs, and how to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative psychological data.

Professional Practice in Sport Psychology 1

This course will provide you with opportunities to learn and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and skills of practising Sport Psychology. Within the course, you will develop critical knowledge and understanding of ethics and professional standards, reflective practice, philosophy of professional practice, continual professional development, and working within a defined model of Sport Psychology practice. You will begin to critically evaluate initial elements of Sport Psychology practice including the range of assessment tools, frameworks, and processes used.

Psychology of Team Sport

This course is theme-based, designed to locate your learning within an important context in Sport Psychology – team sport. Within the context of team sport, you will critically evaluate ethics and professional standards, topics of importance to team sport, and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and understanding of Sport Psychology.

Psychology of Community Sport

This course is theme-based, designed to locate your learning within an important context in Sport Psychology – community sport. Within the context of community sport, you will critically evaluate ethics and professional standards, topics of importance to community sport, and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and understanding of Sport Psychology.

Semester 2

Research Methods in Psychology 2

This course will provide you with opportunities to learn and demonstrate critical ability to use a range of techniques and research methods applicable to advanced scholarship in Psychology and develop a proposal for your independent project. Building on Research Methods in Psychology 1, you will develop critical knowledge and understanding of: further qualitative and quantitative approaches and analyses, identifying a research question and developing a research proposal to inform your Independent Project in Psychology, the research ethics process at Heriot-Watt University, and how to write core sections of a research manuscript.

Professional Practice in Sport Psychology 2

This course will provide you with opportunities to learn and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and skills of practising Sport Psychology. Building on Professional Practice in Sport Psychology 1, you will further develop critical knowledge and understanding of approaches to Sport Psychology practice and critically evaluate intervention designs including a range of psychological skills and strategies of relevance to Sport Psychology.

Psychology of Individual Sport

This course is theme-based, designed to locate your learning within an important context in Sport Psychology – individual sport. Within the context of individual sport, you will critically evaluate ethics and professional standards, topics of importance to individual sport, and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and understanding of Sport Psychology.

Psychology of Elite Sport

This course is theme-based, designed to locate your learning within an important context in Sport Psychology – elite sport. Within the context of elite sport, you will critically evaluate ethics and professional standards, topics of importance to elite sport, and demonstrate critical ability in your knowledge and understanding of Sport Psychology.

Semester 3

Independent project in Psychology

This course will provide you with opportunities to learn and demonstrate critical ability to use a range of techniques and research methods applicable to advanced scholarship in Psychology and produce your independent project. Building on Research Methods in Psychology 2, you will critically evaluate relevant literature and apply detailed knowledge and critical understanding of psychological theories and methods to underpin your rationale for research, plan your project, collect/analyse data, critically evaluate and discuss your findings with reference to the extant literature, and summarise your research in a manner appropriate to the discipline.

Examples of research topics include:

• Exploring the relevance of 'us' through examining social identities in sport. 
• Examining social support processes in sport. 
• Examining leadership and active (engaged) followership in sport. 
• Exploring career transitions of elite athletes out of sport. 
• Exploring the reasons underpinning success and failure in sport and their impact upon subsequent outcomes. 
• Examining pressure training in sport.
• Exploring the benefits of exercise for those with neurodevelopmental conditions.
• Examining the psychophysiology of stress and resilience in high performance athletes.