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Student Public Health Research Study: From Conceptualization to Analysis

University of Washington, Seattle
Overview 

As a part of the SPH 480: Research Methods in Public Health course at UW, I worked in a group of 5 people to conceptualize, plan, execute, and analyze a research project. The purpose of this project was to explore public health issues affecting undergraduate students at the University of Washington and disseminate research findings to the public. This was my first time being involved in research and I found the experience of group dynamics and creation of a tangible product very valuable. 

Personal Importance

My experience in this course was significant to me because it was my first time I felt that I was helping to create a tangible product which contributes to the current bank of academic knowledge. During the process I found myself incredibly excited to actually see what the results of our project were and share those results with my peers. The course also introduced me to the concept of Implementation Science which focuses on evaluating if public health interventions are actually effective in achieving their purpose. Learning this concept helped give a name to something I often ask myself and focus on when looking at public health programs. I plan on exploring this concept more Spring 2020 in an elective G H 307: Introduction to Implementation Science for Global Health.

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(above) Flyer used to recruit participants

Tasks Accomplished
  • Applied the scientific method to public health questions concerning the UW undergraduate body

  • Researched and evaluated the scope of literature on our specific topic

  • Created study participant recruitment materials including emails for professors and posters for buildings

  • Recruited study participants at local bars and on campus

  • Created a Google Form to collect student data in an efficient and effective manner

  • Used epidemiologic research methods to analyze the collected data

  • Created a dissemination plan in which to translate research findings into potential programs or next steps for the public

It is important to note that all these tasks were accomplished in collaboration with 4 other UW Public Health - Global Health students through effective communication skills

Leadership Competencies Gained
  • Research: Perhaps the most glaring competency I learned through this course is research. Typically, most of my research in public health is done through searching online databases and I have become quite experienced at that. In preparation for the development of our research study, we first had to research the current literature on our topic and synthesize that information. As the project went on, I developed a new set of research skills on the other side of research. Together we designed a set of questions for participants to best answer our investigative questions, then followed through on recruiting people and seeing what the data we had collected was telling us. I gained a better appreciation for resources related to research and those who conduct valuable, credible, legitimate research.

  • Collaboration: The main quarter-long project for this class was entirely dependent on effective collaboration. Each class period, we spent the 1.5 hours working in our groups on a portion of our project through what they called "daily deliverables". This meant twice a week for ten weeks, we were practicing collaboration. Having such focused collaboration so often forced me to acknowledge how I tend to collaborate in a group. I had never acknowledged it before, but I came into this course with very little trust in collaboration. I had negative group experiences in the past which made me devalue the contributions of others. When working on this team I reflected on how past experiences may be influencing me and learned to be more understanding and open to my peers’ ideas.

  • Idea Generation: In preparation for beginning our research study, we first had to generate a list of questions which we were interested in investigating. We established we wanted to see how substance use affects students at UW but then needed to further generate ideas on specifics. What type of substances were we interested in? What type of student effects were we interested in? Academic? Family relationships? How could we measure academic performance? Number of hours spent studying per week? Average GPA per quarter? Once establishing the investigative questions, we still needed to generate ideas throughout the quarter. How did we want people to learn about this study in a way which reaches a broad sample population? Through professors? Through fellow students? Being approached at bars?

  • Analysis: Analysis is a skill essential to public health and this course helped significantly in strengthening that skill for me. After collecting our data, we were tasked with analyzing it for specific risk factors and associations. Our study investigated the association between prescription stimulant misuse and cumulative grade point average among undergraduate students at the University of Washington and evaluated Social Greek membership and school major as potential confounders. We also collected data regarding demographic information such as race/ethnicity, sex assigned as birth, current gender identity, and year in college to analyze.

  • Group Development: Navigating group dynamics was essential for this course. At the beginning of the quarter we were placed in randomized groups and worked together in class for all 10 weeks. Through this experience I gained confidence in coordinating group development. I learned that real groups don't function under ideal conditions, they have to function under real world conditions. For example, six weeks into developing this project I had a relative abruptly pass away from suicide. This temporarily impacted my ability to make meaningful contributions to the team. Because we had created close working bonds, we were able to adapt as a group to such obstacles and work together to still create a quality product we were proud of.

  • Writing: An essential part of this project was the writing components. Every step of development of this study strengthened my writing abilities for different audiences. Together we wrote a dissemination plan which was aimed at that UW undergraduate population, but we also had to write for public health centered audiences. Both the research protocol and research report were written directly for public health researchers, which required a different skillset of writing. I also completed an independent writing assignment for this project wherein I attended a research seminar and summarized and synthesized their findings. Overall, this course and its associated assignments helped me to gain writing skills specifically around addressing differing audiences in writing.

  • Helping Others: Because of the strong group development my team had, helping others was another skill I strengthened in this course. When working together in class, it wasn't uncommon for someone to be late or miss a day. To make up for that I helped others with their portion of work or have guidance for how their work should be done. For example, there was an in issue with lost observations when trying to clean our data. I volunteered to take on the task of re-cleaning the data on my own time because I knew it was one of my strengths and I could get it done quickly so the rest of our team could move forward. 

Going Forward...

For me, taking this course marked a transition from just being a student of Public Health-Global Health, to feeling like I am a part of the Seattle Public Health community. Rather than memorizing and reciting information, we were working independently with the help of the amazing teaching team when necessary. I have used the skills related to group dynamics and communication which I gained in this course with other work outside of school and know I will continue to do so in the future.

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