TY - JOUR
T1 - Public disclosure by accredited doctoral programs
T2 - Prospective applicants' views on clarity, helpfulness, and sufficiency of information to make application decisions
AU - Hausman, Estee M.
AU - Quetsch, Lauren B.
AU - Luebbe, Aaron M.
AU - Martin, Elizabeth A.
AU - Bell, Debora J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2017/5
Y1 - 2017/5
N2 - Little is known about prospective applicants' perspectives on the required content (e.g., public disclosure data) of doctoral program websites in health service psychology, despite that they are one of the primary audiences of this information. Eighty-seven undergraduate students considering doctoral study in health service psychology reviewed the public disclosure data (PDD) of two hypothetical doctoral program websites. Participants rated the clarity, helpfulness, and sufficiency of the information as well as the likelihood that they would apply to the hypothetical doctoral program. Results indicated that PDD in most, but not all, areas are clear, helpful, and sufficient to undergraduate students, although they are not particularly relevant to their application decisions. In addition, the amount of information included along with required PDD influenced the clarity of some aspects of the PDD. Participants were more likely to want to apply to more selective programs in the presence of additional information, but there were no differences in likelihood of applying to less selective programs. Implications for revision of the PDD requirements as well as ways that undergraduate programs and the larger training community can facilitate prospective applicants in researching graduate programs are discussed.
AB - Little is known about prospective applicants' perspectives on the required content (e.g., public disclosure data) of doctoral program websites in health service psychology, despite that they are one of the primary audiences of this information. Eighty-seven undergraduate students considering doctoral study in health service psychology reviewed the public disclosure data (PDD) of two hypothetical doctoral program websites. Participants rated the clarity, helpfulness, and sufficiency of the information as well as the likelihood that they would apply to the hypothetical doctoral program. Results indicated that PDD in most, but not all, areas are clear, helpful, and sufficient to undergraduate students, although they are not particularly relevant to their application decisions. In addition, the amount of information included along with required PDD influenced the clarity of some aspects of the PDD. Participants were more likely to want to apply to more selective programs in the presence of additional information, but there were no differences in likelihood of applying to less selective programs. Implications for revision of the PDD requirements as well as ways that undergraduate programs and the larger training community can facilitate prospective applicants in researching graduate programs are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1037/tep0000144
DO - 10.1037/tep0000144
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85015668241
SN - 1931-3918
VL - 11
SP - 100
EP - 107
JO - Training and Education in Professional Psychology
JF - Training and Education in Professional Psychology
IS - 2
ER -