The research practicum provides students with a variety of skills for entry into the job market or for graduate school, such as research methodology, coding, interview skills, and a deeper understanding about the theoretical framework of human development and family sciences. Professors and their graduate assistants are directly involved and work very closely with the students. Below you will find a list of professors and their research areas. All HDF 355's meet for ten hours per week. A paper or independent project related to your experiences is required. Prerequisites include statistics and credit for or concurrent enrollment in HDF 333L. It is recommended that students take no more than 12 hours their practicum semester, to allow them to accommodate the scheduling hours associated with their 355. Priority for placement will be given to students that have submitted their application by the deadline, have the most flexible schedule, a sound GPA, and positive references.
Students apply for the following summer and fall semester by December 1, and for the following spring semester by May 1. This allows the University Practicum Supervisor to look over the student's application and to be able to recommend appropriate courses or volunteer opportunities that will benefit the student. Application is not a guarantee of acceptance, nor does it mean that a student is committed and cannot change their mind. For questions, please contact the University Practicum Supervisor.
Graduate Research
Research training emphasizes hands-on research involvement
under the direction of the faculty. From their first month in the program students
participate actively in ongoing research until their program of study is finished.
Upon arriving on campus each student, with the Graduate Committee, decides on
an initial Research Advisor, who supervises the students' research during the
first semester.
During the second semester students often change advisors and in fact are encouraged to get experience in multiple labs. Each semester students register for at least 3 hours of research participation and in their first two years spend a third to a half of their time working with faculty on research. Research experience in the first two years culminates in completion of a major data-based paper, either a Master's Thesis, if students seek a masters degree, or a Second Year Project, if students are interested only in the Ph.D.
With formal course work and the thesis/second year project
completed, students in the third year begin to develop an area of specialization.
Students are encouraged to write up their thesis/second year project for publication
and then to begin the Comprehensive Paper, a thorough review of the literature
in the student's primary area of specialization. This paper is usually completed
in the third year and often defines the issues that the student will tackle in
the dissertation. In recent years Comprehensive Paper topics have included: "Meta-analysis
of the effects of corporal punishment on children," "Pathways to the development
of disorganized attachment to mothers and fathers: Are there differences?," "Sexual
abuse experiences in childhood as predictors of premarital relationships in adulthood,"
"Premarital predictors of marital success," "The development of autonomy and the
self in toddlers: The role of mother's and father's attachment and caregiving.,"
and "The role of compatibility in courtship and marriage."
In the student's final year emphasis shifts to the dissertation. Students are encouraged to write up their Comprehensive Papers for publication and then to focus on completing their dissertations. In contrast to most research done to this point, the dissertation is original research for which the student is the principal investigator. It represents the culmination of a change from collaborative work under the direction of the faculty to independent inquiry in consultation with the faculty. Recent dissertation topics include: "Commitment to relationships and the centrality of work," "The micromanagement of children's behavior: Mothers' moment-to-moment goals, control techniques, and perceptions of children's emotions as determinants of children's compliance," "Children's television use and parental regulation: An interactive systems analysis," "The long term significance of role compatibility on marital relationships," "Socioemotional behavior, marital companionship, and marital satisfaction: A longitudinal study," "Predicting toddlers' autonomy from mothers' and fathers' attachment and caregiving," "A multidimensional analysis of elementary school children's beliefs about wealth and poverty," "Work and child care: Couples' decision-making processes over the transition to parenthood," and "Mother-child observations across three generations: Attachment, boundary patterns, and the intergenerational transmission of caregiving."
In the summer of 2002 the program moved into the new 48 million dollar Seay Psychology, Human Development, and Family Sciences Building. With 180,000 total square-feet, 30,000 in the HDFS wing, the building includes state-of-the-art facilities for interviewing families, videotaping child and family interaction, and storing and analyzing complex data sets. The HDFS wing includes a computer aided telephone interviewing system (C.A.T.I.), a computerized coding facility for analysis of videotaped interaction data, a furnished family room setting for observing and recording semi-naturalistic family interaction, and fully-equipped computer labs with access to the most advanced statistical software packages. There are also areas suitable for interviewing adults and families, office space for graduate students and faculty, the new Priscilla P. Flawn Child and Family Laboratory School with built-in observational and recording facilities, and a digital video-editing studio.
Students receive office space at the University, usually in the labs in which they are doing their primary work. These labs are equipped with computers and software that permit students to complete their work efficiently and conveniently. On campus offices for students also facilitate informal interaction among students and faculty, an important feature of any first rate graduate education
At some point in their graduate careers, most students present their research at national conventions. The program typically covers a significant portion of the expenses that students incur when traveling to these conferences.
The University of Texas at Austin maintains one of the country's top computer facilities and is home to the nation's 7th ranked computer sciences graduate program. In addition excellent computers are available to students in the research labs of all HDFS faculty. The University Web, established in June, 1993, is among the 200 oldest Web sites in the world and is the fourth most active site among U.S. universities.
The program maintains the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory, a model preschool and infant/toddler program that provides a setting for faculty and student research. Established more than 70 years ago, the "Lab School" has become an institution in Austin and now serves more than a hundred children from 6 months to 5-years of age. It has been set up so that faculty and students can observe and videotape naturalistic interactions among children of differing ages. It is also an important source of funding for graduate students and an applied setting for acquisition of skills related to developing and administering programs for children. The Seay Building will house a new Lab School with soundproofed observation/research facilities, one-way mirrors, and a variety of built in microphones, computers, and remotely-controlled video cameras.
The University of Texas at Austin has the fifth largest academic library in the United States with more than 7.6 million volumes and 5 million pieces of microforms. UT Library Online offers online access to hundreds of licensed bibliographic and full-text databases and now records more than seven million "hits" each month from information seekers at UT, at other locations around the state, and from more than 100 countries worldwide.
Located within the program, the Phyllis Richards Reference Room houses a non-circulating collection of more than five hundred books and twenty journals for use by HDFS students and faculty.
