Mission

The mission of the L. L. Thurstone Psychometric Laboratory is to support the faculty and students of the Laboratory in the development and application of quantitative methods for psychological research. The Laboratory seeks to create an active and vital intellectual atmosphere for its members so as to facilitate a high level of scholarly effort and interaction. Toward this end, the Laboratory secures and manages resources that support these research activities and goals. This support takes a variety of forms, including financial, administrative, and logistical. Laboratory resources are expended for purposes such as financial support of graduate students, upgrading of facilities and equipment, funding of student travel to conferences or workshops, sponsoring of visiting speakers, and sponsoring and hosting of academic conferences.

The Laboratory also seeks to establish and promote productive associations with other academic units at the University of North Carolina. These include the Departments of Statistics, Biostatistics, Linguistics, and Computer Science, as well as the Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science (IRSS), the Center for Developmental Science, and the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. Each of these units is engaged in research and teaching relevant to members of the Laboratory. Faculty of the Laboratory collaborate in research with faculty in these units, and our graduate students often take courses in these departments and become involved in research activities.