Areas of Focus
Students in the Ph.D. program in EDRE have opportunities to focus on one of four areas during their first two years of doctoral study. All of these areas share a common core of research methods courses. Students can take advanced course work in a particular area in order to prepare for careers in measurement, qualitative methods, statistics or evaluation.
The measurement focus engages students in course work and experiences relevant to developing psycho-educational instruments, evaluating the quality of measures from those instruments, conducting research relating to testing practices, and developing measurement models.
The qualitative focus includes coursework and other experiences that prepare students to understand important theoretical issues in contemporary qualitative inquiry, design qualitative research, use a variety of data collection methods, analyze data appropriately, use a variety of writing formats and writing practices to report findings, and use appropriate criteria to evaluate various forms of qualitative research.
The statistics focus emphasizes course work and experiences that would prepare students for designing quantitative research studies, using and developing appropriate and cutting edge statistical methodologies for analysis of complex educational and social data, and conducting research studies relating to educational and socio-behavioral issues.
Students may also focus on program evaluation. This includes study regarding the theoretical and philosophical bases for research regarding social science programming. Design and measurement alternatives are examined to build practical skills as as an evaluation expert.
EDRE Program Guidelines
The Ph.D. program in EDRE requires a minimum of 90 hours of course work beyond the Bachelor’s degree. These hours are divided among Research Methods, a Focus Area, Electives, Masters/Cognate, and Dissertation Research requirements. In addition to the requirements shown below, you can take a look at three examples of EDRE plans of study.
In the addition to course work, several EDRE Doctoral Program Milestones need to be completed.
Research Methodology Requirements (EDRE Ph.D. students take all of the following courses)
| Course Number | Credit | Course Title |
Prerequisites (or equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDRE 6504 | 3 | Qualitative Methods in Educational Research I | EDRE 5404 |
| EDRE 6524 | 3 | Qualitative Methods in Educational Research II | EDRE 6504 |
| EDRE 6605 | 3 | Quantitative Research Methods in Education I | EDRE 5404 |
| EDRE 6606 | 3 | Quantitative Research Methods in Education II | EDRE 6605 |
| EDRE 6684 | 3 | Instrument Development & Validation | EDRE 6606 |
| EDRE 6704 | 3 | Evaluation Methods in Education | EDRE 5404 |
| TOTAL | 18 |
Focus Courses
EDRE Ph.D. studentsmay choose one of the following four focus areas and take all of the listed courses.
Measurement Focus Courses
| Course Number | Credit | Course Title | Prerequisites (or equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDRE 6624 | 3 | Measurement Theory in Education | EDRE 6606 |
| EDRE 6634 | 3 | Advanced Statistics for Education | EDRE 6606 |
| EDRE 6764 | 3 | Advanced Rasch Measurement | EDRE 6624 or 6684 |
| EDRE 6754 | 3 | Advanced Item Response Theory | EDRE 6624 or 6684 |
| EDRE 6654 | 3 | Multivariate Statistics for Applications to Educational Problems | EDRE 6634 |
| EDRE 6774 | 3 | Advanced Issues in Psychometric Research | EDRE 6624 or 6684 |
| 6 | Two additional courses chosen in consultation with the student’s advisory committee | ||
| TOTAL | 24 |
Qualitative Focus Courses
| Course Number | Credit | Course Title | Prerequisites (or equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDRE 6794 | 3 | Qualitative Research and Social Justice | EDRE 6524 |
| EDRE 6794 | 3 | Advanced Writing Strategies in Qualitative Research | EDRE 6524 |
| EDRE 6744 | 3 | Mixed Methods in Educational Research | EDRE 6524 |
| EDRE 6794 | 3 | Poststructuralist Forms of Qualitative Inquiry | EDRE 6524 |
| EDRE 6784 | 3 | Advanced Issues in Qualitative Research | EDRE 6524 |
| 9 | Three additional qualitative courses chosen in consultation with the student’s advisory committee | EDRE 6524 | |
| TOTAL | 24 |
Statistics Focus Courses
| Course Number | Credit | Course Title | Prerequisites (or equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAT 5104 or 5615 |
3 | Probability & Distribution Theory Statistics in Research I |
MATH 4526 Calculus |
| STAT 5114 or 5616 |
3 | Statistical Inference Statistics in Research II |
STAT 5114 5615 |
| EDRE 6624 | 3 | Measurement Theory in Education | EDRE 6606 |
| EDRE 6634 | 3 | Advanced Statistics for Education | EDRE 6606 |
| EDRE 6654 | 3 | Multivariate Statistics for Applications to Educational Problems | EDRE 6634 |
| EDRE 6664 | 3 | Applications of Structural Equation Models in Educatio | EDRE 6634 |
| EDRE 6794 | 3 | Hierarchical Linear Models | EDRE 6634 |
| 3 | One additional course chosen in consultation with the student’s advisory committee | ||
| TOTAL | 24 |
Evaluation Focus Courses
| Course Number | Credit | Course Title | Prerequisites (or equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDRE 6744 | 3 | Mixed Methods in Educational Research | EDRE 6524 |
| EDRE 5644 | 3 | Questionnaire Design and Survey Research in Education | EDRE 5404 |
| Additional courses chosen in consultation with the student’s advisory committee | |||
| TOTAL | 24 |
Masters Degree Credits
EDRE Ph.D. students must have a minimum of 18 hours of credit in Master’s degree program that are approved by the Advisory Committee or must take at least 18 hours of graduate credit beyond the remaining requirements for a Ph.D. in the EDRE Program. These courses should constitute a cognate area outside of EDRE.
Dissertation Research
EDRE Ph.D. students must take a minimum of 30 hours of credit of dissertation research during the duration of their studies. Students should enroll for at least 1 hour of EDAE 7994 credit each semester and attend the EDRE brownbag presentations to receive credit for those hours.