Quantitative Psychology Graduate Degree

Are you interested in the career path of quantitative psychology? Have you hesitated because you aren’t completely sure what this profession entails? Keep reading below to learn all you can about this exciting occupation. Quantitative psychology is defined as the study of techniques and methods that are used to measure human attributes, the mathematical and statistical modeling of a variety of psychological processes, as well as the analysis of a given set of psychological data.

Research in the area of quantitative psychology is used to develop psychological theories with relation to mathematics and statistics. Appropriate research requires a psychologist to elaborate upon methods that already exist, as well as to create new theories and concepts; this ensures that quantitative psychology requires more than simply the application of statistics and mathematics. In your work as a quantitative psychologist you will primarily work with two major subcategories.

The first category is psychometrics, which is used by quantitative psychologists to develop methods of analysis and practice of psychological measurement. Within this category you may create questionnaires that are used to test memory and methods of analyzing data that is obtained from the questionnaire. The second subcategory is mathematical psychology; which is designed to create novel mathematical models that accurately describe psychological processes of the human brain.

It is common for individuals who practice quantitative psychology to be involved in areas such as: sociology, educational measurements, political science, educational statistics, mathematics, and statistics. In addition, there are several scientific organizations that serve the area of quantitative psychology. For instance, the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, the European Society for Methodology, the Psychometric Society, and Division 5 of the American Psychological Association.

In your work as a quantitative psychologist you will spend the large majority of your time applying what you know about math and statistics to the principles of psychology. The training you will receive in your degree program to become a quantitative psychologist will allow you to conduct research projects in practically any area of psychology. Keep in mind, in order to become a quantitative psychologist it will be necessary for you to obtain your doctorate degree and to also obtain licensure. Should you decide that you would like to work within the research aspect of this industry, it will be important that you can design reliable research projects that will elicit improved results.

It is common for psychologists in this field to focus their work on data collection; this is often conducted by creating tools or refining tools like tests or surveys. In your role as a quantitative psychologist you will need to be sure that the design of a study is strong enough in order for conclusions to be drawn from it. Furthermore, your studies should be general enough so that other researchers can make inferences regarding the general population using results from the people in the study. Your training and knowledge will also make it important that you conduct studies that adequately show a cause and effect relationship that exists between the study and the participants.

In your job position as a quantitative psychologist it would be possible for you to work in the area of measurement of psychological characteristics. For example, you could work developing IQ tests or other measurement tools that are used in everyday psychological processes or psychological research. Your training and skills set will also make it possible for you to review studies conducted by other researchers in order to determine its relevance, or if the results are considered to be a fluke. You may also use what you know about statistics and math to compare more than one method of research to see which is preferred.