Undergraduate Research with ISU Department of Sociology
During the Spring 2024 semester, I worked with Dr. Samuel Mindes of the Iowa State University Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice as an undergraduate research assistant.
Project Overview
The Research
Housing security – a continuum of problems people may face regarding housing including affordability, safety, quality, and loss – is most often studied in urban, not rural contexts. The same stands for food security issues. Our survey, designed for the North Central Region Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD), will provide in-depth data on the phenomenon of housing and food security in the region.
Completed Objectives
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Annotated Bibliography of Current Literature
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Pilot Survey Investigating Undergraduate Student Housing Security at Iowa State University
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Survey Design for Larger NCRCRD Distributed Survey
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Research Poster and Presentation
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Science with Practice Program
The Science with Practice program at Iowa State University provides
students the opportunity to "work closely with faculty and staff on a specific project, gaining hands-on experience relevant to their chosen career path while receiving academic credit and money for the work."
Work Produced
Below are some of the projects I completed during my undergraduate research with Dr. Mindes
Annotated Bibliography
In order to gain a full understanding of housing and food insecurity in the USA, I completed an review of the current literature on the topics. From this review, I read 18 pieces of the current literature and wrote an annotated bibliography.
Undergraduate Student Survey on Housing Security
I designed a 27 question survey to investigate undergraduate ISU student housing security. The survey was designed to pilot some of the questions used in the larger survey for NCRCRD. The survey was distributed to 1,039 undergraduate students majoring in finance, graphic design, political science, and sociology. Over the course of 10 days, we recieved a response rate of 6.4%.
Research Poster
As part of my participation with the Science with Practice program, I created a research poster presented during the SWP Poster session. The poster session invited current ISU students, faculty, and staff, SWP donors, and the general public to view the invovled students work. The poster session was held April 30th, 2024 in Kildee Atrium on the ISU campus.