MA Educational Psychology -> PhD Educational Measurement

[Junetastic]

Hello! Here are my basic undergrad stats:

3.1 cumulative GPA / somewhere between 3.7-3.9 Psychology GPA

GRE 1290 (550v/740q)

Two letters of recommendations

Two poster presentations

Tons of research xp

Not very strong, which was why I chose a safe graduate program in Educational Psychology. Now here's my dilemma:

I'm about to complete my first year of a two-year program, and I do not have a thesis prepared. I have some ideas but nothing concrete. This is a terminal master's program that culminates in either a thesis or a comprehensive examination. I am seriously considering testing out because:

1) I do not like the program very much. I'm very much more interested in measurement, and it took a year in this program to come to that conclusion (actually I graduated from my undergrad institution with a love for stats and psychometrics but wanted to see if educational psychology would work)..

2) It doesn't seem likely that I will complete a thesis in the 2-year period of my program. I desperately want out.

Now, I've talked to a number of professors here and at my undergrad and get conflicting messages. One professor told me that if this program wasn't for me that I should apply elsewhere regardless of whether I finish this program. My advisor and mentor have both told me that a thesis is the route I need to take. Another professor told me that not having a thesis wouldn't hurt my chances, but I'm assuming that it would help.

So far I haven't done much in my program except work with my advisor on some program evaluation reports and literature reviews. My GPA is solid. I will have TA experience next semester. I'm just lacking research experience so far, which is very unfortunate.

How's my outlook for getting into a funded PhD program in educational measurement (aka psychometrics aka quantitative methods ...)?

Thanks!

[ZeChocMoose]

Hello! Here are my basic undergrad stats:

3.1 cumulative GPA / somewhere between 3.7-3.9 Psychology GPA

GRE 1290 (550v/740q)

Two letters of recommendations

Two poster presentations

Tons of research xp

Not very strong, which was why I chose a safe graduate program in Educational Psychology. Now here's my dilemma:

I'm about to complete my first year of a two-year program, and I do not have a thesis prepared. I have some ideas but nothing concrete. This is a terminal master's program that culminates in either a thesis or a comprehensive examination. I am seriously considering testing out because:

1) I do not like the program very much. I'm very much more interested in measurement, and it took a year in this program to come to that conclusion (actually I graduated from my undergrad institution with a love for stats and psychometrics but wanted to see if educational psychology would work)..

2) It doesn't seem likely that I will complete a thesis in the 2-year period of my program. I desperately want out.

Now, I've talked to a number of professors here and at my undergrad and get conflicting messages. One professor told me that if this program wasn't for me that I should apply elsewhere regardless of whether I finish this program. My advisor and mentor have both told me that a thesis is the route I need to take. Another professor told me that not having a thesis wouldn't hurt my chances, but I'm assuming that it would help.

So far I haven't done much in my program except work with my advisor on some program evaluation reports and literature reviews. My GPA is solid. I will have TA experience next semester. I'm just lacking research experience so far, which is very unfortunate.

How's my outlook for getting into a funded PhD program in educational measurement (aka psychometrics aka quantitative methods ...)?

Thanks!

Well... I assume that your advisor and mentor are telling you to complete the thesis because you have no research experience and a thesis would be easy way to get it. I agree with them. It is going to be very difficult to get a funded offer from a PhD program in education measurement/psychometrics/quant methods without any research experience. You will be competing with people who have years of research experience and may have some publications by the time they apply.

Honestly, I would just stick it out with the master's and really work on getting solid research experience. I don't know how your program is structured, but do you have the opportunity to take elective courses in either advanced statistics, research methodology, or measurement classes? I think this will really help you flesh out what your research interests are in the field (which isn't clear to me from your post).

The question on whether to do a thesis or not? Personally, I don't think you need a master's thesis to get into a great PhD program, but you do need research experience. Since you don't have any, completing a thesis may be the path of least resistance. Also if you drop out after this year, what do you plan to do in the gap year?

I also enjoy statistics, research methodology, and psychometrics so it is good to see other people who enjoy the same interests. Good luck!

[Junetastic]

I actually did a couple poster presentations in my undergrad concerning the uses of electronic response clickers (e.g., iclickers) as a tool to facilitate better memory retention and enhance memory for related information. I was also involved in other research comparing different versions of facial recognition software and how interference theory suggests more inaccurate identifications in one version over another due to the number of visual options provided when reconstructing faces from memory. If I were to narrow my own research interests, it would be something along the lines of optimal factors for learning, reliability and validity of technology-based measurements for problem solving, differential item functioning in standardized testing, and more generally differences in achievement and aptitude among students.

Now I wasn't heavily involved in research with my personal mentor at CSU Fresno, but she did offer me opportunities to study advanced topics on psychometrics and run some experiments for her. Now that I'm at CSU Long Beach, a lot of my work done in undergrad probably flies under the radar of my current advisor. But it makes sense now that they feel a thesis would make me a more attractive and competitive applicant for PhD programs.

I also didn't mean to imply I was dropping out, whoops! I meant to say that I would apply to PhD programs without conducting a thesis and opting for the comprehensive examination, in which case, would actually require me to take elective courses that could pertain to statistics and research methodology but unfortunately there are no measurement courses, other than the one I'm currently taking as part of the program, at this institution.

Hey thank you for taking the time to respond. This whole exchange helps!

[t_ruth]

Perhaps you can identify some programs to which you are interested in applying and strike up a conversation with people there? Ask them what they view as most valuable?