Social Psychology Graduate Program Curriculum
Students in Social Psychology ordinarily receive coursework training in four distinguishable areas:
1. Social Psychology
REQUIRED COURSES : Students are required to take the following four courses. PSY 550 and 551 Advanced Social Psychology PSY 591 Current Topics in Social Psychology.
REQUIRED ELECTIVES : Students will ordinarily take at least two additional content courses in social psychology from among those courses and seminars offered by the social psychology faculty.
2. Quantitative / Methods
REQUIRED COURSES : Students are required to take the following three courses. PSY 530 and 531 ANOVA and MCR Statistics PSY 600 Design of Experiments in Social Psychology.
REQUIRED ELECTIVES : Students will ordinarily take at least three additional graduate level courses in quantitative and ethodological areas related to social psychological research to improve their technical skills. These courses may be taught by department faculty, or, with the approval of the program, be offered by related departments on campus.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED : PSY 555 Quasi–Experimental Designs for Research
3. Psychological Foundations
REQUIRED ELECTIVES : Students will take at least two courses in the development, biological, cognitive, or clinical bases of human behavior that will enable the student to bring a broader perspective to creative scholarship. These courses, from at least two of the bases of behavior mentioned above, are taught by psychology department faculty and must be approved by the program.
4. Research Activities
Students are required to develop competence in one or more substantive areas of research and theory, in which the student attempts to make a unique scholarly contribution. This is typically achieved by:
1) involvement in the ongoing research program of one or more mentors, for which the student receives academic credit through the Supervised Research courses, such as PSY 592, 692 and 792,
2) Master's Thesis (PSY 599) and Dissertation (PSY 799) courses, and
3) passing the comprehensive examination requirement.
The three sets of required electives stated above should be regarded as default assumptions, and are viewed as appropriate for the typical social psychology student in the program. Individual needs and goals may vary from this typical pattern, and exceptions and substitutions may be proposed to the program. Only under unusual circumstances will petitions be approved that attempt to make substitutions for the eight required courses listed above. Advisors should be consulted before enrolling in courses that are intended to meet breadth requirements.
PROGRESS REPORTS
All students submit progress reports and self–evaluations to the program each year. This document describes progress towards meeting the student's curricular goals as well as updating his/her research agenda. It proposes any modifications to the earlier curricular plan, together with justification for these changes. It identifies short–term plans for the next year that fit with the student's longer term training goals. This document is used by the program faculty as its basis for providing evaluative and, if needed, corrective feedback each year.
Year 1
Fall Semester
PSY 551 Advanced Social Psychology
PSY 530 ANOVA Statistics
PSY 591a Current Topics in Social
PSY 592 Research
Spring Semester
PSY 531 Mult. Corr & Regr. Statistics
PSY 600 Experimental Design Research
Social Psychology Recommended Elective
PSY 592 Research
Year 2
Fall Semester
PSY 550 Advanced Social Psychology
PSY 532 Multivariate Statistics
PSY 599 Thesis Research (3–6 hrs)
Spring Semester
Psychology Core Required Elective
Q & M Required Elective
PSY 599 Thesis Research (3–6 hours)
Master’s Degree awarded
Year 3
Fall Semester
Social Psychology Required Elective
Q&M Required Elective
PSY 792 Research (3–6 hrs)
Spring Semester
Psychology Core Required Elective
PSY 792 Research (3–9 hours)
Comprehensive Examination
Year 4 & 5
Fall Semester
Elective
PSY 792 Research (9 hours)
Dissertation Prospectus
Spring Semester
Elective
PSY 799 Dissertation (9 hrs)
Ph.D. awarded