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Bridging Disciplines Programs Opportunities

Sharing connecting experience opportunities with BDP students.

Research

, Filed Under: Research

School Climate and Adolescent Development Research Opportunity

Faculty Researcher: APRILE BENNER
Dr. Aprile Benner
abenner@prc.utexas.edu

Description

In Fall 2016, I will be conducting surveys with approximately 1,500 students in local middle schools. We will be going directly to the schools to recruit students, distribute and collect parent consent and student assent forms, and conduct student surveys. Undergraduate and graduate research assistants will prepare data collection materials, make recruitment presentations at schools, distribute and collect all study materials, pay study participants, and scan student survey responses.

In Spring 2016, we will be coordinating daily diary activities with approximately 100 students. Undergraduate and graduate research assistants will program daily diaries on iTouch devices, distribute and collect iTouch devices from students, and download and clean daily diary data.

, Filed Under: Research

Prevention Research Lab Summer/Fall Research Opportunities

The Prevention Research Lab is looking for undergraduate research assistants!

The Prevention Research Lab, led by Dr. Keryn E. Pasch in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, is searching for undergraduate research assistants for Summer 2016. Undergraduate research assistants (URAs) will work on one or both of these projects, Outdoor MEDIA II and/or Tobacco Marketing with the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science on Youth and Young Adults. This Outdoor MEDIA II study uses objectively collected data to document outdoor food, beverage, alcohol, and tobacco advertising in the Travis County area. This project is in collaboration with sites in California, Minnesota, and Ohio. The Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science on Youth and Young Adults (TCORS) is comprised of three different University of Texas (UT) sites: the UT School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, UT Austin, and UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, each of which hosts one of 3 funded research projects. Students will work on projects focused on the marketing of tobacco products to youth and young adults. Both Outdoor MEDIA II and TCORS projects will involve the coding of advertisements. Additional research opportunities such as literature searching, transcribing, and data summaries may be available.

REQUIREMENTS:

A flexible summer schedule with at least a three hour block of time available.

Prior research experience is a plus but not necessary.

Applicants who are able to commit to the fall and spring semesters will be given priority. However, if you are graduating in summer or fall 16, you will still be considered.

BENEFITS:

Hands-on experience with the research process, with an emphasis on the relationship between advertising and socio-economic disparities.

Bridging Disciplines, Nutrition, or other research credit offered if you qualify – please let us know if you are considering BDP credit or other research credit when you contact us.

If you are interested in joining the Prevention Research Lab as an undergraduate research assistant this summer, please complete the application and return, along with your résumé, to Ana Herrera (analauraherrera@utexas.edu).

Application: PRL_call for RAs_Summer_2016_FINAL[2]

, Filed Under: Research

National Institutes of Health Research Project with Dr. Crosnoe

Dr. Crosnoe recently received a very large grant from the National Institutes of Health (NH) to conduct a large scale project on the ways in which physical attractiveness stratifies the life chances of young people, primarily by affecting their opportunities to achieve academically and socially.  NIH is interested in this kind of research because it has major health implications – as academic and social achievements are major foundations of lifelong health – and more specifically because we believe that such health issues as obesity, disordered eating, and substance use come into play in explaining how attractiveness affects people’s lives.

NIHaims[1] is a document with the specific aims of the actual grant proposal that NIH funded.  The specific aims are the one-page overview of the whole project that start out any NIH grant proposal.

Many years ago, the federal government funded a large study of the effects of child care on child development called the SECCYD.  It followed about 1300 babies through high school, and one of the data collection pieces involved videoing the children interacting with their parents at every age.  We have possession of those videos, which are highly secure, and aim to extract “short slices” from each one, which is likely a short gif or still shot of the kid at each age.  We will then be working with our IT people to set up a system in which undergraduates will rate these thin slices for physical attractiveness and other criteria.

 We are interested in having 3-4 students do their BDP connecting experiences this coming summer to help with the extraction of the thin slices.  Dr. Crosnoe’s graduate student, Lilla Pivnick, will work with the undergraduate interns.   We would expect them to put in a few hours per week for most of the semester.  They could also get involved with other aspects of the project (e.g., analyzing the rich data set to answer questions about child and adolescent health).  Finally, at the end of the semester, there is a chance that we could take on 1-2 of the interns for a paying research assistant position.

If you are interested, contact Dr. Robert Crosnoe at:

Robert Crosnoe,  C.B. Smith, Sr. Centennial Chair #4 & Department Chair
The University of Texas at Austin

Department of Sociology  |  Population Research Center
crosnoe@austin.utexas.edu

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/prc/directory/faculty/crosnoer