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PhD Degree Requirements and Curriculum

Requirements:

  • All University requirements as stated in The University of Tennessee Graduate Catalog.
  • A minimum of 67 semester credit-hours beyond the MSSW, including
    • completion of 34 credit-hours of required course work,
    • completion of 9 credit-hours of advanced electives, and
    • completion of at least 24 credits of dissertation research.
  • Successful completion of the comprehensive examinations.
  • Completion and defense of the three research articles that constitute the dissertation.

Curriculum:

The curriculum of the PhD program consists of required course work, electives, and mentored research opportunities. The foundation curriculum consists of 33 credit-hours in research methodology, statistics, advanced critical thinking, and college teaching methods. The electives consist of 9 credit-hours in related social and behavioral science areas.

The following is the required course work:

SW601, 602 Research for Social Work Practice I, II
3,3 hrs.
SW605, 606 Analysis of Social Work Data I, II
3,3 hrs.
SW626 Critical Thinking for Science and Research
3 hrs.
SW628 Critical Review of Research Literature
3 hrs.
SW608 Qualitative Research Methods
3 hrs.
SW603 Research III: Funded Research and Grant Writing
3 hrs.
SW630 Professional Development for Social Work Scholars I
1 hr.
SW675 Teaching Methods in Social Work
3 hrs.
SW665 or an approved graduate statistics course
3 hrs.
SW680 Professional Development for Social Work Scholars II
1 hr.
SW677 Teaching Practicum
1 hr.
SW678 Teaching Practicum II
1 hr.

 

A student working full time on the dissertation registers for up to 12 hours of Social Work 600 (Research and Dissertation) per semester after completing required and elective courses and passing the comprehensive examination..

All PhD students are required to pass the comprehensive examination and an oral defense of the research proposal after their second year of course work. The comprehensive examination consists of a major paper that demonstrates the student’s knowledge of a substantive area and the student’s ability to integrate that knowledge with the foundation content of the program. This paper is the first paper in the student’s three-paper dissertation.


PhD Course Descriptions

PhD Course Listings as they appear in the UT Graduate Catalog:

Grading Restriction: P/NP only.
Repeatability: May be repeated.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Epistemological foundations of, and methods for, quantitative and qualitative research for social work practice, including formation of research questions and hypotheses; basic measurement; sampling; research design; and introduction to the research proposal.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Intermediate methods for quantitative and qualitative research for social work practice, including applied measurement theory; reliability and validity; scale development; item analysis; differential item functioning; and research design and proposal writing.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 601.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Funded research and grant writing: Sources of funding, including federal and private foundation, for social work research; writing a competitive grant proposal, including the narrative, budget, budget justification, and IRB review application.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 601.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics, foundations of null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), and applications of NHST, confidence intervals, and effect size estimates to testing, examining, interpreting, and presenting results concerning bivariate relationships with continuous and discrete variables.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Conceptual understanding of fixed-effects linear regression models and ability to specify, test, interpret, and present results of linear regression models. Extension of linear regression to discrete dependent variables in the framework of the generalized linear model.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 605.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Qualitative research methods and their philosophical underpinnings are explored, including ethnography, grounded theory, case study, narrative, and phenomenology. The importance of reflexivity and critical awareness of one’s own worldview will be discussed. Qualitative data collection, analysis, and dissemination skills will be developed. The special topics of mixed methods and community-based participatory research are also covered.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – doctorate.

Description: Within a students substantive area, identification of assumptions and premises upon which an argument is based. Application of concepts within a particular model and the development of a statement of a predicted research outcome and/or research hypothesis that test the empirical validity of the model.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: The formulation of a researchable problem relevant to professional social work. Carrying out a systematic, comprehensive search of relevant databases. Writing a systematic review of the literature that is suitable for publication in a scholarly journal.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Preparing for success as a social work doctoral student, familiarity with faculty research, conference abstract and presentation skills, and writing for academic publication.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Individual research experience under the supervision of a faculty mentor.
Grading Restriction: Satisfactory/No Credit grading only.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 630.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate

Individual research experience under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Grading Restriction: Satisfactory/No Credit grading only. Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Elective course. Advanced research methods course will focus on advances quantitative methods such as hierarchical linear models in social work research; item response theory in social work research; methods for categorical dependent variables; and generalizable theory.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 605 and 606 with grade of B or better.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: History and context of social work education, including curriculum policy and accreditation. Effective teaching techniques, course development, assessment of student learning, and classroom management skills. Best practices for face-to-face and online teaching. Unique characteristics of online teaching and empirically-supported strategies for developing online courses and managing online classroom environments.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Face-to-face classroom teaching experience under the supervision of a social work faculty teaching mentor. Demonstration of independent teaching, student assessment, and classroom management.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 4 hours. Registration Permission: Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Online teaching experience under the supervision of a social work faculty teaching mentor. Use of appropriate technology to demonstrate independent online teaching and student assessment.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 4 hours. Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Preparing for a tenure-track faculty job, including job searches and the interviewing process, networking for professional development, and skills for transitioning to a successful academic career.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

Description: Advanced individual study, under faculty guidance, of social work practice issues.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.
Recommended Background: First-year required PhD courses or consent of instructor.
Registration Restriction(s): Minimum student level – graduate.

More on the PhD program: