Getting into research.

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I don't know where to start. Back when I was doing Psychology I LOVED finding info. for the paper and researching stuff. I've always been analytical and questioned WHY things are the way they are. From this small bit of info I can't decide on a field of choice!! ! As stated in the past my parents are dead set NO PSYCHOLOGY but I myself had so much fun researching behavior and IMO would enjoy digging deeper into researching. I KNOW for Psychology you need a Masters/PhD so graduate school and a Bachelor gets you NO WHERE in Psychology (perhaps minor therapy or a high school teacher from the info. I've found online) but I'm not sure to do research what type of scientist to become. While falling asleep last night I thought of a book THE SCIENCE OF FICTION. This would talk about the science of superheroes and villians and what is and isn't possible. But that covers SO MANY science fields and would be a BIG undertaking (probably Masters/PhD level) HELL I wanted to read my Psychology teachers Dissertation!! ! I wasn't enjoying the mundane and boring class work YAWN! Thanks for any advice.

Sorry for being forgetful, I think that you may have said what level of education you already have (or are doing right now) but I forgot. I think that if you want to get into research then the best thing to do is to get a degree.

Towards the end of the degree it is a good idea to find out what research groups exists in your department, if the research group have a lab then go around and visit them to find out who is the supervisor. Then get a CV made, if any of the research areas of the research group supervisor looks like something you would feel good about doing for three years then go and see the supervisor and ask if you could have a PhD studentship.

Also look out for adverts for PhD studentships

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Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity I am not a jigsaw, I am a free man !

Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.

Hello,

I know this will sound weird.... but feel like you and I are kindred spirits. I also have quite an intense special interest in psychology (cognitive neuropsychology). My mother was also very concerned that I was becoming too absorbed and obsessed with what I was studying. I was too obsessed and I still am. She is SO sick of hearing about anything to do with psychology! I am even a bit of a hypochondriac. I panic for awhile whenever I learn about a new disorder and think that I might have it. Anyways....with the encouragement of those around me who wanted me to shut up about my obsession, I changed my major a couple of times...I tried Anthropology and Cultural Studies. Without the intrinsic motivation of studying something I really wanted to learn, my grades suffered, I began dropping a lot of courses, and I way very close to dropping out of university AGAIN! I finally switched my major back to psychology and am doing very well. My mother just wants me to finally graduate at this point. If there is anyway that you can convince (or demand of) your mom to let you study what you love, I strongly suggest you do. Interest will make a big difference in terms of how much you learn and remember, and how rewarding an experience your education will be . I think this is worth putting up the fight! Maybe you could explain it to your family that this is something you NEED to do. Explain that you are not happy studying anything else. Explain that studying something you want to learn about may well determine your level of motivation in school and how far you go with your education. I don't know if this helpful at all. Maybe you have tried all of these tactics with your parents, and they still won't change their (her?) mind(s). It just seems a shame that you are not studying what you care about.

Also...aspie obsessions aren't always a bad thing....sometimes they lead to the drive to accomplish great things. I also know from personal experience that trying to suppress an obsession all together doesn't make it go away. Trying this seemed to make certain obsessions (not psychology in general. but other obsessions I've had) even more intrusive. If it is too intrusive an obsessive interest...maybe you could try to introduce other things into your routine to divert some of your attention elsewhere. I just don't think you should give up on your passion.

Good luck with whatever you do decide to do .....now and later on in your career!

Zelda, the most effective thing you can do if you don't have a masters or PhD yet is to get involved as a research assistant. Many labs accept volunteers, or students who work for course credit. A very few will pay you for your time. Depending on the lab where you work, you'll end up doing some mix of scheduling subjects, running subjects, and data analysis.

This should be the first step, especially if you're thinking about getting a PhD, because generally grad schools prefer people who have at least some research experience. It's also a lot of fun!

I definitely say "ditto" to those who have already suggested getting experience as a research assistant. Having recently been through the whole thing (currently in 1st year PhD, Bachelors in Psych, now in an Anatomical Sciences program for research), this is the advice I can give you:

1) If you're still in your Bachelors, like others have said, find out what research is being done at your university and get an assistant position if you can. Pay is nice, but the experience is the important part. If you're already out of your Bachelors, or if there isn't anything available that offers the kind of experience you'd really benefit from, find a position off-campus. Just get something.

2) Decide what field you want to go into. Do you want to apply to a graduate Psychology program? Some other Social Sciences? Do you have enough Biology background to apply to some other Neuroscience program like Neurobiology? Etc.

3) Decide what your interests are, what are some of the more specific areas you'd want to research. You don't need to lay out your entire career, but a graduate school wants to see you know where your interests lie.

4) Once you know the types of research you have an interest in, READ READ READ!! !! !! And I don't mean books, I mean get down and dirty with the latest in your potential field. Find out what professional journals are the ones at the height of publishing the materials you're interested in. For starters, journals like Science, Journal of Comparative Neuroscience, Nature, Cell, etc. Unfortunately, given my area, I'm more familiar with the biology-related journals, so also check out journals in Psych and other social sciences as well. Sadly, I don't know what the big ones are.

5) Once you've gotten a better idea of the research you're interested in, find the researcher you'd be interested in working with. Don't think about seeking out a university you'd like to attend, find the RESEARCHER. Today, research is a competitive field with not a whole lot of grant money to go around, so if you want to get into a program, your interests will need to match very precisely with a given researcher who will end up being your mentor and may eventually have to pay for your tuition. You can find out who's active in the field you're interested in just by reading those journal articles and looking up the author names. Most researchers will have their info and probably CV online, with contact information as well. It isn't a bad idea to contact said researcher via email in order to gauge whether they are actively accepting new students into their labs.

6) Because the research world is so competitive, the more research experience you have that is relevant to the area you're wanting to go into, the better. Many students will be applying for a very limited number of seats. For instance, in my program, I don't know how many people apply in a given year, but only a maximum of 6 seats are awarded. They are giving you MONEY so you need to convince them why you are good for their university.

If you don't have much research experience, I would take a year or two just to focus on getting that experience before applying.

***I should note, that even though I kind of said those things out of order, the first thing would be to decide where your interest lies, figure out the type of degree is best suited to that type of research, and then go from there.

I don't think most professors even bother with undergrads, so you'll most likely have to get your Bachelor's first. However, if you become friends with some of the professors, and talked with them about what they research, they might make an exception. Who knows? You'd have to stick out in a class of 500+ people.