Combined Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation

The M.S./Ph.D. program in ERM provides comprehensive training that spans the curriculums of the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. The M.S./Ph.D. program is designed to allow students to progress through the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees faster than if the student completed the M.S. and Ph.D. programs individually. The M.S./Ph.D. program contains the same core requirements of the individuals M.S. and Ph.D. programs with respect to ERM coursework, but gains efficiency by removing redundancies between the individual M.S. and Ph.D. programs completed separately.

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Program Contact

Bob Henson
248 SOEB
rahenson@uncg.edu

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Designed For

The M.S./Ph.D. program is intended for individuals seeking a Ph.D. in ERM who have not previously completed a graduate degree (e.g., master’s degree) in a related field (e.g., quantitative methods, evaluation, or statistics). Students are expected to have taken at least an introductory course in statistics, but may have undergraduate training in a broad range of disciplines that include, but are not limited to, education, psychology, mathematics, statistics, and other fields in the behavioral and health sciences.

Career Opportunities

The Ph.D. program is intended for students who are interested in becoming an expert in research methodology, the measurement sciences, or program evaluation.

Program of Study

Total hours: 78

Required Core courses: 24 Hours

  • ERM 600: Validity and Validation
  • ERM 604: Methods of Educational Research
  • ERM 642: Evaluation of Educational Programs
  • ERM 667: Foundations of Educational Measurement Theory
  • ERM 668: Survey Research in Education
  • ERM 650: Foundations of Qualitative Research
  • ERM 680: Intermediate Statistical Methods in Education
  • ERM 681: Design and Analysis of Educational Experiments

Additional Required Core for the Measurement and Quantitative Methods Concentration: 12 Hours

  • ERM 633: Language Assessment and Testing
  • ERM 669: Item Response Theory
  • ERM 682: Multivariate Analysis
  • ERM 685: R for Education and Social Science

Additional Required Core for the Program Evaluation Concentration: 12 Hours

  • ERM 643: Applied Educational Evaluation
  • ERM 645: Culturally Responsive Approaches to Research and Evaluation
  • ERM 743: Advanced Evaluation Theory
  • ERM 744: Policy in Evaluation

Electives: 30 Hours

Students must complete a combination of 30 hours of elective courses at the 600 or higher level. Electives may be any ERM courses not included in the required core or non-ERM courses with the approval of the major advisor. At least 15 hours must be ERM courses.

Comprehensive Examination:

Students are required to take the MS comprehensive exam following 24 hours of core courses and electives. Students must successfully pass the MS comprehensive exam and formally apply to graduate from the MS program through the Graduate School before taking courses in the doctoral program.

The student will successfully complete a written comprehensive examination to be arranged by the doctoral advisor, usually attempted in the semester in which course work is completed.

Dissertation: 12 Hours

Research that culminates in the preparation of a required doctoral dissertation. 12 hours of ERM 799 Dissertation are required. Additional hours following the 12 required hours may be taken as ERM 802 Dissertation Extension.

 

Program Description

There are two concentrations available for this degree:

  • Measurement and Quantitative Methods
  • Program Evaluation

Students will choose to officially pursue only one of these degree concentrations. In addition to the required core courses of the program, students will complete the additional required core for their chosen concentration based on professional and academic goals. Students may take courses from both cores, but double-concentrations are not recognized at this time. Students who complete both core concentrations will need to choose which concentration appears on their official transcript.

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