My process for doing academic research has changed since the beginning of the semester. First, I realized that a well researched topic brings greater understanding of the overall meaning of what exactly I am looking for. Second, a well structured survey is necessary for getting the data someone is interested in. A well structured survey will also provide good comparisons of certain variables. My process overall improved after this semester. The process of finding and evaluating certain sources for research has improved as well. I make sure that the articles that I find are peer reviewed and are relevant for my research. I also make sure they are credible as well. I decide if the source is going to be used on what was stated above, credibility and peer reviewed. There were a few challenges that I was faced with while doing my research. First, due to covid-19, there was a lack of responses. There was a low amount of responses on the survey which made it hard to analyze the data thoroughly. Second, Headstart had stopped doing their programs due to covid-19 as well. This led to a lower response rate than expected. The strategies used to overcome these barriers were to analyze the data we had and make connections with the variables of focus. My confidence for doing research has risen greatly after doing this research project. I am more confident on creating and analyzing surveys. Researching has become an easy task after the experience this research project gave me. To think like a researcher one must be very open minded. This entails accepting barriers and overcoming them. This also entails being very focused on the area of focus and to think about the overall mission for the research.