Vorlage:Psychology sidebar Quantitative psychology is a field of scientific study that focuses on the research design and methodology, mathematical modeling, and statistical analysis of human attributes and psychological processes.^[1] Quantitative psychology has two major subfields: psychometrics and mathematical psychology. Broadly, psychometrics focuses on measurement, and is generally more applied in focus than mathematical psychology. Notable areas of research in psychometrics include item response theory and computer adaptive testing. The focus of mathematical psychology is more theoretical and focused on modeling. Foci for mathematical psychologists include modeling psychological processes through time series analysis, such as in fMRI data collection, and structural equation modeling. Other areas of research in quantitative psychology include social network analysis, human decision science, and statistical genetics.

Quantitative psychologists have traditionally been in very high demand in industry, government, and academia. Their combined training in both social science and quantitative methodology gives them a unique skill set and enables them to bring their knowledge to bear on both applied and theoretical problems in a variety of areas. Companies that produce standardized tests such as College Board, Educational Testing Service, and American College Testing often provide jobs and internships to students and graduates in quantitative psychology.

In August 2005, the American Psychological Association expressed the need for more quantitative psychologists in the industry—for every PhD awarded in the subject, there were about 2.5 quantitative psychologist position openings.^[2]

Due to a lack of applicants in the field, the APA created a Task Force to study the state of quantitative psychology and predict its future. Domestic U.S. applicants are especially lacking. The majority of international applicants come from Asian countries, especially South Korea and China.^[3]

For various reasons, some universities have stopped offering quantitative psychology degrees. Notably, the University of Chicago used to offer a degree in "Research Methodology and Quantitative Psychology" and the University of Toronto used to offer a degree in "Educational Measurement".

Quantitative psychologists may possess an eponymous doctoral degree, or a degree in a closely related field such as Industrial/Organizational Psychology. These degrees are commonly offered by universities in the United States and Canada. Select universities also offer terminal masters degrees, such as the terminal Master of Education in "Quantitative Methods" at Vanderbilt University. Due to its interdisciplinary nature and depending on the research focus of the university, these programs may be housed in a school's college of education or in their psychology department. Programs that focus especially in educational research and psychometrics are often part of education or educational psychology departments. These programs may therefore have different names mentioning "research methods" or "quantitative methods", such as the "Research and Evaluation Methodology" Ph.D. from the University of Florida or the "Quantitative Methods" degree at the University of Pennsylvania. However, some universities may have separate programs in their two colleges. For example, the University of Washington has a "Quantitative psychology" degree in their psychology department and a separate "Measurement & Statistics" Ph.D. in their college of education. Universities with a mathematical focus include McGill University's "Quantitative Psychology and Modeling" program and Purdue University's "Mathematical and Computational Cognitive Science" degrees. Students with an interest in modeling biological or functional data may go into related fields such as biostatistics or computational neuroscience.

Doctoral programs typical accept students with only bachelors degrees, although some schools may require a masters degree before applying. After the first two years of studies, graduate students typically earn a Masters of Art in Psychology, Masters of Science in Statistics or Applied statistics, or both.

Additionally, several universities offer minor concentrations in quantitative methods, such as New York University.

Training for quantitative psychology can begin informally at the undergraduate level. While most graduate schools do not require prerequisite coursework, many schools recommend that students complete the full college sequence of calculus (including multivariate calculus) and a course in linear algebra. Quantitative coursework in other fields such as economics and research methods and statistics courses for psychology majors are also helpful. Historically, however, students without all these courses have been accepted if other aspects of their application show promise. Some schools also offer formal minors in areas related to quantitative psychology. For example, the University of Kansas offers a minor in "Social and Behavioral Sciences Methodology" that provides advanced training in research methodology, applied data analysis, and practical research experience relevant to quantitative psychology.^[4] Coursework in computer science is also useful. Mastering an object-oriented programming language or learning to write code in SPSS or R will be useful for graduate school.

Quantitative psychology is served by several scientific organizations. These include the Psychometric Society, Division 5 of the American Psychological Association (Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics), the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology, and the European Society for Methodology. Associated disciplines include statistics, mathematics, educational measurement, educational statistics, sociology, and political science. Several scholarly journals reflect the efforts of scientists in these areas, notably Psychometrika, Multivariate Behavioral Research, Structural Equation Modeling and Psychological Methods.

Programs housed in psychology departments are listed under Quantitative Psychology^[5], while programs housed in education departments are listed under Measurement and Research Methodology^[6].

Vorlage:Columns-list

Vorlage:Columns-list

• Kent State University^[7]
• Michigan State University^[8]
• New York University

Vorlage:Columns-list

The following is a select list of people who have contributed to the field of quantitative psychology:

• Louis Leon Thurstone
• Jacob Cohen
• Helen M. Walker
• Frederic M. Lord
• Pip Pattison
• Gwyneth Boodoo

Vorlage:Reflist

• Report of the Task Force for Increasing the Number of Quantitative Psychologists. In: American Psychological Association. Abgerufen am 13. Dezember 2014. 

• APA Division 5: Evaluation, Measurement and Statistics
• The Psychometric Society
• The Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology
• The European Society for Methodology
• Society for Mathematical Psychology

1. ↑ Quantitative Psychology. In: American Psychological Association. Abgerufen am 13. Dezember 2014. 
2. ↑ Report of the Task Force for Increasing the Number of Quantitative Psychologists, page 1. American Psychological Association. Retrieved February 15, 2012
3. ↑ Report of the Task Force for Increasing the Number of Quantitative Psychologists. In: American Psychological Association. Abgerufen am 13. Dezember 2014. 
4. ↑ Undergraduate Minor in Social and Behavioral Sciences Methodology. In: University of Kansas. Abgerufen am 13. Dezember 2014. 
5. ↑ http://www.apa.org/divisions/div5/docprogs.html
6. ↑ http://ncme.org/default/assets/File/pdf/GradStudents/Measurement_program_descriptions%20(2014-05-06).pdf
7. ↑ http://www2.kent.edu/CAS/Psychology/graduate/quantitative-methods.cfm
8. ↑ http://psychology.msu.edu/QMES/Concentration.aspx