Quantitative Research Methods Certificate

Executive Committee:

Program Faculty:

Program Description

The program in Quantitative Research Methods is a graduate certificate program administered by faculty in the Departments of Psychological Sciences, Sociology, and Educational Psychology but drawing students from many other departments and schools. The general structure and policies of this program follow the guidelines for graduate certificate programs specified in the University of Connecticut Graduate Catalogue. The program’s mission is to provide students with a thorough background in quantitative research methods in the psychological sciences that extends the basic research methods training required by their respective graduate programs. Participants who are officially admitted to the program, successfully complete the program requirements, and submit a completed and approved Plan of Study to the Graduate School will receive a certificate in Quantitative Research Methods from the Graduate School of the University of Connecticut.

Program Requirements

The program requirements are as follows:

  1. Prerequisite courses. Prerequisites for participation in the program are completion of PSYC 5104 and 5105 Foundations of Research in the Psychological Sciences I and II, or equivalent courses. Students who wish to substitute equivalent coursework for these two courses with other graduate level introductory statistics courses need to submit a petition to the Director of the QRM program. The petition should include a syllabus of the equivalent course and other documentation if available (e.g. exam examples) to support the petition and facilitate the decision making by the Committee.
  2. Enrollment. Students MUST be officially admitted to the QRM program by completing an application through the Graduate School online application system. In order to apply you must currently be enrolled in any UConn graduate program. The application process is managed by the Graduate School, not the Department of Psychological Sciences and is similar to the master’s/PhD program application process.
  3. 12 Credits. Participants in the program complete 12 credits of graduate coursework in quantitative methods selected from a list of program courses (below). Students who wish to petition for a course that is not listed may do so by contacting the QRM Director with documentation of the course content (e.g. syllabus, exam examples). Such courses cannot be from other institutions. Additionally, the Graduate School requires certificate students to earn at least a B (3.00) in all coursework.
  4. Plan of Study. Students interested in the program should design an individualized plan of study, in consultation with their major advisor, which serves their research needs, interests, and career goals. Students may also wish to consult with one or more members of the QRM Executive Committee (above) about the courses they plan to take and their expected date of completion. The Plan of Study form can be downloaded here.
  5. Completion of program. The final Plan of Study form should be signed by the Program Director and is then submitted to the Graduate School (by emailing it to sandra.cyr@uconn.edu). Once the paperwork is processed, the graduate school will issue the certificate. Please bear in mind that students cannot apply for certificate completion after graduating from their master’s or PhD program unless they want to continue paying student fees. Thus, it is important to complete the paperwork in the semester you are graduating. In addition, the Graduate School issues deadlines each semester for submitting Plans of Study.

Students interested in the QRM Certificate Program should contact the Graduate Program Coordinator (psychgrad@uconn.edu), to ensure that appropriate forms and records are initiated early in their graduate careers.

Qualifying Courses

Course title
AH 6005 Multilevel Mediation-Moderation Modeling for Health Sciences
AH 6015 Use of Large Population-Based Datasets for Health Promotion
PSYC 5131 Meta-analysis: Theory and Practice
PSYC 5332 Research Design and Test Construction
PSYC 5470 Longitudinal Data Analysis
PSYC 5554 Advanced Nonlinear Dynamics
PSYC 5670 Current Topics in I/O Psych (Multivariate Approaches to Survey Data)
PSYC 5701 Experimental Social Psychology
PSYC 5702 Field Research Methods
PSYC 6130 Measurement and Scaling
PSYC 6783 Tools to Analyze Language
EPSY 6611 Hierarchical Linear Modeling
EPSY 6615 Structural Equation Modeling
EPSY 6651 Introduction to Methods for Causal Inference Using Educational Data
EPSY 6637 Item Response Theory
HDFS 5002 Special Topics (Longitudinal Methods, Meta Analysis, others by Program Director Approval)
MGMT 6206 Applied Research in Management (Seminar in Multilevel Theories, Methods, & Analyses in Mgmt)
PUBH 5434 Topics in Intermediate Biostatistics
PUBH 5435 Statistical Methods in Epidemiology
PUBH 5468 Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology
SOCI 5203 Quantitative Research I
STAT 3375Q Introduction to Mathematical Statistics
STAT 5825 Applied Time Series

Note. Additional courses are acceptable with prior approval. If you are unsure about whether a course qualifies you can contact the QRM program director. Please check the graduate catalog, department websites, and instructors for course availability. Not all courses are available each academic year. In some divisions courses on different topics can share the same course number (e.g. “Current Topics in…”) and can, thus, qualify twice.