1.1 Scholarly Research

Overview: Scholarly research requires the skills of scientific inquiry as a method of addressing a problem. As a participant in research activities in the MSCP program, students are expected to develop the following abilities:

  1. Create or contribute empirical knowledge to the existing body of information in a discipline.
  2. Carryout systematic inquiry of a body of literature.
  3. Use tools of research including analyzing existing research, implementing research designs, using and/or developing instrumentation, employing appropriate methods of data analysis, and handling the logistics of conducting a research study.
  4. Work with faculty or other professionals on a research project.
  5. Use scholarly writing techniques including the mastery of the new APA Publication Manual 7th Edition.
  6. Create and share reproducible and transparent research materials including open data and code consistent with the principles of open science.

Research conducted in the MSCP program may be a thesis or a research project. While both are important contributions to the body of knowledge in a discipline, they have different purposes as described in the following sections. The most critical being that the thesis can replace the comprehensive exam for the partial fulfillment of the requirements necessary for the degree.