OSU’s graduate interdisciplinary specialization program is designed to help graduate students gain access to interdisciplinary study and to provide formal recognition of such study on students’ transcripts. The Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization (GIS) in Survey Research permits graduate students to obtain expertise in the interdisciplinary area of survey research.

Many fields rely on survey research as their main, or primary mode of data collection, and survey research jobs are plentiful in many academic fields, as well as in business, government, and the commercial survey research industry itself. We are pleased to be able to provide OSU graduate students with this important opportunity to gain valuable education and practical experience in response to the demand for trained survey research professionals.

This program is aimed at any OSU graduate student who wishes to add sample survey expertise to their graduate programs. This specialization is an excellent opportunity for graduate students to take advantage of the broad range of expertise in survey research across the university.

The GIS in Survey Research involves 17-23 hours of graduate-level coursework in five courses. Three courses are required: Survey Sampling, Questionnaire Design, and a new Survey Research Practicum course. Additionally, students must choose one course from each of two extensive lists of approved electives. One list of electives includes courses on applications of survey research in the fields of public opinion, public attitudes, tastes and valuations. The second list contains courses dealing with tools of survey research, survey design, conducting surveys, and statistical analysis of survey data.

Courses fulfilling the elective requirements for the GIS in Survey Research are offered in departments across the university, including Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Education, Economics, Education Policy and Leadership, Geography, Journalism and Communication, Marketing, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Public Policy and Management, Sociology, and Statistics. Most students will be able to complete the GIS in a single year as part of their own masters or doctoral program, although the course work could be spread over more years.

For admission to the program, please complete both pages of the Student Information Form as soon as possible and return it to the Survey Research Center as follows:

Attention: Specialization in Survey Research
Center for Survey Research
The Ohio State University
c/o Professor Kosicki
3016 Derby Hall
154 N. Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210