Graduate and undergraduate quantitative education in psychology in the United States: a mixed methods approach
摘要
Quantitative methodology is part of the core curriculum for training in psychology and is required of graduate students across all subdisciplines; as such, the depth and breadth of course content is a universal issue among psychology training programs. Required and supplemental quantitative content is constantly evolving with the development of new techniques or applications. Therefore, the purpose of this inquiry was fourfold; we aimed to (1) describe the current state of undergraduate quantitative education and establish a common set of current undergraduate curricular topics; (2) characterize graduate quantitative education in terms of required coursework, optional coursework, and omitted topics; (3) identify any gaps in practical knowledge that may not be addressed in formalized coursework; and (4) gather perspectives of faculty members who teach these courses about the state of the discipline and perceptions about where we should be headed. A two-study sequence using a mixed-methods approach provides the current state and trends over time for quantitative education in psychology at both the graduate and undergraduate level from 2014 (Study 1) to 2019 (Study 2). We establish a common set of topics for undergraduate quantitative education and note topics with variability across institutions. Standard required content in the graduate curriculum is also noted, including trends over time. Gaps in practical knowledge not addressed in formalized coursework were identified. Qualitative themes were identified from the perspectives of faculty members who teach these courses, including which ones persisted over time versus ones that waned.