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• Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program

• Long-Term Care and Aging Services Administration
• Research and Evaluation
• Educational Gerontology & Lifelong Learning
• Geriatric Care Management

Research and Evaluation

I. Objectives
Students will be prepared to (1) design and implement research studies in aging, (2) design and conduct evaluations of aging-related programs, (3) interpret and critique research and evaluations of aging programs, and (4) understand and appreciate the unique features of doing research and evaluation with older populations (i.e., sampling, design, measurement, and analysis).

II. Potential Employment and/or Doctoral Work:

• Evaluation of private or public aging programs and services.
• Research positions in colleges, universities, research institutes, etc. (e.g., research associate, project director, evaluator).
• Sufficient competencies to successfully enter and complete a doctoral program at an accredited university.

III. Required Statistics Course: (In addition to the 15 credit hour CORE requirements)

Select one of the following statistics courses:

ED PSYCH 6010 (3) Intro to Statistics
A statistics course approved by Supervisory Committee

IV. Elective Courses:

THESIS OPTION
Credit Hours, of witch at least 6 must be from Methodology Courses (listed below) 3 credits must be from GERON prefix electives

NON-THESIS PROJECT OPTION
12 Credit Hours, in which 6 are from Methodology Courses (listed below), and 6 are from GERON prefix electives

Elective Course Selection is Subject to the approval of Supervisory Committee or Associate director for Graduate Studies

Methodology Electives

(Please contact individual departments to verify schedules)
Special Topics in Research Design and Implementation

ED PS 7410 (3) Single Subject Research Design-Application of single/within subject principles and strategies in educational research. Critical issues surrounding the design, implementation and analysis of single subject research.

ED PS 7420 (3) Qualitative Research in Psychology-Qualitative research methods in psychology and related fields. Emphasis on multiple theoretical and practical approaches to qualitative inquiry, including standards of rigor, reflexivity, data-gathering (interview, focus-group, participant-observation, and archival sources) and data-analysis methods. Focus on proposal-writing and steps in investigation and analysis.

ED PS 7460 (3) Program Evaluation and Consultation-Program evaluation and consultation is studied from a number of theoretical and applied perspectives including assessing the organizational environment and culture, negotiating the evaluation agreement, developing data collection methods and procedures, analyzing the information generated, communicating results effectively, and consulting with various stakeholders in the process.

FP MD 6300 (3) Introduction to Epidemiology-Basic principles of epidemiology with emphasis on determining causal of chronic disease. Fundamentals of epidemiologic study design and data resources.

H EDU 6500 (3) Grant Writing for Health Related Disciplines-Provides health educators and other human-service personnel with knowledge and practical skills to understand the grant-writing process, seek appropriate funding channels, write grant proposals, and conduct grant reviews. Actual development of a concept paper and full grant proposal will be completed by students.

H EDU 6570 (3) Research Issues-This course assists students who are in the process of conducting research, preparing for presentations at national/regional meetings, and for writing and submitting manuscripts for publication. Design and measurement issues associated with research will be explored.

Measurement and Instrumentation

ED PS 6300 (3) Introduction to Measurement-An introduction to the statistics of measurement including common scale transformations and interpretations, reliability estimation methods and interpretations, and validity estimation methods and interpretations. Emphasis is on learning to evaluate the quality of measures for various applications based on available psychometric evidence.

ED PS 6320 (3) Instrument Development-This course teaches students how to develop measure instruments for research use (theses' and dissertations) when no acceptable published tests exist. Student projects are emphasized.

ED PS 7300 (3) Psychometric Theory-Theoretical and statistical bases of common measurement methods. Covers introduction to scaling, classical test theory and conventional reliability estimation methods, generalizability theory, and a variety of conceptual and methodological approaches to investigating test validity issues. Emphasis is on proper application and interpretation of psychometric methods.

Multivariate and Advanced Statistics

ED PS 7010 (5) Quantitative Methods I: Foundations of Statistics and Experimental Design-Covers elementary probability theory, measures of central tendency and variability, sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, power, effect sizes, the methods of planned comparisons, and fixed, random, and mixed model analysis of variance including repeated measures. Includes computer exercises.

ED PS 7020 (3) Quantitative Methods II: Regression/Correlation Analysis-Emphasis on analysis of variance for between-group, within subject, mixed, and hierarchical designs. Covers fixed and random effects models, effect sizes, and planned and post hoc comparisons. Includes computer exercises.

FCS 6110 (3) Graduate Multivariate Statistics-Course covers a range of on analysis. Topics include multiple regression, conducting regressions diagnostics, multi-collinearity, interaction effects, repeated measures, and logistic regression. SAS computer assignments.

MGT 5590 (2 or 3) Regression and Correlation with Management Applications-Classic two-variable and multivariable regression models. Problems solved using prepackaged computer programs, with emphasis on interpretation on use of computer outputs. Use of categorical variables, use and interpretation of several coefficients of correlation, and analysis of variance as it applies to the multiple-regression problem. Emphasis on application of techniques, but some theoretical aspects covered.

SOC 7120 (3) Advanced Statistics-Technique of multiple regression; its application, models, extension, and interpretation.

SUMMARY FOR RESEARCH AND EVALUATION

Thesis Option
Gerontology Core 15 credits
Required Statistics 3 credits
Electives 9 credits
Thesis (GERON 6970) 6 credits
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TOTAL 33 credit hours

Non-Thesis* Option Masters Project
Gerontology Core 15 credits
Required Statistics 3 credits
Electives 12 credits
Project (GERON 6975) 4 credits
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TOTAL 34 credit hours

* A Master's Project (non-thesis) within the Research & Evaluation Track must be a publishable data-based paper, suitable for publication in peer-reviewed journal.

Track Advisor: Michael Caserta