Taught by faculty from across the School, Interdepartmental Research Studies offers a wide array of courses that meet the school wide doctoral research requirements of 15 points of general and 3 points of specialized research course work. A number of these offerings are also open to masters students whose programs have requirements such as a basic empirical research course or basic statistics.

Because the combinations of research courses required by various programs differ, students are urged to register for these research courses only after consultations with their advisors and, if needed, in consultation with the IDRS director Marc Scott.

Students must take the appropriate amount of E10 statistics courses (from 6 to 12 points) depending upon degree level and research focus. For quantitative work, it is recommended that the first year of statistics be taken early in the course of study.

If at the doctoral level, the required sequence is the educational statistics I & II (E10.2001 - E10.2002) perhaps followed by advanced quantitative methods I & II (E10.2081 - E10.2082). Possible variations on this sequencing may be found on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pages.

Bio-statistics I & II (E10.2995, E10.2996) form an alternate first year statistics sequence. They are recommended for master's students specializing in the health professions and for some doctoral students in nursing and health related disciplines. You are advised to consult the links on FAQ pages regarding the appropriateness of this sequence for your field of study.

At the masters and undergraduate level, courses are offered in basic statistics (E10.1085 - E10.1086).

For doctoral students interested in doing qualitative dissertations involving empirical field research, we offer a 2-course, hands-on sequence (E10.2140 - E10.2141). We also offer a one-term overview-of-methods course (E10.2180). Other qualitative specialization courses focus on aesthetic inquiry (E10.2134), historical research (E10.2135), and philosophical inquiry (E10.2136).

Students interested in doing quantitative dissertations should take several 3-point design courses: empirical methods E10.2132 or its equivalent, followed by E10.2134 for experimental/quasi-experimental studies or by E10.2139 for survey research.

For university-wide offerings of related methods courses see the Related Courses page.