Marriage, Family, & Human Development MS

Program Purpose

The specific mission of the MFHD MS Graduate Program is to teach students and conduct scholarship with students to understand and strengthen marital and family relationships and to understand and facilitate optimal human development. The MFHD graduate program is designed to help students 1) learn the dominant theories, main research findings, and contemporary issues in the MFHD reserach literature, 2) learn the general research methods used in MFHD and become competent in applying these methods to research questions in the field, and 3) contribute to students' selected area of scholarly specialization through original research.

Curricular Structure

See MFHD MS Program MAP


Graduate Catalog

Program Information

Learning Outcomes

Marriage, Family, and Human Development Fundamentals

Demonstrate knowledge of the dominant theories, main research findings, & contemporary issues in the research literature in fields related to Marriage, Family, and Human Development.

Courses that Contribute: MFHD 699R
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging
Research Skills

Demonstrate knowledge of and competence in the general research methods and statistics used in fields related to Marriage, Family, and Human Development.

Courses that Contribute: MFHD 605 MFHD 699R
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging
Effective Research Analysis and Reporting

Synthesize existing research: design, analyze, and report original research that contributes to a scholarly specialty/focus.

Courses that Contribute: MFHD 699R
Linked to BYU Aims: Intellectually Enlarging

Evidence of Learning

Direct Measures

  1. Student progress (at least monthly meetings with faculty advisor).
  2. Course level quizzes, examinations, papers, projects, and assignments.
  3. Semi-annual student evaluations (student self-evaluation followed by the evaluation of a faculty sub-committee)
  4. Public defense of thesis
  5. Articles submitted with faculty, conference presentations, and semiannual evaluations of student performance by graduate faculty.

Indirect Measures

  1. Exit interviews and surveys
  2. External and internal unit reviews
  3. BYU alumni surveys
  4. Employment and/or admission to PhD programs.

Learning and Teaching Assessment and Improvement

The assessment data are stored in the School of Family Life virtual evidence room. These data are analyzed and summarized by the graduate committee and presented to the faculty each year during a faculty meeting. From the ensuing discussions, plans are made to revise the graduate program and improve student learning.