Students may elect to complete a Thesis as part of their
graduate studies. The Thesis, which requires the support and approval of a faculty
thesis advisor and two other psychology faculty members, is a major research
project. Guidelines for Thesis preparation are provided in Appendix F. The
development of a Thesis should begin no later than after the completion of
twenty hours of course work. If a student elects to undertake a thesis, it must
be completed before the student is able to graduate.
All research involving data gathered from human
participants must receive approval by the Institutional Review Board before it
can commence. See Appendix F for a copy of the
NOTE: You are only required to register and pay for the
thesis course (3 credit hour) for one term. Students will receive an incomplete
grade for the thesis at the end of the first term for which it was registered
and for each term thereafter until the project is completed.
ADVICE FROM THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR:
If you plan on doing a study involving the use of participants who belong to a vulnerable population (e.g., children, mentally ill), exercise considerable caution in how data gathering is completed. In particular, make sure to obtain written informed consent from the guardian of the prospective participant before involving the participant in the research (e.g., only observe children or give out questionnaires after parental consent has been formally obtained).
Also, while in the past faculty encouraged Clinical MA students to consider doing a thesis if they wanted to pursue doctoral level studies, faculty now suggest that students pursue completion of independent research projects under the supervision of a faculty member with the intent of publishing or presenting the study at a professional conference. In so doing, students are able to get valuable research experience, build their Curriculum Vitae, and save time and money in registering for the thesis.
Students are encouraged to approach psychology faculty
members to discuss involvement in research.