My
first real research experience was in the Summer of 2015, where I worked as a research
assistant for Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Statistics. From this
Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, I learned that I wanted to continue
doing quantitative research and to pursue a career as a statistician.
In
the Fall 2015 semester, I joined my Human Development and Family Science
professor, Dr. Bethany Letiecq, on an on-going interdisciplinary research
project. The research team works in partnership with Latina immigrant women
from Central America, who now reside in Northern Virginia with their families.
I joined the project as an intern (fulfilling HDFS 498-499 for a total of 6
credits) and undergraduate research assistant, where I assist with data
collection, management, and analysis.
My
URSP project is Exploring Predictors of Depression
among Central American Immigrant Mothers: A Multidisciplinary CBPR Approach.
The purpose of this
study is to delineate
the strongest predictors of depressive symptomology among undocumented
immigrant mothers from Central America to inform future contextually-based
mental health interventions.
On
a weekly basis, I do a variety of tasks. This week I wrote a proposal abstract to the 2016 National
Council of Family Relations (NCFR) conference. I also work on conducting
literature reviews, data analyses, and manuscript preparation. From preliminary
data analysis this week, I have found that, based on our sample, health
perceptions and years of education are protective factors against depression. This implies that having better
perceptions of your health and having higher levels of education were related
to lower depression scores.
In
addition, I also go to Alexandria City Public Schools’ English Language
Learners (ACPS ELL) office in Alexandria. I help new immigrant and native-born
families register their children for school by helping them fill out school forms
in both English and Spanish; this in particular has been a humbling experience
in which I have the opportunity to build my interpersonal skills and
Spanish-speaking skills.
George
Mason’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program has been such an enriching
experience to my undergraduate career. This interdisciplinary project gives me the opportunity to
explore my interests in the fields of Human Development & Family Science,
Statistics and Spanish. As an aspiring statistician/family scientist, I
want to continue working on interesting social-science related projects that have an impact on
improving the quality of people’s lives.
