Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development and Family Studies
Website: https://twu.edu/human-development-family-studies-counseling/graduate-programs/family-studies/
The Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies prepares students for career opportunities in higher education, research, or leadership, as well as working with children, adolescents, adults, and families in professional and academic settings.
Marketable Skills
Defined by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's 60x30 Strategic Plan as, "Those skills valued by employers that can be applied in a variety of work settings, including interpersonal, cognitive, and applied skills areas. These skills can be either primary or complementary to a major and are acquired by students through education, including curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities."
- Critically consume research literature.
- Academic/scholarly writing skills.
- Quantitative and qualitative research skills.
Admissions
All students must meet the University requirements as outlined in the Admission to the TWU Graduate School section of the catalog.
The academic program may have additional admission criteria that must also be completed as outlined on the program's website.
Degree Requirements
Total Semester Credit Hours Required
A minimum of 78 semester credit hours above the bachelor’s degree (48 hours beyond the master's degree), including 9 semester credit hours for dissertation. 30 of the 78 hours must be research courses. Consult with an advisor for approved research courses.
Special Requirements
No grade below B is accepted towards any graduate degree in the Department of Human Development, Family Studies, and Counseling (HDFSC). If more than one grade below B is earned while enrolled in any HDFSC graduate program, the student will be dismissed from the program and will be ineligible to re-enroll in any program within the department for a period of eight years.
Degree Plan
Students must submit a degree plan which follows the degree requirements listed below. The degree plan should be developed in collaboration with the student's advisor and committee, and it should be filed after the student has completed 18 hours of coursework.
Required Coursework
| Code | Title | SCHs |
|---|---|---|
| Foundational Coursework | ||
| The following foundational/pre-requisite courses (or equivalent content) must be completed in the master's degree or prior to beginning doctoral-level work | ||
| Human Development Track | ||
| Theories of Child Development | ||
| Statistics for Family Sciences | ||
| Child Growth and Development in Early Childhood | ||
| Adolescent Development Within the Family | ||
| Play, Development, and the Young Learner | ||
| Research Methods in Family Sciences | ||
| Family Studies Track | ||
| Lifespan Human Development | ||
| Theories of the Family | ||
| Statistics for Family Sciences | ||
| Communication in Marriage and Family | ||
| Research Methods in Family Sciences | ||
| Families and Public Policy | ||
| Required Core | ||
| HDFS 6003 | Advanced Study of the Lifespan | 3 |
| HDFS 6123 | Diverse Perspectives in Development and Families | 3 |
| HDFS 6443 | Research and Issues in Family Sciences | 3 |
| Specialization | 6 | |
| Child & Adolescent Development | ||
| Social and Emotional Development in Childhood and Adolescence | ||
| Cognitive Development in Childhood & Adolescence | ||
| Family Studies | ||
| Aging in Families and Society | ||
| Family Financial Counseling | ||
| Required Research | ||
| HDFS 6193 | Advanced Statistics for Family Sciences (Prerequisite: HDFS 5193 or equivalent master's level statistic course) | 3 |
| HDFS 6203 | Frameworks and Ethics for Qualitative Research in Family Sciences | 3 |
| HDFS 6693 | Advanced Quantitative Research Methods In Family Sciences (Prerequisites: A master's level research methods course and a graduate-level statistics course) | 3 |
| HDFS 6793 | Advanced Qualitative Research Methods In Family Sciences (Prerequisite: HDFS 6203) | 3 |
| HDFS 6893 | Multivariate Statistics (Prerequisites: HDFS 5193 or equivalent master's level statistics course, HDFS 6193 or equivalent doctoral level statistics course, and familiarity with SPSS ) | 3 |
| Professional Development | 9 | |
| Select three of the following courses: | ||
| Academic Life and Scholarship | ||
| Effective College Teaching Methods | ||
| Theory Building in Family Sciences | ||
| Grants Writing in Family Sciences | ||
| Dyadic and Longitudinal Analyses with Structural Equation Modeling | ||
| Practicum in Family Sciences | ||
| Research in Family Sciences | ||
| Dissertation | ||
| Students may need to register for additional semesters of HDFS 6983/HDFS 6993 to complete their dissertation. | ||
| HDFS 6983 | Dissertation | 3 |
| HDFS 6993 | Dissertation | 6 |
| Total SCHs | 48 | |
No more than 49% of doctoral coursework may be completed online.
Research Tools
The Department of HDFSC requires students to complete 12 hours of research tools. The department has a list of courses that meet the research tool requirement, and these courses are part of the degree requirements listed below. They are also included in the 30 hours of research-focused coursework required by the Graduate School.
Qualifying Exam
The Department of HDFSC administers a qualifying exam for each student prior to admission to candidacy. The student must complete the required research tools before being eligible to take the exam. Students should take the qualifying exam in their last or second-to-last semester of coursework. In no case may a student be excused from the qualifying exam, and students may not register for dissertation hours (HDFS 6983 and HDFS 6993) until they have successfully passed the exam and have been admitted to candidacy. The qualifying exam may only be repeated once. Students who fail two attempts at the qualifying exam will be dismissed from the program.
Dissertation and Final Examination
All students are required to complete a dissertation. Upon completion, the student will participate in an oral defense of the dissertation and the research upon which it is based. The student's advisory committee will determine the outcome of the exam. The final examination may only be repeated one time.
