Top Psychology Schools in Massachusetts

Interested in a graduate degree in Psychology from a top program within the state of Massachusetts? We offer rankings of best Massachusetts Psychology graduate programs. Review the following schools to see requirements for Master and Doctoral degrees in the area of Psychology.

TopSchoolsInTheUSA: It is not as difficult as you thought to earn a bachelor degree in the state of Massachusetts. Check this site to find an opportunity for pursing an undergraduate degree from top colleges in Massachusetts.

Research Methods in Psychology

Modern psychology is research-based. This means that psychological knowledge and theory should be justified on the basis of studies using recognized scientific methods.

Research has three important aspects:

Empirical, where the researcher conducts concrete studies to gain new knowledge and / or to test existing knowledge
Theoretically, where the researcher links empirical findings into a larger whole for the purpose of explanation and understanding
Practical, where the researcher applies research-based knowledge and theory for example in treatment and prevention

For example, research on depression will involve concrete investigations of how depression behaves (empirically), attempts to put findings from such studies into a larger context (theoretical), and application of knowledge in measures to remedy or prevent depression (practical).

Research is a continuous process in which researchers around the world contribute. Communication between scientists is therefore crucial. Such communication typically occurs through scientific journals and books with so-called peer review (English: peer review). This ensures quality assurance of the knowledge that is published. Published articles and books are compiled into easily accessible databases, which are an invaluable tool for researchers. Perhaps the most important database is PsycINFO, which contains more than 3.5 million summaries of articles and books published in the field of psychology.

Qualitative and quantitative approaches

Research methods in psychology can be quantitative and / or qualitative.

Quantitative surveys provide results that can be measured in numbers, such as scores on questionnaire surveys and tests.
Qualitative surveys provide verbal descriptions and narratives, and can be collected in, for example, interviews.

In studies of depression, the researcher will be able to use both of these approaches: Depressed people can perform tests that provide scores (quantitative data), while interviews and interviews can provide information on how they feel depressed (qualitative data).

In practice, quantitative research is based on a prior qualitative analysis, not least in terms of concepts. Often, these approaches will complement each other.

Studies that use both quantitative and qualitative methodology in the same study are called mixed methods research.

Research Design

The researcher can choose different ways or strategies for conducting the research. This is often referred to as design. In essence, such strategies can be divided into three groups: descriptive, relational, and experimental.

In descriptive studies, the researcher will observe and map a phenomenon (for example, depression), provide definitions and criteria, and say something about how widespread the phenomenon is.
In relational studies, two or more phenomena are seen in context (what is the relationship between depression and darkness?)
In experimental studies, the researcher is actively manipulating factors to see if this is effective (does it have any effect to use daylight in the winter to prevent darkness depression?).

Different methods

Within the various research strategies (design) mentioned above, different methods can be used. Important examples are observation, questionnaire, psychological tests and interview. Often, the researcher will use special apparatus to record and measure behavior, such as reaction time.

Various biological goals have been increasingly used in psychological research. Examples are eye movements, electrical activity in the brain (EEG) and blood flow in the brain (fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging).

Rankings	Psychology Programs	Departments and Schools
1	Harvard University Address: William James Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: (617) 495-3810 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k3007&pageid=icb.page19815	Department of Psychology
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Address: 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 Phone: (617) 253-7403 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://web.mit.edu/bcs/academics/grad.shtml	Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
3	Boston University Address: 64 Cummington Street, Boston, MA 02215 Phone: (617) 353-2580 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.bu.edu/psych/	Department of Psychology
4	University of Massachusetts – Amherst Address: 135 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01003-7710 Phone: (413) 545-2503 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://euryale.sbs.umass.edu/PsychWeb/Grad/index.html	Department of Psychology
5	Boston College Address: 301 McGuinn Hall, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467-3807 Phone: (617) 552-4100 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/psych/graduate.html	Department of Psychology
6	Tufts University Address: 490 Boston Avenue, Medford, MA 02155 Phone: (617) 627-3523 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://ase.tufts.edu/psychology/grad.htm	Department of Psychology
7	Brandeis University Address: MS 062 , Waltham, MA 02454-9110 Phone: (781) 736-3300 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.brandeis.edu/departments/psych/grad.html	Department of Psychology
8	Northeastern University Address: 125 Nightingale Hall, Boston, MA 02115 Phone: (617) 373-3076 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.psych.neu.edu/academics/graduate.html	Department of Psychology
9	Clark University Address: 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610-1477 Phone: (508) 793-7274 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.clarku.edu/departments/psychology/	Department of Psychology
10	University of Massachusetts – Boston Address: 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125 Phone: (617) 287-6350 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.umb.edu/academics/cla/dept/psychology/gradprogram.html	Department of Psychology
11	Suffolk University Address: 41 Temple Street , Boston, MA 02114 Phone: (617) 573-8293 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.cas.suffolk.edu/college/7093.html	Department of Psychology