My project examines the Prince William County Fatherhood Initiative (PWCFI) program by interpreting data to enhance their fatherhood program. The research I am conducting will allow me to support a public program as well as my local community, which is an essential aspect of my project. I was first introduced to this project last year as I completed a report on the first set of data while working for SWIRL, or also known as the Social Work integrative Research Lab. This research will not only develop my own understanding of an effective fatherhood program, but will have an immediate impact on the operation of a local fatherhood program.This research has the potential to greatly support my educational and professional goals as I am committed to working with families, youth, and young adults, especially those involved in correctional facilities. Therefore, I would like to work with families, young adults, children, and/or juvenile correctional facilities in the future.
The work I complete on a weekly basis changes depending on what needs to be completed that week. Thus far, I have organized the data, coded pre-and post-tests to better aid the analysis of the research, input the data into Excel, and reviewed the Excel spreadsheet for data quality assurance. Subsequently, I will input the data into SPSS for quantitative testing so that I may then analyze the results. I also meet with my mentor several times a week to discuss my project; she is in fact my professor for my social work research class.
Conducting research throughout this semester has taught me that the research process can be tedious. Tasks that I thought would take me an hour or so to complete, have taken me several hours to finish. In addition, thanks to my mentor and project, I have come to love research and I want research to be incorporated in my life throughout my professional career.
