Doctoral written specialty prelim study guide

AREA: Social psychology/human relations

1. Purpose

The social psychology and human relations preliminary examinations require students to demonstrate their scholarship and conceptualizing competencies in the field of social psychology/human relations.

2. Description

The examination must be written in one four-hour sitting under conditions of monitoring. Students may not use reference materials. This is a four-hour essay exam consisting of two parts. Part I (one hour) requires students to provide short answers to questions focusing on theorists, researchers, and methodology. This part of the examination is written by the chair of the Social Psychology/Human Relations Prelim Committee. Part II (three hours) requires students to write in detail on topics of their choice within social psychology/human relations. These topics must clearly be within the field of social psychology/human relations. This part of the examination is written by the student’s adviser. No less than four weeks before the examination is to be written, the student will provide the adviser with three topic areas on which exam questions will be based. The adviser reviews and approves or revises these topics and informs the student of the topics. Feedback regarding the appropriateness of the proposed topics will be provided as quickly as possible, usually within 48 hours. The adviser will provide three questions to the prelim secretary at least one week before the exam.

3. Eligibility for the written specialty prelim

In order to sit for the written prelim in social psychology/human relations the student must submit a formal request using the EPsy general prelim registration form. The request must be submitted at least four weeks before the written prelim. Students must also have submitted their degree program and the EPsy examining consent form to the director of graduate studies (DGS). Registration for the prelim is done through one’s adviser and the DGS. In addition to the general educational psychology/psychological foundations requirements, students who wish to take the examination are expected to have completed several graduate level courses in social psychology and to have read widely within the field. [Note: If a student is not specializing in Social Psychology, they should take EPSY 5157, Social Psychology of Education, and at least two advanced classes in social psychology.]

EPsy general prelim registration form [.pdf]

4. Written specialty prelim content

Part I of the examination assesses students’ knowledge of (a) social psychological theorists and researchers and (b) research methods used by social psychologists. Part II of the examination is aimed at measuring students’ (a) in-depth knowledge of three areas within social psychology/human relations and (b) ability to conceptualize. Students pick three social psychological/human relations areas to focus on. For each area, they are asked to (a) conceptualize the area, (b) critically review the relevant theory and research, and (c) design a research study that needs to be conducted. Answers must reflect a thorough knowledge of each topic area, must demonstrate the ability to synthesize the literature within each area, and must propose in each area a reasonable study that builds on the literature.

In addition to the students' scholarly readings, the following books or their equivalents will help students prepare for the examination.

Anderson, B. The Psychology Experiment. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Deutsch, M. The Psychology of Conflict Resolution. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press.

Deutsch, M., & Krauss, R. (1966). Theories of Social Psychology. New York: Basic Books.

Johnson, D. W. (1970). Social Psychology of Education. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

5. Scheduling the written specialty prelim

The examination must be written in one four-hour sitting under conditions of monitoring. Students may not use reference materials. The exam is offered the sixth Saturday of the fall term and the seventh Saturday of the spring term. The exact place and time will be announced.

6. Prelim scoring

The exam will be scored by two raters (one of whom is the student’s adviser). Raters will score questions on a scale of 1-5 with 5 the highest possible score; scores 2.5 and above are passing. The average score of Part I will be averaged with the three scores from Part II to compute a total score for each rater. The scores for each rater will then be averaged for an overall final score. If the total scores of both raters are below 2.5, the student fails. If the overall final score is below 2.5 and one rater passes and the other rater fails, a third rater will be asked to rate the exam and this score will determine a pass or a fail. If there are major discrepancies between the original raters on two or more questions, a third rater may be asked to rate the exam.

7. Sample Questions

Not available

8. Forms

See Educational Psychology - Degree Forms.

Revised February 2006