Psychology is an empirical science that involves exploring questions about behavior through systematic research. “Doing research” in psychology entails formulating questions, designing and conducting experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and sharing the findings with the broader scientific community. While research is often associated with academic psychologists, it is also conducted in a variety of settings, including clinics, community health programs, the armed forces, and corporate research departments.
Building a strong foundation in research skills during your undergraduate years is essential, especially if you plan to pursue graduate studies in psychology or related fields. Gaining hands-on research experience as an undergraduate can be invaluable in preparing you for advanced study and professional practice.
Ways To Earn Research Credit
Psychology has several individual work courses that allow students to engage in ongoing research and obtain course credits for this work. Credit may be obtained for the following courses: PSY 4911 Supervised Research, PSY 4905 Independent Study, and PSY 4970 Honors Thesis.
Across all IW classes (PSY4905, PSY 4911, PSY4970, PSY4940, and PSY4949), a maximum of 9 credits can be taken, and these 9 credits can count toward the 36 PSY credits required for the major. You cannot exceed 9 credits under any circumstances.
Types of Undergraduate Research
PSY4905: Individual Work in Psychology
Qualified students and the instructor or supervisor choose a particular problem for investigation or studying psychology. A formal written report of the work is required.
- Prerequisite: 12 semester hours of psychology.
- Credits Per Semester: 1-3
- Maximum Enrollment: 4 credits
- Grading Scheme: Letter Grade
- Enrollment Form: PSY4905 Independent Study Registration Form
Steps to Enroll To enroll, you must first arrange to take this course with a faculty supervisor. Fill out and print the registration form, prepare the 1–2-page proposal described on the registration form, and obtain the signature of a faculty supervisor. If the faculty member is not in psychology or clinical and health psychology, you must get a member of the psychology department to sign the form as the faculty supervisor. Once completed and signed, email the form to Psychology Advising at psych-advising@ufl.edu, where an advisor will register you for the course if your proposal reflects an appropriate use of PSY 4905. Remember: This is a graded course, so you must work with your faculty supervisor to establish the extent and nature of written work from which your grade can be assessed. Furthermore, the amount of work should be representative of the number of credits that you are signed up for. Provides firsthand, supervised research in Psychology. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery, or application in Psychology. Students participate in ongoing research in psychology, assisting in such phases as experimental design, data collection, and analysis. Steps to Enroll The first step is to identify a laboratory where you would like to gain your experience. There are several ways to do this. Once you have identified laboratories of interest, contact the faculty member or graduate student to find out about the availability of research assistant positions and the specific laboratory’s application procedures. You are encouraged to do this as early as possible, as some laboratories have a limited number of available positions. It is best to apply towards the end of the semester before you want to begin working in the research lab or as early as possible in the semester you wish to begin working. Students can take 0-3 credits per semester, to be determined by your research supervisor. For each credit taken, you must complete 45 work hours this semester. This translates into 3 hours per week during the Spring and Fall semesters, 3.75 hours per week during Summer C, and 7.5 hours per week during Summer A or B (for each credit taken). Note: Students enrolling for 0 credits without additional coursework are subject to a 1 credit UF fee. PSY4905 is used to work independently to collect data. PSY4911 is supervised research. This is when a student is actively participating in conducting/ participating in labs under the supervision of their faculty/project supervisors. PSY4905 cannot be used for supervised research that should be taken under PSY 4911. Although there are various uses for which PSY 4905 is appropriate, students typically sign up for PSY 4905 when developing a senior honors thesis idea or when doing a directed readings course as an independent study with a professor. Research taken for credit must be voluntary and unpaid. As with any course, credit for these courses cannot be awarded retroactively, so if you want to earn credit, register for the individual work course in the semester that you plan to work. Registration for these courses is available during advance registration through the semester’s midpoint. If you have a scholarship, you should check with financial aid about any consequences for adding these courses after drop/add. Although many students begin with PSY 4911, these courses do not have to be taken in sequence, nor do all of the courses have to be taken before conducting a senior thesis. You can enroll in 0 credits for PSY 4911, so if you have already taken the maximum # of credits in these courses, you can still sign up for 0 credits. No fee is associated with 0 credits and the course will still reflect on your transcripts. If you plan to work primarily with a graduate student as your supervisor, you still must obtain a signature from the graduate student’s faculty supervisor. If you plan to work on research with a member of the Clinical and Health Psychology faculty, you may sign up for CLP3911 (Introduction to Clinical Research) and receive credit toward the psychology major, but you must do this through HPNP (go to HPNP 3158 or call 273-6455 for more information). If the faculty member is not in psychology,you must get a member of the psychology department who is experienced in the research area you plan to complete research in. You will need them to sign the form as the faculty sponsor.PSY4911: Undergraduate Research in Psychology
Frequently Asked Questions
Tips for locating and applying to a research lab.
For Students Seeking High or Highest Honors in Psychology see here.