Research Experience
Real Estate Agent Qualitative Project
Conducted qualitative interviews in November of 2012 to uncover what new homebuyers prefer from their real estate agents.
Elder Law of Michigan
The Elder Law of Michigan is a nonprofit charitable organization that promotes and protects the rights, health, and economic well-being of older adults and people with disabilities providing information, advocacy, legal advice, and professional services. As a volunteer I was able to survey over 200 of their Legal Hotline clients and complied the results in the document below.
Clinical Psychology Research Assistant
Official Project Description:
"Risk experiences can increase acting out behaviors and depressed mood in children. However, not every child experiencing these things develops acting out behaviors or depressed mood. One possible explanation is that these risks interact with the child's genes. This is only a possibility, however, and has yet to be fully tested. TBED-C (Twin study of Behavioral and Emotional Development - Child) thus recently assessed twin children 6 to 10 years of age, and their primary caregivers. The primary focus was to look at relationships among genes, mood, peers, family relationships, neighborhood, and acting out behaviors in children. Analyses of existing data are currently underway, but we are currently in the process of collecting data from 1,000 more families. This study is directed by Dr. S. Alexandra Burt."
I was a part of the video coding lab for a Dr. Burt's study. In this lab I analyzed videos of parents completing a cooperative task with their children, one twin at a time. I am responsible for recording various behaviors of the children, and their parents as well. The data collected as organized in SPSS spreadsheets and analyzed by the graduate students for reliability. This project still has a long way to go and I plan on being a part of it until my graduation in December 2011.
"Risk experiences can increase acting out behaviors and depressed mood in children. However, not every child experiencing these things develops acting out behaviors or depressed mood. One possible explanation is that these risks interact with the child's genes. This is only a possibility, however, and has yet to be fully tested. TBED-C (Twin study of Behavioral and Emotional Development - Child) thus recently assessed twin children 6 to 10 years of age, and their primary caregivers. The primary focus was to look at relationships among genes, mood, peers, family relationships, neighborhood, and acting out behaviors in children. Analyses of existing data are currently underway, but we are currently in the process of collecting data from 1,000 more families. This study is directed by Dr. S. Alexandra Burt."
I was a part of the video coding lab for a Dr. Burt's study. In this lab I analyzed videos of parents completing a cooperative task with their children, one twin at a time. I am responsible for recording various behaviors of the children, and their parents as well. The data collected as organized in SPSS spreadsheets and analyzed by the graduate students for reliability. This project still has a long way to go and I plan on being a part of it until my graduation in December 2011.
Organizational Psychology Research Assistant
During my junior year I participated in assisting a graduate student complete her thesis project that examined group performance over time. The project used data from 1990s GM hiring simulations. Potential employees had to work in groups to complete tasks as they would if they were on the job. While completing their tasks, they were observed by assessors who recorded various behaviors from each person. I was responsible for organizing the data recorded by the assessors.
I was able to translate behavioral responses into numerical data using Excel spreadsheets. Because I worked independently, I was responsible for maintaining confidentiality and completing all assignments by their due dates. Working on this project taught me to effectively manage my time. Because no one was constantly supervising me, it was very easy to forget about completing the work; therefore I had to fit time into my schedule for entering the data. I also had to pay close attention to details in this project. I had to make sure I was entering the right response in the right category for the right person and assessor. Even though the work was tedious, I enjoyed viewing the final spreadsheets every week and being able to interpret the data to my adviser.
I was able to translate behavioral responses into numerical data using Excel spreadsheets. Because I worked independently, I was responsible for maintaining confidentiality and completing all assignments by their due dates. Working on this project taught me to effectively manage my time. Because no one was constantly supervising me, it was very easy to forget about completing the work; therefore I had to fit time into my schedule for entering the data. I also had to pay close attention to details in this project. I had to make sure I was entering the right response in the right category for the right person and assessor. Even though the work was tedious, I enjoyed viewing the final spreadsheets every week and being able to interpret the data to my adviser.
Detroit Church Project
In spring of 2010 I was hired to work as a data entry clerk for an organization on campus. The Detroit Church Project collected different types of media from Detroit-area churches and archived them on their website. My responsibilities were to enter the data listed in the pamphlets and booklets into the network. Unfortunately the project did not receive funding after the Spring 2010 semester and it remains unfinished.
PSY 395 - Group Project
In this course, students were required to carry out a psychological study or experiment. Our group created an online survey that examined the relationship between first-generation college students and academic self-efficacy. The questions were developed by the members of our group and included the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. We then analyzed the response data using Excel and SPSS. Our results showed no significant difference between groups and are outlined in the paper below.