Psychology and Social Intervention (PhD)

Department Website

Program Description

The PhD Program in Psychology and Social Intervention prepares action scientists to work in a variety of settings in order to understand, transform, and improve the contexts and systems in which humans develop across the life span. The program places a strong emphasis on understanding and assessing social settings, systems, and policies; creating/improving, implementing and evaluating prevention and intervention programs; and understanding various forms of diversity and structural inequality among individuals, institutions, communities, and societies. This is a research-intensive program with a strong quantitative training component.

Program faculty study a wide range of ecologies (e.g., families, schools, neighborhoods, policy contexts, programs) and preventive and policy interventions (e.g., psychological, social, educational and health programs), locally, nationally, and internationally. Faculty also conduct research on how cultural factors and identities influence and interact with experiences of these ecologies and interventions, and collaborate with other social, behavioral, health and policy scientists at NYU, other universities, and service, community, and policy organizations. Students work collaboratively with faculty mentors on a range of activities in these research areas, including study design, data collection and analysis, manuscript preparations, conference presentations, policy briefs, and evaluation activities.

Admissions

Admission to graduate programs in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development requires the following minimum components:

• Résumé/CV
• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation
• Transcripts
• Proficiency in English

See NYU Steinhardt's Graduate Admissions website for additional information on school-wide admission. Some programs may require additional components for admissions.

See How to Apply for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.

Program Requirements

Students with a Master’s degree will complete a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 66 credit hours, based on their primary mentor’s advice, while students with a Bachelor’s degree must complete a total of 66 credit hours.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Required Coursework
Foundations
APSY-GE 3009	Departmental Seminar: Theories of Change in Applied Psychology	3
APSY-GE 2094	Development & Prevention Science:	3
APSY-GE 2825	Understand and Measuring Social Contexts of Development	3
Methodology Requirement		18
APSY-GE 3073	Research Design and Methodology in the Behavioral Sciences I 1	3
Students select an additional 6-15 credits in consultation with their faculty advisor. Possible courses include:
APSTA-GE 2003	Interm Quantitative Methods: General Linear Model
APSTA-GE 2004	Introductory Statistical Inference in R
APSTA-GE 2012	Causal Inference
APSTA-GE 2013	Missing Data
APSTA-GE 2040	Multi-Level Modeling Growth Curve
APSY-GE 2524	Psychological Measurement
APSY-GE 2604	Running Field Experiments in Education
APSY-GE 2835	Research: Using Mixed Methods
INTE-GE 2007	Qualitative Methods in International Education
INTE-GE 2008	Quantitative Methods in International Education
PSYCH-GA 2229	Regression
PSYCH-GA 2239	Anova
PSYCH-GA 2247
PSYCH-GA 2248	Methods for The Analysis of Change
PSI Core electives
2 additional courses worth six credits relevant to trainng goals. Some options are:		6
Child Development and Social Policy in a Global Society
Women and Mental Health
Development of Immigrant Origin Youth
Intervention and Social Change
Risk and Resilience
Culture, Context, and Psychology
Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Social Psychology, Intervention, & Social Change
Specialty Area 2		9
Practica
APSY-GE 2827	Practicum in Intervention-Research or Policy-Research I 3	3
APSY-GE 2828	Practicum in Intervention-Research of Policy-Research II 3	3
Research Seminar		6
APSY-GE 2839	Project Research Seminar: PSI (taken twice) 4	3
PSI Program Seminar		3-12
APSY-GE 2830	Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention 5
Total Credits		66

¹

Students should enroll in this course in their first year in the program.

²

Students will declare a substantive area of specialization during their course of study (e.g., feminist studies, school-based/educational issues, women’s health, and criminal justice). The area is based on student interest, is flexible, but the course must create a coherent area of specialization and must be approved by the advisor. Students must complete three doctoral-level courses worth nine credits total that enhance their expertise in their chosen area of specialization. These courses may be taken in any program/school at NYU or via the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium.

³

Students enroll for six credits in a year-long sequence during their third or fourth year and gain experience with action-oriented approaches to research.

⁴

Students should enroll in this course for three credits one semester per year for each of their first and second years, in preparation for their 2nd-year paper.

⁵

All students are required to attend the advanced seminar and present their own work annually.

Research Experience

Students are required to participate on the research team of a PSI faculty member (or another Applied Psychology faculty, by program approval), beginning the first semester of their first year. Students are expected to allocate at least half of their time (20 hours per week) to this activity. By year 3, in line with our training expectations to be exposed to more than one project, students should spend a minimum of 5 hours (of the 20 hours per week) working with another research mentor (within or outside of the program by approval of primary research mentor). Students are free to transition onto new research teams throughout their doctoral training. 

Additional Notes

Students entering the program with prior graduate education, or other relevant experience, may appeal to the faculty to opt-out of selected courses or requirements if they have previously had the equivalent experience. The appeal needs to be in writing and should include a rationale, evidence of comparability to current program requirements (e.g., a course syllabus; a workshop curriculum), and confirmation of support from the students’ advisor. Faculty make these decisions on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the student's academic advisor, appropriate NYU course instructor(s), and the psychology and social intervention program faculty. Students with a masters degree judged by the PSI Faculty to be equivalent to our own can be considered on a case-by-case basis to successfully complete as few as 51 credits to meet the requirements for the PhD.

Sample Plan of Study

Plan of Study Grid

1st Semester/Term		Credits
APSY-GE 3009	Departmental Seminar: Theories of Change in Applied Psychology	3
APSY-GE 3073	Research Design and Methodology in the Behavioral Sciences I	3
APSY-GE 2830	Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention	3
APSY-GE 2839	Project Research Seminar: PSI	0
Research Methods/Statistics		3
	Credits	12
2nd Semester/Term
APSY-GE 2825	Understand and Measuring Social Contexts of Development	3
APSY-GE 2830	Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention	3
APSY-GE 2839	Project Research Seminar: PSI	3
Research Methods/Statistics		3
	Credits	12
3rd Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics		3
Specialty Area Course		3
APSY-GE 2830	Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention	3
APSY-GE 2839	Project Research Seminar: PSI	0
PSI Core Elective		3
	Credits	12
4th Semester/Term
APSY-GE 2094	Development & Prevention Science:	3
Specialty Area Course		3
APSY-GE 2830	Advanced Seminar in Psychology and Social Intervention	3
APSY-GE 2839	Project Research Seminar: PSI	3
	Credits	12
5th Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics		3
PSI Core Elective		3
APSY-GE 2827	Practicum in Intervention-Research or Policy-Research I	3
	Credits	9
6th Semester/Term
Research Methods/Statistics		3
Specialty Area Course		3
APSY-GE 2828	Practicum in Intervention-Research of Policy-Research II	3
	Credits	9
	Total Credits	66

Following completion of the required coursework for the PhD, students are expected to maintain active status at New York University by enrolling in a research/writing course or a Maintain Matriculation (MAINT-GE 4747) course.  All non-course requirements must be fulfilled prior to degree conferral, although the specific timing of completion may vary from student-to-student.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will:

1. Build context knowledge base to understand and improve human development in social context.
2. Develop methodological skills that enable analysis of change over time and within and across levels of human ecology.
3. Acquire abilities to apply psychological and social sciences principles to the understanding of social settings, social/cultural contexts, and social and policy interventions.
4. Develop the ethical, interpersonal, organizational and technical capacities to undertake high-quality, professional work in psychology and social intervention.
5. Develop abilities to conceptualize, interpret, evaluate, and disseminate research that might inform social policies.

Policies

Program Policies

STEM OPT Benefits for International Students

If you’re an international student, you may be able to work in the United States after graduation for an extended period of time. Most students studying on F-1 visas will be eligible for 12 months of Optional Practical Training (OPT) off-campus work authorization. F-1 students in this program may also be eligible for the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics) OPT extension, allowing you to extend your time in the United States to pursue degree-related work experience for a total of 36 months or 3 years. For more information on who can apply for this extension visit NYU’s Office of Global Services: STEM OPT.

NYU Policies

University-wide policies can be found on the New York University Policy pages.

Steinhardt Academic Policies

Additional academic policies can be found the Steinhardt academic policies page.