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Research Experience and Training

The Program is designed to provide the future psychologist with a strong foundation in scholarship and research in the field. Coursework, participation in research and scholarship groups (RSGs), and the research and scholarship project (RSP) across the first three years in the Program prepare students to carry out independent dissertation projects in their advanced years in the Program.

Building a research foundation - A Four Course Sequence

By the end of their third semester in the Program, students have completed a required four-course sequence designed to give them the requisite fundamental skills to begin to think critically as a researcher (the four courses are the two-semester Statistics course, the Psychometrics course, and the Research Design course).

For further information about the curriculum click here.

Research and Scholarship Groups (RSGs)

RSGs are working groups led by most core faculty members that are comprised of students from years one through three in the program. RSGs are designed to help students complete the second year research project as well as progress towards the dissertation by offering them consistent interactions over a multi-year period with both a faculty research mentor as well as with student mentors from more advanced cohorts. Students are not required to have their dissertations be related to the work carried out in their RSG or to have their RSG mentor serve as their dissertation advisor.

Research and Scholarship Project (RSP)

The (RSP) is an empirical study using quantitative methods that culminates in a poster and paper completed during the student’s second year in the program. These projects may become the foundation for a student’s dissertation but this is not required.

Dissertation

Completion of the dissertation constitutes the final step in the academic sequence of our training Program. While the RSP (described above) must be empirical, dissertations may be empirical (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods) or theoretical. The student works closely through the proposal, data collection, analysis, and completion states of the dissertation with their dissertation committee.