The PhD in Child Development is offered in partnership between the Erikson Institute and the Graduate School at Loyola University Chicago. Students examine how factors such as culture, social class, and social relationships influence human development from infancy through early and middle childhood. Among others, PhD graduates can consider careers in research, applied child development research, program design and evaluation, college teaching, program administration, and policy analysis.

Curriculum

The PhD in Child Development requires 42 credit hours of coursework, a qualifying paper, and a dissertation. Students enroll in courses both at Erikson Institute and at Loyola simultaneously.

Required Coursework

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ERIK E421	Social and Emotional Development I	3
ERIK E426	Cognitive Development	3
ERIK E477	Seminar Children-At-Risk	3
ERIK E479	Teaching & Learning: Linking Theory & Research to Practice	3
ERIK E481	Seminar Social & Cultural Contexts	3
ERIK E482	Program Evaluation and Implementation Science	3
ERIK E489	Special Topics in Child Development	3
ERIK E486	Teaching Internship	3
ERIK E485	Research Internship	3
ERIK E497	Doctoral Study	0
ERIK E499	Dissertation Supervision	0
Select Two Graduate Electives from Loyola 1		6
Select Three Graduate Methods or Statistics Courses at Loyola 2		9
Total Hours		42

All PhD students and students in thesis-based Master's degree programs must successfully complete UNIV 370 Responsible Conduct in Research and Scholarship or other approved coursework in responsible conduct of research as part of the degree requirements. It is strongly recommended that students complete this two-day training before beginning the dissertation/thesis stage of the program.

¹

Loyola coursework is frequently taken in the School of Education or Psychology department. Students may speak with Graduate Program Director for assistance.

²

A list of approved methods and statistics courses will be made available by the Graduate Program Director.

Qualifying Paper

Upon completion of coursework, students will complete a qualifying paper to demonstrate readiness for candidacy.

Dissertation

Guided by a committee of faculty members, students will execute a substantial original piece of research to advance knowledge in the field of child development. After a public oral defense, the final dissertation will be deposited in a publicly available database per Graduate School policy.

Graduate & Professional Standards and Regulations

Students in graduate and professional programs can find their Academic Policies in Graduate and Professional Academic Standards and Regulations under their school. Any additional University Policies supercede school policies.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the PhD in Child Development, students are expected to understand and apply:

Theory

• basic tenets of influential child development theories and emerging theoretical and conceptual frameworks (e.g., behavioral genetics and developmental neuroscience)
• theoretical and conceptual frameworks utilized in empirical child development research
• processes and mechanisms that promote development and change
• the use of scientific methods to inform and advance theory

Context

• the transactional nature of development and how it interacts with all ecologies within which children are located (e.g., homes, schools, neighborhoods)
• inequities in resources (historical and current) and structural oppressions and how these impact child development
• strengths-based approaches to child development and the impacts that deficit lenses have

Research Methods

• Quantitative and qualitative research methods and how each can be applied to relevant questions in child development
• Univariate and multivariate data analytic techniques, including: correlation and regression (e.g., hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression), factor analysis (e.g., exploratory, confirmatory) and ANOVA (e.g., repeated measures, MANOVA)
• Up-to-date approaches for analyzing mediation, moderation and interdependence and for interpreting results of these analyses.
• Specific analytic techniques for answering specific types of research questions and for drawing appropriate inferences from results.
• Explain the strengths and limitations of measurement (e.g., reliability, validity) and designs (e.g., correlational, experimental, quasi-experimental; cross-sectional vs. longitudinal), quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis strategies to the study of child development

Intervention

• the landscape of interventions for children and families (e.g., home visiting, early childhood education), and how such programs are developed and evaluated
• research designs for assessing intervention effectiveness (e.g., appropriate application of quasi-experimental, experimental (RCT) and non-experimental research)
• critical elements in intervention research and implementation science (including issues such as fidelity, attrition, dosage and local adaptations)
• ethical and responsible conduct of intervention research (including attention to research with vulnerable populations)
• empirical and theoretical foundations of interventions (either existing or newly designed), including hypothesized mechanisms of change, cultural appropriateness, and research for assessing effectiveness of a specific intervention