what is the best institute in the world to practice and learn in the
field of research psycology

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Request for Question Clarification by jeremymiles-ga on 10 Jan 2003 02:38 PST

The answer to this probably depends on your area of interest within
psychology.  Psychology is a very broad science, encompassing a huge
range of areas.  The places which would be the best places to learn
about research in psychometrics are not the best places to learn about
schizophrenia, and these are different to the best places to learn
about artificial intelligence.

Or are you after some sort of broader definition of "best" - would you
be interested, for example, in number of research papers/books
produced, the impact of those papers/books, or in the quality of
teaching that is available?

jeremymiles-ga

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Clarification of Question by eran-ga on 10 Jan 2003 11:10 PST

I'm a non academic person, but I do have ideas that I feel that can
change the way the world thinks about how people behave. I'm
interested in social studies, behaviourism, comunication, cognition,
self comunication, subconcious affect on behaviour, inteligence,
emotional inteligence. etc.

my goal is not to be a clinic phd, my goal is research, getting the
best enviroment, for that I need a place that accept and incorages new
ways of thinking rather than old doctorines and strict rules ( I guess
harvard is not for me ... )

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Clarification of Question by eran-ga on 10 Jan 2003 11:14 PST

to clarifu more, my area of interest is to get the widest perspective
I can on what has been learned so far, so I don't reinvent the wheel

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Request for Question Clarification by pelican-ga on 10 Jan 2003 11:44 PST

Have you considered the peace research program at Georgetown
University?

http://www.georgetown.edu/departments/pjp/mission.html

I think this is an open minded group.  Peace research is
multi-disciplinary and includes research in Psychology, Philosophy,
Theology, History, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology,
Literature, and Linguistics.

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Clarification of Question by eran-ga on 12 Jan 2003 10:26 PST

this looks very interesting, I'm more looking for the world consensus
on what is the best place when it comes to learning psycology, like
its well known that MIT is your place for engineering subjects, and
Harvard is you place for MBA or LAW, what is the equivalent to that in
psychology

Hello eran-ga:

In the USA, the short answer is: Stanford University.

A worldwide ranking is not possible due to cultural and educational
differences, but it seems reasonable to assume that the best schools
are located in North America or Western Europe.

Even within North America or Western Europe, ranking university
programs (and specially, graduate programs) is a tricky business, and
there is always room for different opinions.  However, some rankings
carry more weight than others in claiming to reflect a consensus of
the academic and professional community.

North America

In the USA, a basic reference is "National Academies' Research
Doctorate Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change",
Marvin L. Goldberger, Brendan A. Maher, and Pamela Ebert Flattau,
Editors; Committee for the Study of Research-Doctorate Programs in the
United States, National Research Council (NRC), 768 pages, 8.5 x 11,
1995.  For more information:

http://www.nap.edu/catalog/4915.html (to obtain a copy of the report)

http://bob.nap.edu/html/researchdoc/ (to read the online summary)
Note: Download the research.zip file and extract the *psy.xls files is
you want to review the raw data.

The NRC Gourton Reports provide rankings for various categories of
psychology.
Several rankings of the NRC Gourton Reports are available online, and
the psychology program at Stanford University is number 1 in most of
them:

http://www.socialpsychology.org/ranking.htm 

Since you are interested in research psychology in a social context,
the rankings of psychology and social psychology Ph.D. programs may be
the most relevant for you:

http://www.socialpsychology.org/ggradgen.htm

http://www.socialpsychology.org/gsocial.htm

It is important to note the cautionary notes posted in these pages,
such as:
"The rankings below should be considered no more than a rough
approximation. Many excellent programs did not make it into Gourman's
top 30, and of those that did, the difference between closely ranked
programs was often too small to be meaningful."

Western Europe

In the UK, the data show Cambridge, Oxford, St. Andrews, and York in a
four way tie for first place:

http://www.socialpsychology.org/ukranks.htm

In Germany, a fellow researcher has suggested the University of
Leipzig:
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/index.html 
 
and their co-partners, The Max Planck Institute in Berlin: 
http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de

In Switzerland, I would suggest the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, 
http://www.junginstitut.ch/

In terms of human development and social behavior, I believe the
Jungian school of thought is the best.  Perhaps I am biased, having
benefited myself from the experience of psycho-analysis.  But your
concern is the heart of the Jungian school: "I regard it as the
noblest task of psychotherapy in our times to untiringly serve the
personal growth of the individual."  And of course it was Jung who
identified the "collective subconscious" in order to apply psychology
to improve social behavior.  No matter where you decide to go, may I
encourage you to include Jungian and post-Jungian methods in your
training.

My concern is that, if Harvard is not for you, then Stanford may not
be for you either, and I am not sure about Cambridge either.  It could
be that Zurich is the place for you to go!  Hope you will make the
right decision.

Some other resources that you may wish to check are the following:

Social Psychology Network
http://www.socialpsychology.org/

Guide for Seeking Psychology Doctoral Internships
http://web.utk.edu/~sylve/intern/Index.htm

International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP)
http://www.iaap.org/

American Psychological Association (APA)
http://www.apa.org/

APA Research Office -- Data on Education and Employment
http://research.apa.org/data.html

Finally, and highly recommended:
The C.G. Jung Page
http://www.cgjungpage.org/

If you want to explore Jungian training options in the USA:
http://www.cgjungpage.org/jpresources.html

Let me know if you have any questions or need further clarification. 
Your desire to study and do research pursuant to improving social
behavior is one that should be encouraged.  Best wishes in your quest.

Kind regards,
pelican-ga

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Clarification of Answer by pelican-ga on 16 Jan 2003 05:55 PST

Thanks -- hope you will come back to GA!

pelican-ga

this was totaly worth 15$ :-)

Here is the 1996 rankings list from the National Research Council for
psychology Ph.D. programs in the U.S.:

http://www.socialpsychology.org/ranking.htm

Worldwide, I doubt you could go wrong with the University of Leipzig:
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~psycho/index.html

or their co-partners, The Max Planck Institute in Berlin:
http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de

US News & World Report ranked Stanford University as the top graduate
school in the field of psychology:

http://yir.yahoo.com/2002/ed/

Hi Eran,

I was trying to locate this list for you through the Guardian but it
may be a copyright situation.  These rankings were determined through
bibliometrics by Evidence, Inc., which is but one way to determine a
"best" category.  In reviewing the articles, it does sound like
Stanford is coming out on top.  Whether Stanford is the best fit for
you is a personal decision.

Here is a copy of my email reply and the URLs from the Guardian.  I've
also included a link to the Maclean's Directory in Canada.  In
researching this question for you, the University of Toronto and
University of Waterloo came up quite frequently.

****************

Thanks for your email.

The archive is at www.guardian.co.uk/Archive and goes back to
September 1, 1998.

We will be going further back later in the year. Please note that not
every article that appears in print is automatically put onto the web
for copyright reasons.

However, in the meantime, you can easily obtain a back issue.  Back
copies of the Guardian and Observer are available from a company
called "Remember When" whose archive for both newspapers dates back to
the last century.

For all queries, please contact Remember When:

Telephone: 020 8763 6363

Email:
guardian@remember-when.co.uk
observer@remember-when.co.uk

Web site:
www.remember-when.co.uk

Regards.

User Help
Guardian Website
3-7 Ray Street
London EC1R 3DJ

****************

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,503412,00.html

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,508935,00.html

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/unitable/0,11985,-4420738,00.html

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/universityguide/story/0,9889,721635,00.html

http://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide/0,10085,488282,00.html

***************

http://www.macleans.ca/contents/universities.asp


Good luck at whichever facility you choose,
V