PsychologyOverview
In Mentored Research (PSYC 4998), a student completes an empirical research project and then writes a report about this project. This project is completed with assistance from a faculty mentor. Like any one credit course at Penn, this is expected to demand 10 hours of work per week from the student. Students must arrange their own Mentored Research project (PSYC 4998). To learn more about undergraduate mentored research in our department, please see our Menotored Research Canvas site here. This site is available to all Penn users.
During the PSYC 4998, the student familiarizes herself/himself with existing relevant research, collects data, analyzes data, and reports these data. At the end of the PSYC 4998, the student submits a report of this to the faculty mentor and the undergraduate department. This report should involve the empirical assessment of a psychological hypothesis. It should review relevant literature, present data collection methods, and present results of this project with descriptive and inferential statistical analyses (with supporting tables and/or graphs as needed). To read research reports from previousMentored Research projects, please go to Claire Ingulli's office in Levin 120 where there is a collection of past student papers for students to peruse. The grade for the PSYC 4998 is based primarily on this written report as this is the only explicit requirement of the course. The faculty mentor grades this report.
Anticipated structure
Your faculty mentor should provide you with a syllabus outlining the Mentored Research. Below are typical timelines for a one-semester PSYC 4998 and a two semester PSYC 4998. Two-semester PSYC 4998s can run Fall to Spring (one academic year), or Spring to Fall (starting one academic year and finishing the next). The timeline below presumes a Fall to Spring PSYC 4998, but this can be applied to Spring to Fall PSYC 4998s.
One-semester Mentored Research
| Month (Fall or Spring semester) | Activity |
| September/January | Literature review, refine research ideas, IRB |
| October/February | Research design, develop measure or pilot, collect data |
| November/March | Collect/analyze data |
| December/April | Analyze data, write report |
Two-semester Mentored Research
| Month (academic year*) | Activity |
| September | Literature review, refine research ideas, IRB |
| October | Research design, develop measure or pilot, collect data |
| November | Collect data |
| December | Collect/analyze data |
| January | Analyze data, follow-up measures if appropriate |
| February | Analyze data, follow-up measures if appropriate |
| March | Analyze data, write report |
| April | Write report, prepare presentation |
Two-semester PSYC 4998s
Some PSYC 4998s are one semester (1 CU), while others students choose to pursue a two-semester project (2 CUs). A student completing a two-semester PSYC 4998 thesis is expected to perform a markedly more in-depth study than a one-semester PSYC 4998. This is not merely completing a one-semester project over two semesters, or collecting data in one semester and writing a report the following semester.
All two-semester PSYC 4998 students must submit a progress report to the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the beginning of their second semester and a more substantial thesis at the end of the second semester. Students are also required to present their thesis research at our Spring poster fair as part of our Undergraduate Research Symposium. Note, if the two semesters straddle two academic years (Spring-Fall), the student must still present a poster in the Spring poster fair following completion of the project.
Please be advised that any student who writes a two-semester thesis can compete for the research awards given by the department in the Spring; see the PSYC 4998 Canvas site for more details. To be considered for these departmental awards, students must give a research talk at the research conference and submit their reports to Claire Ingulli's office in Levin 120. Students who plan to give a research talk at the research conference should contact Claire Ingulli stating their interest and the title of their project. Please see the Mentored Research (PSYC 4998) Canvas site for the deadlines associated with these events.
* Students can pursue two-semester Mentored Research projects that span the Fall to Spring academic year, or they can straddle two academic years with a Spring to Fall project.