Northern Illinois University
Families and Development in Context Lab
Department of Psychology

The following outlines my ideas about how thesis and dissertations are developed under my mentorship as well as my hopes of students’ involvement in ongoing research projects in the lab.

Thesis

My goal is to have students develop a thesis that is both interesting and manageable. Often students have wonderful ideas, but if they can not be done in a timely manner, the project should not be your thesis. In addition, I work with students to develop thesis ideas that balance their interests with my expertise so I can serve as an effective mentor. Thus, sometimes there will be compromises. When applying to work with me, consider how your interests overlap with mine and how we can collaborate. Students enter the program with varying levels of research experience. For your thesis, I plan to meet with you regularly and provide extensive feedback at every step, unless you demonstrate that this is not necessary.

In terms of a tentative schedule for students, in the first semester, all first year students take independent study with their mentor. I structure this independent study to focus on reading and discussing with me empirical and review articles that are likely to inform your understanding of your research domain for your thesis. By the end of the semester, students typically have a working thesis topic, have read quite a bit of literature on the topic, and have some tentative hypothesis. In the spring of the first year, all first year students take Research Methods where the class assignments are designed to help you pull together a draft of your thesis proposal. During this process, students are encouraged to get feedback from their mentors since they will have more specific knowledge of the topic area than the faculty member teaching the course. The class version of the proposal is typically not the final version of the proposal and further development and refinement is often needed. I encourage students to take that draft and plan on devoting the summer afterward to fine-tuning the proposal, with the goal of proposing the thesis before the end of the fall semester of their 2^nd year (see clinical handbook for aspirational goals for the thesis, candidacy exams and dissertation). Collecting the data in the spring semester of their 2^nd year and running analyses and writing it up in a timely fashion should allow for completion of the thesis prior to the end of the fall semester of their 3^rd year.

Dissertation

The dissertation is done more independently than the thesis. Rather than me offering direct suggestions for ideas, it is expected that you will develop your ideas. Furthermore, the writing of the proposal should not require as much support, given you have been through the process before. With that stated, as a mentor I still will be closely involved. We can meet regularly to discuss your ideas and ensure the project is well developed and doable.

After the exams are completed, students need to turn quickly to their dissertation proposal. Proposing your dissertation during your fourth year will allow you to get a jump start on data collection and be quite competitive as you are applying for internship at the start of your fifth year.

You must propose your dissertation the August prior to applying for internship based on our program’s guidelines, but I advise you do this even earlier. The earlier in your fourth year you propose and move forward with data collection, the stronger your application is going to be for internship. Ideally, you want to defend your dissertation before you leave for internship.

Other Research

I encourage all students, whether you envision a research career or not, to become more involved in ongoing research projects in the lab. If you are interested in an academic career, it is crucial to have publications when you are applying for postdoctoral fellowships or academic positions. In your first year, you are encouraged to assist in data collection and data analyses to familiarize yourself with the methods I typically use. To that end, first year students serve as my graduate research assistant. When, available, you can become involved as a junior author on ongoing manuscripts and conference presentations by contributing to the writing of the methods and/or results sections. This will give you the opportunity to begin to more fully understand the process. This process of increasing involvement in dissemination of research findings allows you to have materials ready for the candidacy exam portfolios.

As a graduate student, you are expected to try and publish your thesis and dissertation as well as submit these for national conferences (e.g., SRA and SRCD). I also will approach lab members to collaborate on papers I am taking the lead on, both to help you further develop your skills and your vita. In addition, once you have exhibited the ability to do so, you may take the lead on papers based on my existing data, if it does not overlap with already existing concepts being explored for manuscripts. You are encouraged to approach me regarding these ideas.