Marissa’s Research Experience Reflection
Note to Readers: Click here to jump to plain language. Click here to jump to formal language.
Plain Language
I am Marissa Kuehn. I am a student at the University of Toledo. I worked on the Plain Truth Project with Dr. Monteleone this summer. You can learn more about me on the Our Team page.
This post is about what I learned working on this project. I am glad to be a part of this project. I helped with research. I worked on this website.
To help with research, I:
Took a training about how to do research fairly.
Learned about research.
Learned about cognitive accessibility. Cognitive accessibility is writing or speaking in ways people with cognitive disabilities can understand.
Learned about plain language writing.
Learned about different kinds of research including:
Research that uses words like interviews and writing,
Research that uses numbers and math,
Frameworks for thinking about data.
Practiced doing qualitative coding. Qualitative coding is a way to organize what we learned from research.
Coded of the first focus group transcript with Dr. Monteleone.
Compared my codes to Dr. Monteleone's codes.
To work on the website, I:
Looked at the layout of each page of the website.
Reviewed accessibility for each page of the website.
Brainstormed with Dr. Monteleone about changes to make.
Made changes to website.
Practiced plain language writing.
Wrote updates.
I liked learning and doing these things. This work is different from what I normally do in my classes. My classes are mostly about computers, science and math. This research is about disability studies. I think it is important for these two areas to talk to each other more. It makes research better. I enjoyed doing things I am not normally able to do.
I liked doing research this summer. I want to do more research in the future. I understand more about research now. I’m excited to do research in the future in different areas.
I would like to keep working on this project.
I hope other students will do research. Talk to professors who do things that interest you. Make connections with people outside your major. It can be scary. But it is worth it.
Formal Language
Over the past four months, I’ve worked as Dr. Monteleone’s research assistant on this project. I have learned a lot academically and personally. It has been an amazing opportunity, and I am thankful to have been able to work on this project. To learn more about me, you can read my bio on the Our Team page. In my role as research assistant, my main tasks were to assist focus group analysis and maintain the project website.
After I first completed IRB training, Dr. Monteleone educated me about research and cognitive accessibility so I could be successful at my tasks. I reviewed information about cognitive accessibility and plain language to prepare for the focus group data. I learned about the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, inductive and deductive approaches, and positivist and post-positivist frameworks. Since we used qualitative analysis, we spent more time covering qualitative methods. We developed my skills in qualitative analysis through two qualitative coding practices. In the practices, I enjoyed doing an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) with an inductive approach. It was fun to experiment with the qualitative coding process; it was like nothing I had done before. Because qualitative analysis is unlike what I typically do in my engineering coursework, I was challenged to use my brain differently. I was able to use a similar process for qualitative coding of the first focus group transcript. I favored using a mix of in-vivo and descriptive coding. Dr. Monteleone and I compared our codes for inter-rater reliability after each section of the transcript we completed. We noted any interesting observations or remarks. A future update post will include more information about our preliminary findings.
I then transitioned to refining the project website after we completed the first focus group transcript. I reviewed the organization and accessibility of each page of the website. This was a great chance for me to apply what I’ve learned about digital accessibility so far. Dr. Monteleone and I brainstormed improvements to make together, and I implemented changes based on her feedback. I created the Updates blog, where project updates will be made available. I authored a few initial updates, allowing me to become more familiar with plain language.
This experience affirmed my interest in pursuing research. I better understand and appreciate qualitative research, which I had poor concept of before starting my work on this project. I look forward to any future opportunities I may participate in, both within STEM and humanities disciplines. It has been invaluable to have the space to develop my interests and acquire more tools that will aid my academic, professional, and personal lives. I sought out this opportunity specifically to learn, particularly about ideas and skills I would not otherwise gain exposure to within my major. This experience also affirmed my opinion that STEM and the humanities need each other. When STEM and humanities disciplines are in conversation with each other, together their findings are more generative and impactful than in isolation. I hope future work will allow me to continue breaking down disciplinary walls, allowing for the cross-pollination of ideas to form into a garden of findings.
To my fellow undergraduate students, I encourage you to seek out opportunities that will teach you something new. Start a conversation with a professor who studies something you’re interested in. Form connections within and outside of your major. While it can be scary and takes practice, it is worth putting yourself out there.