School Psych Master's Thesis - Is this a good topic?

Question

I want to research what happens when parents of children with special needs are given a SpEd 101 course. I want to do more than just hand them the Parent's Rights Brochure. I want to teach them about their FERPA/IEP rights and somehow see if that improves their commitment to their child's education or improves their involvement in school or the schooling process for their child.

The problem is that my advisors tell me its a project more suited for a doctoral dissertation than a master's thesis. <>

So, how should I tackle this problem?

Answer 1

It's a great project, but your advisors are right. There is a longitudinal dimension to this study that is unsuited to a Master's level project.

Your MA (or MEd) is a two-year program, and this is a 4-5 year study. In order to find out "what happens when," you'll need intake (baseline) data, and follow-up studies one, two, and three years after SpEd 101 course participation. You'll also need a control group of parents without SpEd 101 experience. See? Too much for a Master's project.

Clearly, you've found a wonderful topic, but you need to rethink it so that it can be done in under 100 pages (the usual Master's thesis limit), and under one year. (I assume you've done your coursework, and you're about to write your thesis proposal.)

Have SpEd 101 courses for parents already been designed and implemented? If so, you could interview parents (and do research, of course) to see how they can be modified in order to be more helpful.

If not, you could critique one, researching, synthesizing, and analyzing current research in the field. (That's the heart of Master's level work -- synthesis and analysis/critique. The design and innovation stuff is doctoral-level work. And you can't do the latter without first having gained expertise in the former.)

It sounds like you've got a great grasp of issues in your field, and wish to innovate. More power to you, and I wish you every success.

Answer 2

Perhaps a simple modification. Do a more general topic on parents commitment to and satisfaction with the child's education and see how many parents are aware of the FERPA/IEP guidelines. By testing their knowledge you can also expand it my showing the options available if they are not satisfied with the current level of school involvement. And if you choose to pursue a doctorate, you have a great segue into dissertation your ad visor mentioned.

Answer 3

suggestion: Do a truly good seek for for dissertations in college psychology on an identical difficulty count number and an identical scope that you envision, and if there's a dearth, which i ought to suspect, then recent a rfile of similar for your advisors. Nature abhors a vacuum, and your paintings ought to fill that vacuum, or relative vacuum. it truly is a worth topic and serves an major societal precise bridging the districts, the mum and father, the scholars. it ought to in all likelihood help many mom and father and educators and scholars from the "git-bypass" of their courting with one yet another and forestall getting off on the incorrect foot, thereby jointly with contained in the needed procedure awkward and galvanizing communications. If there is no longer a dearth, then portion of the above, for sure, isn't correct. yet, i ought to nevertheless inspire you to persevere, for the favor of the folk nevertheless exists. you probably did not element out the criteria suggested, if any, with assistance out of your advisors upon which they depending their disinclination. inspite of the actuality that any of the above, the "sigh" sounds as in case you have not been obviously advised good sparkling causes why a thesis should be irrelevant, as hostile to a dissertation. If i'm precise, then you fairly would try statement consisting of your advisors to get the sparkling solutions. Then with those sparkling criteria, you could decide your endured reaction consisting of your advisors. i'm unable to imagine of any clarification why a thesis of the scope and difficulty that you element out should be irrelevant, and that i will imagine that via requirements of a dissertation, that the latter should be extra engorged with records and bell curves and bibliography and different trivialities that would dissolve the usefulness to the meant recipients.

Answer 4

Go ahead....don't get bog down by the fatheads.