As part of MSU’s MA-ABA program, students will complete a research practicum, conducted at the same time as the master’s thesis (described below). The research practicum will involve regularly scheduled meetings with faculty and peers to discuss research projects. This experience is designed to provide supervision to students in a range of professional behaviors essential to consuming and conducting research in ABA. Topics include:
A master’s thesis is the culmination of graduate education and training in the MSU MA-ABA degree program. Students will propose, conduct, write up and orally defend an empirically-based master’s thesis. Students will decide on a topic and develop the research project with their advisor, ensuring the topic fits Baer, Wolf and Risley’s (1968; 1988) definition of applied behavior analysis and employs a single-case experimental design. While working on the thesis, students will enroll in three (3) credits of CEP 899: Master’s Thesis Research per term for two semesters during the second year of the program. The following table outlines the thesis timeline, with additional details following.
From questions and research methods to published authors, MA-ABA graduates have shared results from their research practicum experience in leading journals. Learn about how our Spartan alumni are moving the field forward.