In 1923, Canady enrolled in the Northwestern University Theological School as a Charles F. Grey scholarship student, where he developed an interest in the behavioral sciences and majored in sociology.
He began his education with the hopes of becoming a minister, however, after graduating in 1927 with a sociology major and a psychology minor, he continued his behavioral science studies at Northwestern, where he earned an M.A.
From 1936 to 1939, as chair of the psychology department at West Virginia, Canady conducted and published a plethora of socio-psychological studies.
: A new approach to the problem of racial psychology", reported his findings in this area (that rapport between the examiner and the test-taker can have a significant impact on the results of the test) and offered suggestions to improve the situation.
[4][1] In 1939, a General Education Board fellowship allowed Canady to take a leave of absence from West Virginia to go back to Northwestern to complete his Ph.D. in psychology.
Outside of his accomplishments at West Virginia, Canady also taught as a visiting lecturer at schools and colleges in collaboration with the American Friends Committee in 1946.
Canady retired from West Virginia State University in 1968, after forty years as chair of the psychology department.
In particular, Canady wished to draw more attention to the hardships faced by black youth and the obstacles to their employment.
The objective of the department would be "to advance, promote, and encourage the teaching and application of the science of psychology and related fields, particularly in Negro institutions."
At this conference, psychologists also contributed to discussion pertaining to the convention theme, "The Negro Youth Looks at Occupations in America."
Although World War II shifted attention away from Canady's efforts, psychologists organized thirty years later in San Francisco, California, in 1968 to discuss similar concerns.
Canady questioned the reliability of tests given to Black children by White examiners due to effects of "rapport."
The participants in Canady's study consisted of 48 Black and 25 White elementary school children from Evanston, Illinois.
[7] Studies have found relationships between the race of the examiner and intelligence test scores for children with high mistrust of a member of an outgroup [8] Canady also attempted to bring attention to the current state of education in psychology at predominately black colleges.
Questionnaires designed to obtain the above information were sent to administrators at the most well-respected 50 predominately black colleges in the country.
He did find significant differences between male and female performance in the sub-tests included in the intelligence test.
[10] Through publications such as "Adapting Education to the Abilities, Needs, and Interests of Negro College Students" and "Psychology in Negro Institutions", Canady contributed to efforts to increase educational opportunities for Black students and fought to attain equal rights for Black Americans.
: A New Approach to the Problem of Racial Psychology" was the first to address the issue of the race of the examiner as it interacts with children's performance on I.Q.
[13] This result is predicted by Canady in his study investigating the effect of "rapport" between White examiners and Black children.