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Officially approved as:     

Degree Dependent:   Yes

Total Credit Hours:  18 beyond 3 hour prerequisite

Time to Completion: 24 months

Certificate Description:  Academic disciplines ranging from sociology, psychology, education, agricultural sciences, communication and media studies are increasingly turning to new and complex forms of research. Qualitative research methodologies, which utilize techniques such as interviews, focus groups, document analysis, discourse analysis, and multi- modal analysis, offer new strategies for scholarship and research that contribute greatly to the body of professional and academic research. The purpose of the certificate is to prepare future scholars in the theory, design, and implementation of qualitative research. The program emphasizes the following core principles about research.

• Any research inquiry begins first from an epistemological and theoretical stance held by the researcher regardless of how explicit these stances may be. Thus a scholar’s work always stem from her or his research identit(ies).

• Qualitative research includes a relationship between the researcher and the researched, so that the researcher must always interrogate her or his influence in the process of conducting research.

• One’s research questions always dictate the specific methodology and methods to be used in the study.

• Rigor in one’s research and implementation is the hallmark of any research study that proposes to contribute to the body of knowledge in one’s field.

Certificate web site: 
https://education.missouri.edu/degrees-programs/certificates-minors/qualitative-research/

Officially approved as:

Stand Alone: Yes

Total Credit Hours: 18

Certificate description:
The 18-hour Quantitative Research Certificate (QRC) is designed to prepare researchers and scholars to be users and critical consumers of quantitative research. Certificate holders are trained in various methods in order to conduct rigorous, scientific quantitative research. Students completing the QRC (depending on the chosen track) will be able to:

• Design effective experimental and quasi-experimental studies
• Manage and use large scale datasets
• Analyze various types of datasets (e.g., nested data, longitudinal data) with the appropriate modeling techniques
• Apply advanced statistical methods (e.g., structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling) in their own research
• Critically review studies that make use of a diverse set of statistical methods
• Conduct measurement related studies using techniques such as factor analysis or item response theory

Application Process
The QRC is a stand-alone graduate certificate program and is available to all current graduate students and non-degree seeking post-baccalaureate graduate students. See the Office of Graduate School Graduate Certificates for more information. To apply, see either the below process for current or prospective MU graduate students:

Current Graduate Students: For current MU graduate students, “good standing” in the current academic degree program is required and the following documents should be submitted to quantcertificate@missouri.edu.

• Two letters of recommendation (one of which should be a letter of support from the current degree advisor)
• CV/resume
• The QRC APPLICATION/Initial Plan of Study Form
• Unofficial academic transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate work
• Upon acceptance, an Application for Graduate Change of Program, Degree, Emphasis, or Advisor must be submitted to the Graduate School with:
  • A new program/department should be added to current degree program
  • The new “Academic Program” should be Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology and the “Emphasis” area should be Quantitative Research Certificate

Prospective Graduate Students: Individuals not currently an MU graduate student will need to meet the minimum requirements of the Office of Graduate Studies and apply for the QRC by submitting the following documents using the MU Graduate School application.

• Two letters of recommendation
• CV/resume
• The QRC APPLICATION/Initial Plan of Study Form
• Unofficial academic transcripts of all previous undergraduat and graduate work
• Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores
  • Tests taken within the last 5 years with a preferred quantitative score of 152
  • Institution code: 6875
• Non-native English speakers must score at least a 550 on the paper-based TOEFL, 80 on the Internet-based TOEFL or 6.5 on the Academic IELTS. In addition, it is expected that applicants will achieve subsection minimums of no less than 17 on IBT, 52 on PBT or 6.0 on IELTS (subsections: Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing)

Application Deadlines

• March 15 for Spring cohort and Spring Graduations
• October 15 for Fall cohort and Fall Graduations

Certificate web site:
https://education.missouri.edu/degrees-programs/certificates-minors/quantitative-research/