Research Activities and Information (The following links will open in a new window)

All faculty in the Department of Psychology are actively involved in research and want to encourage all undergraduate and graduate students to become involved as well. Descriptions of faculty research interests can be found by following the apporpriate link on the left. If you find a faculty member doing research that interests you, feel free to contact her or him and consider doing a directed study with them.

If you wish to learn more about research in psychology but are not ready to get involved directly, please feel free attend the Department of Psychology Colloqium series. This will be an opportunity to learn more about the current trends and methods in psychology. These meetings will occur about once a month during the academic year and will include presentations by faculty, graduate students, and guest speakers.

Western Carolina University has an Institutional Review Board (IRB) that must review your research before any work begins. For those actively involved in research, you must follow certain guidelines and complete certain forms before actually conducting research. The form to use can be found here. Print out the form, complete page 1, sign the appropriate lines on page 2, prepare a document that answers the nine questions posed on page 2, and include copies of all instruments to be used in the research. You should consider consulting with Dr. Jim Goodwin, our departmental IRB representative, before submitting your IRB proposal. Two complete copies of the proposal itself are to be submitted directly to Goodwin. He will determine whether it is necessary for the proposal to be examined by the full IRB Committee.

We also recommend you complete at least one of the IRB training modules found on the WCU Office of Research Website. These modules provide information about IRB requirements, protection of human participants, animal welfare, and constructing Consent Forms. A sample consent form is available, thanks to Dr. Herzog (sample consent).