Archive for category: Students

Meet fourth-year undergraduate researcher Angela Rey!

Angela majors in Global Jazz Studies and is in our Undergraduate Research Scholarship Program. The title of her research project is “Osos Unidos.”

How did you first get interested in your research project?

I became inspired to put together this project because of the initial culture shock I experienced transferring into UCLA from a community college. At my community college in the Bay Area, I had access to a Latinx resource center, an Asian resource center, a Filipinx resource center, a Pacific Islander resource center, and more. Outside of community college, I was also involved with the musical community that existed at SFSU and other colleges throughout the Bay Area, where there were also abundant resources for students of specific demographics. When I transferred to UCLA in the fall of 2019, I was in shock for many reasons, but one thing that stuck with me throughout my first year was that there was no fully established or fully funded Black or Latinx resource center. As the nation’s #1 public university, UCLA can do better, and I know that it is part of the students’ responsibility to uphold that elite title. So, I took it into my own hands to put together this project. Because UCLA announced this past summer that they will create a Black Resource Center (in response to the national attention surrounding the case of George Floyd), I will be focusing on establishing Osos Unidos, a Latinx resource center. I will also hold the school accountable for the promise that they made regarding the Black Resource Center.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

The most exciting aspect of my research is learning about student, alumni, faculty, and staff involvement with the Latinx population on campus, especially from those who are already in my social circle whose engagement or excitement about engagement was not previously known to me. Seeing all these people around me is encouraging and their support in my project makes me feel more part of a community.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

It is surprising to me how much more difficult it is to reach out to others during COVID-19. I initially assumed people would be spending more time online and have fewer physical barriers to meet, since remote discussion is more accessible than the alternative. I didn’t take into account how much screen time everyone is trying to manage and how “Zoomed out” people are getting. Because my research project revolves around creating a physical space on campus, being away from it and the UCLA student, alumni, faculty, and staff body has created a barrier. However, I’ve learned that time management and consistency is key to the progression of this project.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Researching is an incredibly rewarding task. It is not easy, but time management and team development are what will define the success of your project. Do not be afraid to ask for help; just because you are the researcher does not mean others can’t support you.

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

I hope that creating the Osos Unidos Resource Center will unify the Latinx population at UCLA, create a stronger Latinx community in LA, and set an example for other schools to provide the resources needed for all students to succeed in and outside of the classroom.

^{Tania Nasrollahi and her mentor, Dr. Kevan Harris}

Meet third-year undergraduate researcher Tania Nasrollahi!

Tania majors in Sociology and Anthropology and is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. Her research project is titled “Internal Perceptions of Iranian-American Ethno-Racial Boundaries.”

How did you first get interested in your research project?

I became interested in my project when I suddenly experienced an external shift in how people perceived my racial status. When I briefly lived in Ohio, people saw my Iranian identity as more “exotic.” Comparatively, in Los Angeles, I am often seen as white. Ethno-racial identity is a big topic of debate among individuals living in the US who identify as Iranian. A survey recently revealed that older Iranian-Americans are more likely to identify as white than younger Iranian-Americans. I am interested in the social contexts and factors that lead one to arrive at or even shift their perception of their ethno-racial identity.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

The most exciting part of my research so far has been exploring the literature and expanding the way I use readings in my understanding of a research project. Rather than exclusively looking at readings as they pertain to Iranian-American identity, I’ve been reading sociological studies of race that have expanded the ways I think about race and ethnicity more generally.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

I am still surprised by how different academic writing is from what I initially thought it was. I have learned a lot about writing since starting my project, and I am enjoying the process of becoming a better writer. I am still learning, but I am comforted by the fact that many of those I look up to have been where I am.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Pick a topic you are wholeheartedly interested in, because you will be thinking about it for months, at least! But also expect your project to change as you start the research process. Additionally, get to know your mentor before signing a research contract. I am so grateful to have found such an involved, dedicated mentor. However, it can be difficult for faculty to find time to support new researchers. Consider the research fit between you and your potential mentor, but make sure that you have a good working dynamic as well.

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

My interest in social science research is fueled by my desire to address people’s lived experiences through my work. The field of sociology interests me because of the influence society has on the individual. Any sociological research that can speak to this dynamic reveals something fundamental about how we live. At UCLA and beyond, I want to continue the study of racial boundaries, immigration, acculturation, and diaspora. I want for people both to see others and feel seen in my research.

Meet fourth-year UCLA undergraduate researcher Therese Boles!

Therese majors in History and is in our Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. The title of her research project is “Sensationalism! Newspaper Coverage at the Homestead Strike of 1892.”

How did you first get interested in your research project?

My research project had its beginnings during my first year at UCLA. I took the class “The American Gilded Age (1865-1900)” with Professor Joan Waugh, and fell in love with this period of America’s history. I then developed an appreciation for researching with newspapers during my third year when I took a seminar on “Loyalists in the American Revolution” with Professor Craig. There, I researched a Loyalist newspaper printed in New York during the war, which sparked my curiosity about how newspapers operate and shape public opinion.

I decided to combine my interests in the Gilded Age and newspapers by studying the news coverage of the great Homestead Strike that occurred in 1892 at a steel mill belonging to “robber baron” Andrew Carnegie. Contemporary questions about “fake news” inspired the lens for my investigation: How were newspapers involved in this conflict? What was their coverage like? How did coverage change based on the source? Did readers trust the news? Did it affect their response to the strike? I’m hoping to answer all of these questions by telling the story of newspapers at Homestead.

What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?

The most exciting part of my research has been getting to travel and research at archives in Pittsburgh and Washington D.C. One of the archives I visited was in the very building that the journalists operated in during the Homestead Strike. It was one of those surreal “bridge-between-time” moments.

What has surprised you about your research or the research process?

I have been surprised at how hard it is to keep a narrow scope when researching. When there is a wealth of sources and you find it all interesting, you have to be very mindful about sticking to researching ideas or events that are most relevant to your topic.

What is one piece of advice you have for other UCLA students thinking about doing research?

Go into research with a sense of curiosity and a love for the search! Sure, research looks good on your resume. But it’s not worth it unless you enjoy the process.

What effect do you hope your research has in your field, at UCLA, in your community, or in the world?

First, I hope to inform and entertain readers with a story that has not yet been told—the story of newspaper coverage at the 1892 Homestead Strike. But I also hope that the story gives readers a sense of affinity with the Gilded Age Americans of the past, for their relationship with the news is surprisingly similar to our own.

Finding research opportunities on campus may sound a little intimidating at first, since faculty members are so busy and the thought of speaking with a professor can be scary. For those of you who want to get started, I would like to share my experience finding my first research assistantship and doing my first independent research:

1. Start with your classes

As one of the best research universities in the United States, UCLA has brilliant and resourceful faculty who are always working on research projects. As a result, the easiest way to unlock new experiences is talking to the professors who are teaching you right now!

I major in communication, with departmental honors and a specialization in computing. During the fall quarter of my second year, I took COMM154: Social Communication and New Technologies. Students in Professor Francis Steen’s class needed to conduct a small independent research project, and I looked into the relationship between north campus students and technology. I regularly went to office hours to discuss the research project. One day, towards the end of the quarter, Professor Steen asked me if I was interested in being his research assistant, and I immediately said yes. Since then, I have been working with Professor Steen, managing the UCLA Department of Communications NewsScape Library, which contains more than 200,000 news programs from around the world.

An additional tip for those of you reading this article – throughout a quarter, there are times when students do not show up to office hours, such as weeks without any exams or assignments due. If you are interested in getting to know a professor and asking for potential opportunities, those weeks are the perfect time to inquire!

You can start by asking questions related to course material, expressing interest in the professor’s research (listed on the faculty profile pages), or just telling them about your passion. Our brilliant and resourceful UCLA faculty can always help you in one way or another.

2. Maintain healthy rapport with your professors

I took the GE Cluster – Frontiers in Human Aging during my freshman year. GE Clusters are a one-year-long, interdisciplinary course series for freshmen. The spring quarter of the cluster program requires a writing seminar with one of the six faculty members of our choice. Having the opportunity to take a small writing seminar class closely related to the faculty member’s research area is a unique experience at UCLA. Due to the small class size, students and faculty can get to know each other very well.

I took Professor Levy-Storm’s seminar, which focuses on communication, aging, and social support networks. This class only had eight students, which allowed me to get to know her. I was active in class and went to office hours frequently. Although I wasn’t sure at the time I took the class if academic research was in my future, a year later I decided that I wanted to go to graduate school and would need more research experience. When I reached out to Professor Levy-Storms again during the spring quarter of my second year, she still remembered me very well, and said that she would love to work together.

During a brainstorm session, Professor Levy-Storms and I developed the specific topic and methodology of my independent research project. First, I started off by telling her my broad interest – older adults and communication. Then she described how she could support me, for instance, by providing different datasets she had collected. Finally, she gave me an overview of quantitative and qualitative research styles I could choose from.

Among the several options she provided, I chose to work on the video dataset of meal-time interactions between older adults with dementia and caregivers in nursing homes. We then further developed the research idea together. She told me about Conversation Analysis, an in-depth qualitative analysis methodology that she was interested in but never had the chance to actually implement on a research project. I thought Conversation Analysis sounded cool, and it became the methodology I am currently using in my independent research.

An organic brainstorm session like this really helps bring things together, and it works the best when both participants have open minds and curious hearts. After that, I started conducting the research – learning about the Conversation Analysis methodology, diving into the video data, and taking notes on interesting things I noticed. Eventually, I landed on a specific research topic: emotional connections and responses during dementia care. My research is funded by the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP), and it has been a very helpful resource. I will now be continuing my academic training in a graduate program at Columbia University.

3. Don’t be discouraged by rejections

As college students who need to reach out to numerous places, it is absolutely normal to receive rejections. I have been rejected multiple times by professors, companies, and for other opportunities throughout my three-year undergraduate journey. This happens to everyone! As a result, don’t take rejections personally and don’t let rejections affect your mental health. Instead, be truly grateful to those who said yes to you, maintain a positive attitude, and luck will keep coming! 🙂

Not sure what research approach to use? I had the same concern when I was conducting research for the first time through the Undergraduate Research Fellows Program (URFP). As a Sociology and Chicana/o Studies double-major with a minor in Education, I had an interest in the achievement gap, which refers to the disparity in academic performance and outcomes between minority students and their white counterparts. From a student’s perspective I wanted to locate potential factors that contribute to this gap, which led me do qualitative research.

Qualitative research is used to gain an in-depth understanding of a problem or social phenomenon from the point of view of those experiencing it, by allowing them to share their perspectives, insights, and ideas. The aim is to understand the social reality of individuals by studying them in their natural setting, and allowing them to teach the researcher about their lives. Common qualitative methods include focus groups (group discussions), individual interviews, direct observation, and participant observation.

To learn more about the achievement gap, I developed a student-centered study. Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, I learned about students’ schooling experiences as well as the positive and negative factors that shaped their academic performance and engagement in school. I recruited participants from an alternative high school in Los Angeles that is predominantly African American and Latino. Recruitment can be difficult if you do not have access to the population you want to study, but, luckily, I obtained access to this school through a UCLA service-learning course I was taking at the time. As part of this course I completed twenty-eight hours of fieldwork to practice mediation and mentor students on how to do mediation. This gave me the opportunity to talk to and interact with students before I carried out my study.

My role as a mediator helped me get to know the students on a more personal level and allowed me to become a part of the high school community. After multiple mediation sessions I noticed the students stopped seeing me as a stranger and more as someone they could confide in. As a mediator, I learned to be a more attentive listener and developed the capacity to discuss issues with sensitivity, objectivity, and confidentiality. These abilities coupled with my interpersonal skills helped me connect with the students and prepare me for the research I planned to conduct. One of the takeaways from my experience is the need to establish a positive relationship with participants beforehand. Gaining trust and convincing individuals to participate in your study is easier when you get to know more about them. Thus, collecting data qualitatively takes time.

Different methods can be used to recruit participants. It was most suitable for me to use convenience sampling, which means I interviewed students based on their availability and willingness to participate. Due to time constraints and students’ schedules, I was only able to include four students in my study. Although this is a small sample size, in qualitative research such a sample can still yield important findings. Deciding what days and time to conduct interviews may be challenging at first. I recommend developing a schedule with your participants to decide the best times to collect data. Doing this keeps you organized and helps you track your progress.

To prepare for the interviews, I formulated a list of open-ended questions that would help guide the discussion. For example, I asked students “Can you describe what a typical school day looks like for you?” and “How would you describe yourself as a student?” I noticed students had more to say on certain questions, which helped me decide which questions I did not need to ask or I needed to change. Depending on the answers they provided I saw certain themes emerge. Some questions also brought up topics I had not previously considered. In addition, the information they shared sometimes countered what I originally anticipated. This shows how interviews can take your research in different directions and it is okay for changes to occur.

How you conduct your interviews can also shape the information you collect. For instance, I found benefits in interviewing two of the students individually, and the other two students together. For each one-on-one interview I noticed the students were more open to sharing about their personal life, including very sensitive information. However, in the interview with two students I found they elaborated more on their answers. What one student did not mention, the other added. Sometimes they agreed on questions and other times they disagreed. Both methods provided me substantial insight.

Another qualitative method I used was participant observation, which requires the researcher to immerse themselves and participate within their participant’s social environment. When I visited the school I engaged in classroom activities, helped students with their school work, and interacted with students and faculty during breaks and/or lunch. This method helped me establish mutual trust and respect with the students and the school at large. The data I collected through my observations and participation in the school also helped me understand how students’ behavior and interactions aligned with the experiences and perspectives they shared with me during their interviews. This method turned out to be my favorite part of doing qualitative research because it gave me the opportunity to meet new people and learn from them. I had a great experience, and I would recommend research to anyone looking to expand their education beyond the four walls of a classroom or the pages of a book.