Department of Psychology at Illinois State University
The Department of Psychology encourages its students' to enrich their academic pursuits through participation in research. Undergraduate students may pursue their interests though independent study or as a research assistant in a faculty member's lab. Under the For Researchers link, there is important information about research with human participants or with animals. Students should review information about the Ethical Guidelines for conducting research and become familiar with the requirements of the University's Institutional Review Board. Graduate students will find information about thesis and dissertation research, use of the department's College Student Research Participant Pool, and Milner Library Psychology Resources. Questions about research conducted by faculty or students in the department should be addressed to the department's Research Committee.
The Faculty Research Interests provides a current list of research interests of our department faculty. Students should review this list before soliciting a faculty member's assistance with an independent study project or if they are considering applying for a research assistantship.
Department faculty maintain a strong commitment to undergraduate instruction and mentoring. Every semester, approximately 100 undergraduate psychology students work with faculty, either on an individual basis or in small teams, on psychological research.
Occasionally, faculty or students in the department may conduct research using a telephone survey methodology. In such cases, the proposed research would have been approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Illinois State University, and the researcher would clearly identify himself or herself as a faculty member or student in the Department of Psychology at Illinois State University. He or she would then describe the nature of the study and secure potential participants’ assent to participate in the research before soliciting any responses to specific research questions.
If you question being contacted by someone requesting your participation in a telephone survey that was identified with the Department of Psychology, you are encouraged tocontact the Interim, Dr. Scott Jordan, by e-mail or at (309) 438-8651.
