Ph.D. in Educational Research
The Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Research is in the Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology and Counseling, the College of Education, at The University of Alabama.
The doctoral program in Educational Research requires a Master’s degree for doctoral admission. Since the Educational Research program does not offer a Master’s degree, almost any earned Master’s degree is appropriate. The program consists of 18 hours of core courses and a minimum of 12 hours in a specialization. A specialization could be qualitative methods, program evaluation, assessment/measurement or quantitative methods. The doctoral program also requires a minimum of 12 hours of foundations. A minimum of 48 is required by the Graduate School of which only six may be transferred in from another university. An additional 24 hours of dissertation research is required.
Program Planning Record
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH REQUIRED CORE COURSES
BER 540 Statistical Methods in Education
BER 558 Introduction to Psychometrics
BER 600 Quantitative Research
Methods in Education (unless BER 500 was taken on a M.A. degree)
BER 631 Inquiry as Interpretation: Qualitative I
BER 660 Introduction to Program Evaluation
BER 687 Field Work in Educational Research or
BER 689 Practicum in Educational Research
TOTAL 18 Hours
SPECIALIZATION COURSES
(12 hours minimum)
Total 12 Hours
FOUNDATIONS
BEF History and/or Philosophy of Education
3 additional BEF courses
TOTAL 12 Hours
Other Requirements
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Obtain a grade of A or B in each of the core courses in Educational Research
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Produce a product of a research or evaluation effort (e.g., presentation of a paper to a professional society; article accepted for publication; assuming major responsibility for writing the final research or evaluation
report for a grant, etc.) -
Plan Ph.D. program with Program Chair and Program Committee
-
Pass First Year Review after 15 hours of Educational Research courses
-
Pass written comprehensive examinations
-
Pass oral examinations
-
Pass oral defense of dissertation proposal to be admitted into Ph.D. candidacy
-
Be admitted to Ph.D. candidacy
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Complete dissertation
-
Successfully defend the dissertation
First Year Review
Screening will be done after a student has taken 15 hours of
course work in Educational Research. Students are required to submit:
a listing of courses taken and grades obtained in these courses, a writing
sample, a statement of goals and expectations regarding their Ph.D.
Program, statement of professional aspirations, and a draft of his/her
Program Plan of Study. Materials should be submitted to the Educational
Research faculty care of the Program Chairperson. Once the faculty have
reviewed these materials, they will make recommendations regarding the
student’s continuing their Program of Study.
Prerequisites for Taking the Comprehensive Examination in Educational Research
Examinations are offered in the fall and spring semesters. To be eligible to take the comprehensive major examination for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, a student must have completed: all required Educational Research Core Courses, all area of specialization courses and practicums or field work.
The Educational Research Program’s comprehensive examination is designed to assess the development of the student's competencies and skills according to the following criteria:
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Receive a passing mark on the written comprehensive examination. The written examination may be either take-home or sit-down. The exam will be configured for each student by the student’s program committee chairperson with contributions from the rest of the program committee. The result is forwarded to the Edcational Research coordinator.
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Pass an oral examination, when deemed necessary by the student’s program committee chairperson, in which the candidate will be provided by the program committee with an opportunity to elaborate on the above written examination, and the program committee may ask questions covering any aspect of the student's program.
Graduate Courses in Educational Research
| Course Number |
Specialty Area |
Course Title |
Special Notation |
| BER 500 |
R |
Introduction to Educational Research |
Master’s and Ed.S. |
| BER 540 |
S |
Statistical Methods in Education |
|
| BER 545 |
S |
Analysis of Variance in Education |
Prerequisite BER 540 |
| BER 546 |
S |
Regression Methods in Education |
Prerequisite BER 540 |
| BER 550 |
A/M |
Evaluation of Classroom Learning |
|
| BER 558 |
A/M |
Introduction to Psychometrics |
Prerequisite BER 540 |
| BER 600 |
R |
Research Methods in Education |
Doctoral Students Only |
| BER 603 |
R |
Survey Research in Education |
|
| BER 631 |
Q |
Inquiry as Interpretation: Qualitative I |
|
| BER 632 |
Q |
Reflexiveness and Resistance in |
BER 631 |
| BER 633 |
Q |
Ethics and Aesthetics Of Meaning Making: Qualitative III |
BER 631,632 |
| BER 640 |
S |
Multivariate Dependence Methods |
Prerequisites BER 540, |
| BER 641 |
S |
Multivariate Interdependence Methods |
Prerequisites BER 540, |
| BER 646 |
S |
Structural Equation Modeling |
Prerequisites BER 540, 545, 546 |
| BER 650 |
A/M |
Advanced Topics in Test Development |
Prerequisites BER 540, 550, 558 |
| BER 658 |
A/M |
Psychometric Theory and Practice |
Prerequisites BER 540, 558 |
| BER 660 |
E |
Evaluation I: Theory and Practice |
|
| BER 661 |
E |
Evaluation II: Adv. Theories & Application |
Prerequisite BER 660 |
| BER 673 |
All |
Seminar in Educational Research |
May be taken multiple times depending upon the speciality area. |
| BER 672 |
All |
Teaching Educational Research in College |
|
| BER 673 |
All |
Seminar in Educational Research |
|
| BER 687 |
All |
Field Work in Educational Research |
|
| BER 688 |
All |
Internship in Educational Research |
|
| BER 689 |
All |
Practicum in Educational Research |
|
| BER 690 |
All |
Readings in Educational Research |
|
| BER 698 |
All |
Research Not Related to Dissertation |
|
| BER 699 |
All |
Dissertation Research |
|
Special Area Code
-
A/M = Assessment/Measurement
-
E = Evaluation
-
Q = Qualitative Research
-
R = Research Methods
-
S= Statistics