As a psychology major, research is one of the most vital aspects of truly understanding the field. Just as with other science disciplines, research is the medium through which psychologists better understand the human brain. Although my high school courses prepared me in navigating article databases and conducting literature reviews, it wasn't until I entered college that I was able to get a taste of what it’s truly like to be an active researcher. I was able to gain research experience in other areas as well, such as through my German coursework, but the role of research in my psychology courses was extremely prominent.

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One of my development experiences, as well as one of the most important pieces of my psychology education, was with the course PSYC 211W Research Methods and Design. This course is required for psychology undergraduates and it’s easy to see why. Throughout the class, the instructor explored and explained the basics of the scientific method  in ways relevant to psychological research. Not only did I learn how to create surveys and analyze data, but I also learned how to design a study as a team with my classmates. This was helpful for my leadership skills as well, as I sometimes had to take charge and guide others to stay on task. My group and I designed and distributed a survey  to determine the possible effects of music on mood. I was able to write a blog post about the study for Communicating Psychological Science, a website run by MNSU professors Dr. Emily Stark and Dr. Karla Lassonde. My blog post is located here.

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By the time I took the course PSYC 433 Child Psychology, I was aware of the various research methods often utilized in psychology. Through a project for this course, I was able to practice a naturalistic observation case study by observing the behavior and development of an infant. This was a particularly important experience for me, as it challenged my automatic ideas of what research is. Although I know this isn’t always the case, my idea of psychological research involved an image of an active researcher, one that completes actions on or towards participants. However, of course, this method is not always the norm, and often not possible at all. Although I didn’t perform any actions and simply observed the infant, I was still able to collect important and interesting data.

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This, along with PSYC 211W were excellent preparations for fall of 2022, when I joined Dr. Emily Stark’s research team. As an assistant, I administered surveys in person, coded and analyzed data, and worked together with my fellow assistants to develop a scale to measure beliefs in pseudoscience. In April of 2023, I presented a poster on this pseudoscience study at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. Just as with my PSYC 211W project, there was a lot of collaborative work. My partner and I deliberated over which topics were most important to include, and which details we should emphasize. The most beneficial part of presenting at the URS was being able to receive feedback from judges and fellow students. We were able to hear opinions and suggestions from people who were not involved in the project, such as the idea to provide a formal definition of effectiveness of pseudoscience practices. This was very valuable, and it gave me the chance to verbalize research that was personally interesting to me.

 

Going forward, I plan on utilizing what I've learned through these experiences. Although the specifics aren't clear right now, I'm especially interested in conducting research regarding linguistic and social psychology, and I look forward to trying out other research methods.