Getting Research Experience

[crystalc]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get some advice on obtaining research experience. My undergrad was in industrial engineering, which didn't require any research. I graduated in 2001 and have been working full time since. I'm planning to apply to some social psychology programs. Because my undergrad is not in psychology, I'm concerned that a lack of research experience will be two strikes against my application.

What options are available to obtain research experience? Can I reach out to professors and volunteer to assist? I have experience - both thanks to my school and work experience - with many of the "tools". What other options are available? Has anyone else been in this position and found a solution?

Thanks for any advice!

[cheesethunder]

you could email profs in psyc departments at nearby schools at are in line with your interests and explain to them your tools/ situation but as a psyc major undergrad i found it trouble getting useful research experience at my school for some reason it was mostly just data entry, i got all my research experience at near by hospitals which allowed me to participate more in reserach and covering more areas from reserachign to lit reviews to data collectiona nd scale construction also had oppurtunities to particpate in data write up for studies.

[shai]

I wrote an e-mail asking to volunteer in any research the prof. is conducting. I actually ended up in a meeting with the prof, where she told me that she doesn't have any spots available but took me around the department and introudced me to other profs. In the end, there was this one prof. wo said that if i was willing to work for free, he'll take me. He said that, being that i didn't need any money, I actually had a card going for me.

[MacDuff]

In addition to what the posters above have suggested, I highly recommend that before you blind email any professors volunteering to work in their labs, that you first read some of their current publications so that you can communicate why they should be interested in taking you on. That is, demonstrate that you have a genuine interest in their field of work and are aware of the methodologies they tend to employ. If you have the time and money, you may also want to invest in taking an introductory psychology course, a methods course, and/or a statistics course if you haven't already done so. Definitely mention in your email to the professor(s) any special research skills you may have (e.g., statistical knowledge, software programming knowledge, etc.). Good luck!