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Step One: Topic
Gaining research experience
Even before you have arrived at a specific topic and question you
will pursue in your honors research, you will probably know what area
in psychology you would like to do research in. This will give you
some sense of what specific skills you will need to acquire to
undertake research in your chosen area. Sometimes these are
methodological skills that can be attained in one of the Department's
advanced methods courses or perhaps in other advanced, specialized
courses. But other skills are best acquired in an actual research setting,
and it is important to consider gaining experience working in a laboratory
or on a research project as early as possible in your undergraduate career.
You should seek out faculty in your area of psychology to determine the
availability of research positions (as well as to learn about other ways you
may acquire research skills appropriate to your interests). Many faculty,
and some graduate students, have ongoing programs of research for
which they could use undergraduate research assistants. The
Undergraduate Office prepares a listing of some of these positions
each semester. Some positions may be paid, often through the
Work-Study Program, but others are volunteer. Some experience
may be necessary, such as certain coursework or knowledge of basic
laboratory procedures, or the investigator may be willing to train you.
You may be able to assist in an ongoing series of studies, or eventually
designing and conducting an experiment that is theoretically related to
such studies. This sort of work may even lead directly into a thesis or
research project.
Just as some areas of psychology are more strongly represented in this
Department than others, so, too, research opportunities may be more
available in some areas than others. Even if Departmental faculty are
unable to give you a research position, they are often able to refer you
to other projects in other Departments at the University, or in other
universities, hospitals, or research institutions in the Boston area.
Sometimes such labs inform us of specific research opportunities and
these positions are advertised on the undergraduate bulletin board
outside the Undergraduate Office and also in the undergraduate
e-newsletter. The Undergraduate Office also has prepared a list
of selected researchers from outside the Department who study
topics in neuroscience.
It is never too early to begin looking for research experience. Being
involved in a project allows you to see what a research psychologist
actually does. You begin to do psychology rather than merely study it.
And you begin to acquire the skills that will allow you to carry out your
own study in your senior year.
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