Psychology

• You must first arrange to take this course with a research supervisor, i.e., your thesis committee chair. Any faculty in the psychology department (excluding adjunct faculty) can serve as a thesis chair.
  • If you work with a non-psychology member, you must locate a psychology faculty member as your co-chair. You will then need one additional member for your committee (3 required).

• You and the chair should then identify two other faculty members, at least one who is a psychologist with a research focus, to serve on your thesis committee. The purpose of the thesis committee is to direct and assist you in all phases of the project.
• Once your committee is familiar with your thesis project, you should apply for IRB approval if your advisor’s current IRB approval does not cover your project so you can begin conducting the research.
  • NOTE: If the research supervisor is NOT a faculty member in the psychology department (e.g., is in another department, such as Clinical and Health Psychology), you must find a Psychology faculty member to serve as a co-chair of your committee.

• The names of the members of your thesis committee.
• Your IRB approval #
• Your written thesis proposal (at least 7 pages long, double-spaced), consisting of an introduction and method like what will appear in the actual thesis. The typed proposal must accompany the registration form. If you cannot complete this proposal, you will not be able to register for PSY 4970 and instead should consider signing up for PSY 4905.
  • Your proposal must outline the following:
  • Specific aims or purpose of the project
  • Review of pertinent literature
  • Type and number of subjects to be tested.
  • Apparatus or materials to be used.
  • Techniques or procedures for data collection
  • Methods of data analysis
  • Possible outcomes of the study and their interpretations for the senior thesis.

Determine the number of credits to enroll

Students can take 1-3 credits per semester, to be determined by your research supervisor. For each credit taken, you must complete 45 work hours this semester. Students must enroll in at least one credit of PSY 4970 in the semester they will defend their thesis (often the same semester they will graduate). However, previous semesters will typically have already been spent working on the thesis.

Note: Remember that PSY4970 credit applies to the overall 9IW credit policy. Students can enroll in 1-3 credits within a term if they do not have IW  credit left, but they are not eligible to enroll in PSY4970. It cannot be taken for 0 credits, nor will we retroactively change previous credits earned.

Once your proposal and enrollment form are completed, email the undergraduate coordinator, Dr. Ron Chandler, and copy psych-advising@ufl.edu. Please email your proposal at least 1-2 days before the semester deadline.

The undergraduate coordinator, Dr. Ron Chandler, will review students proposal. They will be notified if the undergraduate coordinator approves, after which the advising staff can register you for the course.

In the semester that you defend, you will have written a formal thesis according to the guidelines of the American Psychological Association. You will arrange a thesis defense, where you schedule a meeting with your thesis committee, prepare an oral presentation, and answer questions from your committee.

• You must print out and bring the Senior Thesis Defense form to your defense and give it to your committee chair. Instructions are on this form for the student and the committee chair. For the student part, you can type in the top half of the form and print it out if that’s easier. For the committee chair, this form also contains guidelines that the committee will use to evaluate the student’s thesis as worthy of High or Highest Honors.
• Get a room for your defense: first, check with your committee members to determine the days and times that they would be available, then visit https://psych.ufl.edu/info-forms/room-reservations/to see a calendar of rooms available in the Psychology building (scroll down to see different rooms).
  • If a room is available on the day/time you need it, email David Fowler (dfowler@ufl.edu) to reserve the room. The earlier you can do this, the better chance you will have of getting a room at the time you want.
• Student presents PowerPoint presentation.
• The remainder of the meeting is spent with the committee asking the student questions. The defense can take place through the last day of semester classes.
• After your defense, return the completed/signed senior thesis defense form and the three individual evaluation forms to psych-advising@ufl.edu and include Dr. Ron Chandler POSSIBLE, but no later than the last day of classes.

If approved, your committee will sign your thesis defense form and evaluate your thesis as worthy of High or Highest Honors.

The first step is to identify a laboratory where you want to gain experience. There are several ways to do this.

• Talk with your course instructors and teaching assistants about research projects that they are conducting.
• Browse the notices about available research positions on the bulletin boards on the first floor of the Psychology Building.
• Look through faculty members’ web pages to see who is conducting research of interest to you (see https://psych.ufl.edu/directory/faculty/ for a listing of faculty and links to their web pages).
• Get involved with the Psychology Club. The club will announce opportunities for research positions periodically.
• 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 limited 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 start working.

Students are allowed a maximum of 9 credits total for Individual/Work (IW) courses; this limit cannot be exceeded under any circumstances. Students can enroll in up to 4 credits for any single IW course, with a maximum of 3 credits within a single semester.

PSY4970 allows 1-3 credit enrollment.

It’s important to note that students planning to enroll in PSY4970 Honors Thesis must reserve at least 1 of the 9 IW credits. If all 9 credits have been used, students will be ineligible to enroll in PSY4970. We cannot retroactively adjust credit from previous terms to accommodate PSY4970 enrollment. Students must plan accordingly.

Additionally, IW courses count toward the 3000-level Additional Psychology Electives and cannot be used to fulfill the 4000-level Psychology Electives requirement.

A senior thesis is an original and significant research project conducted under the close supervision of a faculty member. If you’re considering undertaking a senior thesis, it’s important to first gain experience as a research assistant (see PSY4911 of PSY4905 for details). This allows a faculty member to become familiar with your work, making it more likely they will agree to supervise your thesis.

Completing a thesis is a serious commitment, requiring both intellectual effort and time. Most thesis projects take at least two semesters to complete, in addition to the time spent initially gaining experience as a research assistant.

Students must develop a written proposal that is at least 7-8 pages long (longer proposals are often appropriate), double-spaced, and consists of sections representative of the actual thesis.

PROPOSAL: Generally, the proposal should include the following:

1. Specific aims or purpose of the project.
2. Review of pertinent literature.
3. Type and number of subjects to be tested: if applicable.
4. Apparatus or materials to be used: if applicable.
5. Techniques or procedures for data collection.
6. Methods of data analysis.
7. Possible outcomes of the study and their interpretations for the senior thesis

Please see The Defense form for details.

The first step is identifying a laboratory where you want to gain experience. There are several ways to do this.

1. Talk with your course instructors and teaching assistants about research projects that they are conducting.
2. Browse the notices about available research positions on the bulletin boards on the first floor of the Psychology Building.
3. Look through faculty members’ web pages to see who is conducting research of interest to you (see https://psych.ufl.edu/directory/faculty/ for a listing of faculty and links to their web pages).
4. Get involved with the Psychology Club. The club will announce opportunities for research positions periodically.

• If you enroll in PSY 4970 but do not defend your thesis that semester, you must submit a detailed progress report to Psych Advising and Dr. Chandler by the last day of classes. The report should explain your progress and outline your plans for completing the research in a subsequent semester. If you must discontinue your thesis, provide a detailed explanation, though this should be rare.
• If you plan to continue your thesis next semester, you must sign up for PSY 4970 credits in the semester you intend to defend. A maximum of 4 credits can be taken for PSY 4970, so if you’ve already completed 3 credits, you can only sign up for 1 more. These credits must count toward your Psychology requirements. To continue, again fill out the PSY 4970 paperwork using the same thesis proposal and attach it to a new form signed by your Faculty Supervisor. Submit this via email to psych-advising@ufl.edu.

Please see the PSY4970 Enrollment Form & Full Proposal Submission Deadline table above.

No, students can obtain cum laude by meeting the college requirements: 3.50 or higher GPA on all courses taken at UF beginning the semester after accumulating 60 credits. ( See CLAS AAC college advisor for assistance). Students can obtain magna or summa cum laude if they meet the college requirements and the requirements set by the Psychology department for the honors thesis.

Suppose the faculty member is not in psychology or affiliated with psychology. In that case, you must get a member of the psychology department who is experienced in the research area in which you plan to complete your research. You will need them to sign the form as the faculty sponsor. Find a faculty sponsor for your project.

PSY 4905 may be appropriate for students when developing a senior honors thesis idea or doing a directed readings course as an independent study with a professor. Students should consult with their faculty member and the Undergraduate Coordinator for assistance.

Students will typically do a couple of things. Some will register for individual study (PSY 4905) to collect data on what they want to do for their research topic. Then, find a faculty member with similar interests and ask them if they are willing to help them with their research work in the lab. This would be supervised research (PSY 4911). They would register for PSY 4970, senior thesis, in their senior year to defend their findings.

Registering for 4905 or 4911 is not required, but you must register for 4970 to do the honor thesis for at least one credit. This credit must apply to the additional psych electives.

Yes, it is possible. However, as UF Online students are fully remote, it’s important to find a Psychology faculty member willing to collaborate with you in this capacity.

Unfortunately, no