FP 750 Thesis I

3 Credits

The main purpose of the thesis course is to assist Forensic Psychology graduate students in acquiring fundamental knowledge in research design, psychometrics, and measurement issues. This course is designed to help students develop research competencies to critically evaluate the existing literature and be able to conduct a research project and/or other scholarly activities. The acquired knowledge, developed research competencies, and the quality of the thesis research project will be evaluated by a thesis committee of at least three Psychology faculty members in two occasions using the program’s thesis/dissertation rating form (see appendix).

The required readings provide an overview of critical elements and topics related to evaluating, developing, and conducting psychology research as well as the procedures of proposing and publishing an empirical study. Particular attention will be focused on various types of quantitative and qualitative research designs commonly used in the forensic psychology field, research validity and methodological issues, ethical considerations, and data analysis strategies. The end products of the thesis courses include (1) a thesis proposal, which includes a literature review section; (2) presenting in the thesis proposal meeting; (3) conducting the study following the approved procedures and methods described in the proposal; (4) analyzing the data and completing the thesis write-up; and (5) presenting in the thesis defense meeting.