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Curriculum

PhD, Psychology and Social Intervention

How to Apply

The 51- to 66-credit PhD Program in Psychology and Social Intervention is a research-intensive program that prepares you to understand processes that occur in schools, communities, workplaces, organizations and other settings in order to transform and maximize growth, development, and thriving. Throughout the program, you will learn theories and methods for understanding and assessing social settings, systems, and policies; creating, improving, implementing and evaluating prevention and intervention programs; and understanding various forms of diversity and structural inequality among individuals, institutions, communities, and societies. 

Core Course Sequence

Courses in the PhD in Psychology and Social Intervention core curriculum cover the principles needed to understand human development, social change, psychological and social intervention strategies and tactics, and the understanding and measurement of social contexts. In addition, you will take a sequence of at least three courses that provide comprehensive training in quantitative and qualitative methods required to conduct rigorous research in psychology and social intervention. You will also have the opportunity to participate in a one-year-long practicum in a government, research or community-based organization as a part of the core curriculum.

Sample Electives

You have the opportunity to take methodology and specialty electives. Methodology electives may include advanced statistics offerings, mixed methods design, or qualitative research methods. Specialty electives include course offerings by program faculty on various aspects of intervention and social change, and courses on a substantive area of specialization chosen by the student (e.g., feminist studies, school-based/educational issues, women’s health, and criminal justice).

Culminating Experience

The doctoral dissertation represents the culmination of your doctoral training in the form of an independent piece of scholarship. The dissertation should represent a unique, valuable, and rigorous contribution to research in the area of Psychology and Social Intervention. A breadth of methodologies may be used to fulfill the dissertation requirement. You can choose between submitting a chapter-based dissertation and submitting a dissertation that includes a minimum of two empirical papers alongside an overarching introduction and conclusion that ties them together.

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Program Requirements

Students with a Master’s degree will complete a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 66 credit hours, based on their primary mentor’s advice, while students with a Bachelor’s degree must complete a total of 66 credit hours.

Course Title Credits
Required Coursework
Foundations
APSY-GE 3009Departmental Seminar: Theories of Change in Applied Psychology3
APSY-GE 2094Development & Prevention Science:3
APSY-GE 2825Understand and Measuring Social Contexts of Development3
Methodology Requirement18
APSY-GE 3073Research Design and Methodology in the Behavioral Sciences I 13
Students select an additional 6-15 credits in consultation with their faculty advisor. Possible courses include:
APSTA-GE 2003
Interm Quantitative Methods: General Linear Model
APSTA-GE 2004
Introductory Statistical Inference in R
APSTA-GE 2012
Causal Inference
APSTA-GE 2013
Missing Data
APSTA-GE 2040
Multi-Level Modeling Growth Curve
APSY-GE 2524
Psychological Measurement
APSY-GE 2604
Running Field Experiments in Education
APSY-GE 2835
Research: Using Mixed Methods
INTE-GE 2007
Qualitative Methods in International Education
INTE-GE 2008
Quantitative Methods in International Education
PSYCH-GA 2229
Regression
PSYCH-GA 2239
Anova
PSYCH-GA 2247
Advanced Sem: Structural Equations
PSYCH-GA 2248
Methods for The Analysis of Change
PSI Core electives
2 additional courses worth six credits relevant to trainng goals. Some options are:6
Child Development and Social Policy in a Global Society
Women and Mental Health
Development of Immigrant Origin Youth
Intervention and Social Change
Risk and Resilience
Culture, Context, and Psychology
Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Social Psychology, Intervention, & Social Change
Specialty Area 29
Practica
APSY-GE 2827Practicum in Intervention-Research or Policy-Research I 33
APSY-GE 2828Practicum in Intervention-Research of Policy-Research II 33
Research Seminar6
APSY-GE 2839Project Research Seminar: PSI (taken twice) 43
PSI Program Seminar3-12
APSY-GE 2830
Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 5
Total Credits66
1

Students should enroll in this course in their first year in the program.

2

Students will declare a substantive area of specialization during their course of study (e.g., feminist studies, school-based/educational issues, women’s health, and criminal justice). The area is based on student interest, is flexible, but the course must create a coherent area of specialization and must be approved by the advisor. Students must complete three doctoral-level courses worth nine credits total that enhance their expertise in their chosen area of specialization. These courses may be taken in any program/school at NYU or via the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.

3

Students enroll for six credits in a year-long sequence during their third or fourth year and gain experience with action-oriented approaches to research.

4

Students should enroll in this course for three credits one semester per year for each of their first and second years, in preparation for their 2nd-year paper.

5

All students are required to attend the advanced seminar and present their own work annually.

Research Experience

Students are required to participate on the research team of a PSI faculty member (or another Applied Psychology faculty, by program approval), beginning the first semester of their first year. Students are expected to allocate at least half of their time (20 hours per week) to this activity. By year 3, in line with our training expectations to be exposed to more than one project, students should spend a minimum of 5 hours (of the 20 hours per week) working with another research mentor (within or outside of the program by approval of primary research mentor). Students are free to transition onto new research teams throughout their doctoral training. 

Additional Notes

Students entering the program with prior graduate education, or other relevant experience, may appeal to the faculty to opt-out of selected courses or requirements if they have previously had the equivalent experience. The appeal needs to be in writing and should include a rationale, evidence of comparability to current program requirements (e.g., a course syllabus; a workshop curriculum), and confirmation of support from the students’ advisor. Faculty make these decisions on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the student's academic advisor, appropriate NYU course instructor(s), and the psychology and social intervention program faculty. Students with a masters degree judged by the PSI Faculty to be equivalent to our own can be considered on a case-by-case basis to successfully complete as few as 51 credits to meet the requirements for the PhD.

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid
1st Semester/TermCredits
APSY-GE 3009 Departmental Seminar: Theories of Change in Applied Psychology 3
APSY-GE 3073 Research Design and Methodology in the Behavioral Sciences I 3
APSY-GE 2830 Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 3
APSY-GE 2839 Project Research Seminar: PSI 0
Research Methods/Statistics 3
 Credits12
2nd Semester/Term
APSY-GE 2825 Understand and Measuring Social Contexts of Development 3
APSY-GE 2830 Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 3
APSY-GE 2839 Project Research Seminar: PSI 3
Research Methods/Statistics 3
 Credits12
3rd Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics 3
Specialty Area Course 3
APSY-GE 2830 Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 3
APSY-GE 2839 Project Research Seminar: PSI 0
PSI Core Elective 3
 Credits12
4th Semester/Term
APSY-GE 2094 Development & Prevention Science: 3
Specialty Area Course 3
APSY-GE 2830 Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 3
APSY-GE 2839 Project Research Seminar: PSI 3
 Credits12
5th Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics 3
PSI Core Elective 3
APSY-GE 2827 Practicum in Intervention-Research or Policy-Research I 3
 Credits9
6th Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics 3
Specialty Area Course 3
APSY-GE 2828 Practicum in Intervention-Research of Policy-Research II 3
 Credits9
 Total Credits66

Following completion of the required coursework for the PhD, students are expected to maintain active status at New York University by enrolling in a research/writing course or a Maintain Matriculation (MAINT-GE 4747) course.  All non-course requirements must be fulfilled prior to degree conferral, although the specific timing of completion may vary from student-to-student.