My name is Mercy Wheeler, and I am a senior in
the Communication department. My OSCAR project is a survey study that seeks
connections and potential correlations between satisfaction in long distance
relationships and computer mediated communication channel choice. Computer
mediated communication channels are any and all methods of communication that
are mediated via a computer, such as instant messaging, Skyping and audio
calls; and many long distance relationships rely solely on these methods to
communicate. While this may sound somewhat complicated, the reason that I chose
the topic is rooted in personal experience. The picture is of myself and my
partner, and we’ve been long distance for the entire duration of the
relationship. When I began studying interpersonal relationships in my
communication courses, I was curious to see if there had been studies done on
relationships like mine. To my surprise and sadness, there was and still is an
incredible lack of credible research done on long distance relationships. When
I was given the opportunity to create my own study, I immediately chose this
subject because of the need for research and my own personal experience in the
subject.
Over the course of this research project, I’ve
learned how to create an effective and ethical survey that has both validity
and reliability. This is a skill that I’ve learned to be a relative rarity and
incredibly helpful in my internships and current positions when my employers
want feedback from their customers, and I expect it to continue to be a helpful
skill in the future. I’m hoping that the data collected will be helpful for
future studies in long distance relationships as well.
On a weekly basis, my time is dedicated to
refining my literature review, working on survey questions and ensuring the
validity of the questions asked, and in the coming weeks most of my time will
be dedicated to analyzing and verifying my collected data.
One important thing that I learned over the course of this term is that part of research is uncertainty. Even though I’m incredibly invested in my study because of the academic value and the personal nature of the topic, I am still very uncertain about what kinds of responses I’ll have and if any of it will be interesting or surprising. Despite this, I have learned to accept what I cannot control and take my data as it comes, without the expectation that I’ll find anything groundbreaking at first glance. Flexibility and forgoing expectations about results will ultimately make my research less biased and more objective.
