Notice to Potential Thesis Students
Dr. Joel Hundert
The
purpose of this notice is to inform potential thesis students about the scope
and nature of research and the expectations I have on students who decide to do
a thesis with me. Please read this through and if you decide to go ahead,
please contact me.
First,
you need to realize that I am a Clinical Psychologist and a Board Certified
Behaviour Analyst. I have a
part-time appointment at McMaster University to do teaching as well as
research. The amount of research I
have been doing over the last few years has not been extensive. However, I do have a number of
publications in peer-reviewed journals on topics related to children with
special needs. The focus as of
late is to examine systematically the effectiveness of particular treatment
interventions for young children with autism. The treatment that we provide in Hamilton and in Toronto is
that of applied behaviour analysis.
This is delivered to young children with autism somewhere between 20 and
40 hours a week. The thesis
students have been doing consisted of examining a particular approach in one
area and determining its impact on childrenŐs acquisition of skills.
It
is not possible to do a group design.
Therefore we use a within-subject research design such as a multiple
baseline or reversal design.
Students are expected to learn how to implement applied behaviour
analysis. Also, students are expected
to pay back for the time that we devote by learning to work with children. The expectations that I would have are
as follows:
In
addition to this, students will be expected to write up a research protocol
based on the study that is selected.
Typically I provide options for studies and students select. The student is then expected to develop
the interventions methodology.
Students
also need to submit an ethics review to the department.
It
is important to begin the research approximately the middle to the end of
October allowing you sufficient time to collect data. The data collection should end by the end of January for you
to begin a write-up. I meet with
students approximately once a month to discuss how things are proceeding and
also would like to see actual videotapes or live observations of sessions to
ensure that they are going well.
If
this area is of interest to you, please contact me for further information.
For
the school year, 2006/07, I plan to take on one student. I shall be prepared to meet with a
total of no more than three students from which to choose. Please send a copy of your marks and a
brief description of why you would like to do a thesis with me. Email this to me at hundert@mcmaster.ca. By January 15, I
shall contact up to three students for an interview. I shall select a student based on their grades and my
appraisal of his/her ability to be self-directed, as well as interest in the
field,
Joel
Hundert, Ph.D., C. Psych., BCBA
Director,
Behaviour Institute
Associate
Clinical Professor
Department
of Psychiatry and Neuroscience