Research Assistant Testimonials

Yu-An Chen, PhD student
I have been working on Dr. Debra Street’s project about how people in long-involved “age-discrepant” relationships perceive the possible implications of age differences with their partners. I have become more familiar with national statistics in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and have gained experience with statistical data visualization through this project. I never would have gotten this position if I had not worked hard to do well in my statistics courses. I even learned some advanced techniques and software packages on my own.

Alex Capella, MA student
I have been working as a Research Assistant for Dr. Mary Nell Trautner and Dr. Ashley Barr on their project about crime, college education, and race. Through my role in this project I was able to gain beneficial experience transcribing interview audio files, editing transcripts, and coding data. Being part of this research team not only gave me a chance to improve these skills, it allowed me to see firsthand how a mixed methods research project was conducted. I think I got this opportunity because I performed well in my coursework, especially in Research Methods and Statistics and also because I showed initiative both at developing my own research projects and in being persistent in asking if I could work with faculty on their research projects. I also had some experience working for a survey research firm in college that might have helped.

Richard Patti, MA student 
For the past year, I have been working on Dr. Mary Nell Trautner’s NSF project about families whose children have suffered a birth injury and the factors that influence their decision whether or not to pursue legal action against the delivering doctor or hospital. I never would have gotten this opportunity if I had not done well in my research-based coursework and expressed interest in gaining additional research experience. I even volunteered to work for free. I have gained experience with qualitative research methods and have learned more about the sociology of law and medical sociology through this project.

Yulin Yang, PhD student
For the past several years, I have been working on Dr. Debi Street’s project about changing perceptions of intergenerational mobility and support in Singapore. Our working papers have been presented in several national and international conferences. I got this research assistant position because I took several courses related to medical sociology and aging and the life course in the sociology department, including one with Dr. Street. In that course, I developed a strong interest in aging and life course research, so I tried to impress her with my statistical analytical skills to get chance to work with her. From this research assistant position, I gained fantastic training and mentorship from Dr. Street. Now she is on my dissertation committee and continues to share her wisdom on my dissertation.

Wei Luo, PhD student 
I have been working with Professor Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk on her umbrella review project. Specifically, the project aims at finding and summarizing past systematic reviews on pain disparities across sociodemographic groups – a review of reviews. I think my performance in the medical sociology class and experience of working for Professor Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk as her teaching assistant helped me to get this invaluable opportunity. I believe it is also important to volunteer to work on campus during summer and winter breaks. I have gained experience with methods of conducting systematic review and learned so much more about medical sociology from this project.

Cassidy Castiglione, MA student 
Over the summer, I assisted Dr. Jordan Fox Besek on his project examining the sociologist, scholar, and activist W.E.B. Du Bois and Du Bois’ relationship to the natural sciences. He knew I was heavily interested in race based on our theory class in which we read about Du Bois and I wrote about him for my final paper. Through this project, I was introduced to primary source data sharpening my ability to parse through and synthesize material. As someone who is primarily accustomed to quantitative research, this RA opportunity widened my scope as a researcher and gave me invaluable skills to bring to my own work.

Joanne Tompkins, PhD student 
During my time as a PhD student, I had the opportunity to work on some of Professor Debi Street’s aging-related research projects. The first included recruiting, conducting, and transcribing intensive interviews of older couples who had been married for at least 30 years in order to better understand the contexts and characteristics of long marriages, such as how compromises and conflicts are negotiated. The most recent included an extensive literature review of age-heterogamous relationships to explore various themes, including prevalence, sociodemographic characteristics, and relationship quality of these unions. In my first year of the program, I took Professor Street’s Research Methods class, worked as her teaching assistant, and expressed my interest in her research agenda, all of which allowed me to demonstrate my potential as a valuable research assistant. These hands-on experiences have strengthened my knowledge of one of my main research areas, aging, and provided me with qualitative research skills, which, combined with my quantitative focus, have made me more marketable on the non-academic job market.

Shiyue Cui, PhD student 
This past summer, I worked as a research assistant for Dr. Kristen Schultz Lee’s project on education and happiness using ADD health data. My primary responsibility was to conduct a literature review on the measures of key variables in our research. When I first learned about this research project from her proseminar, I expressed my interest in the project and willingness to volunteer, which helped me to get an RA position afterward. I appreciate this opportunity to work with Dr. Lee. Her guidance and advice were very constructive. I gained more experience with quantitative research design, which will be very helpful for my future studies. I also learned more about the sociology of happiness and sociology of education through this project.

Surabhi Pant, PhD student

Over the Summer (2019), I worked with the Asian Studies Program and designed for them a 300-level course on “Politics in Contemporary Asia.” This opportunity helped me in exploring different aspects of Asian politics intellectually, increasing my knowledge on political situations all over Asia, and I came to know about several knowledge repositories which will help me in my own research during my Ph.D. Also, working on this syllabus helped me understand the nuances of designing tools essential for the process of teaching and learning. I got a better idea of how course objectives and evaluations are central to the process of course development. I got this opportunity because I registered myself in the Asian Studies listserv which sends frequent emails of opportunities like this and events centered around Asia.