This is a picture of myself and two fellow students. This was taken after completing our final presentation to approximately 90 attendants.
At the beginning of the semester, I had only done research in secondary ways by examining others research and producing a paper from that. I have done qualitative research through interviews in various classes at Longwood, but none that allowed for this much data and included as many categories of data. Throughout this semester I learn what it takes to not only write my own survey questions, but also how to analyze the survey results after having respondents fill them out. While working with my group, we were able to develop questions that were aimed at measuring our SMART objectives as well as important demographic questions to filter data.
I began researching the literature on the topic parental involvement and specifically parental involvement in Head Start. I started where I usually begin on google scholar, and after I found one journal that was credible, I began looking at their bibliography to discover more research. This allowed me to know my sources were credible. Also, doing this allowed me to dig deeper in the literature and gain a well-rounded knowledge on the topics. Additionally, this allowed me to see the lack of research on single versus dual parent households, and that is why I studied it and its relationship to parental involvement. I did encounter challenges when conducting my research. When I was tasked with writing questions for a survey, I felt insecure on my abilities. I had never done anything like this before, and I did not want to suggest the wrong thing. However, after reading over a few websites and looking at other surveys I have taken, I felt confident that I would be able to get the task completed.
I was really questioning my abilities in research when I was first reading over our syllabus. I was afraid that with my limited experience and lack of field knowledge on sociology, I would find myself behind my classmates. This caused me to push myself to learn more and research more. Once I started doing this, I found that I was developing a passion for research. Now that I have taken this course and completed this project, I think I have an understanding of what it means to “Thine Like a Researcher.” To me, it is constantly having a critical thinking mindset in place. I look at things and situations differently. When I begin looking into new topics, I find myself wanting to read up on the topic, with an unbiased perspective. I believe that this research experience has helped me grow as a student. Without this course, I would have not learned about social research and program evaluation, or the necessary steps to begin and complete a 3-county wide research project.