Update.

And then there were two.

At our last research team meeting of the semester, which took place last Friday (12.12.08), Charles & I realized we were the only ones still meeting. We hadn't heard from anyone who said they were going to be absent - they've just disappeared.

We're finished pre-testing! So that means we can begin administering the real deal when we come back from break...if professors will let us interrupt classes that early in the semester.

You've got to take the good with the bad, I guess. It's a little disappointing to have the team begin with seven people and end with two, but at least Charles and I know we'll do the work because we've done it all before.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Psi Chi Update

Well...there really isn't much to update.
I don't think we're going to be finished with the research in time to present at the conference, but it's not totally impossible if we work twice as hard at the beginning of next semester.
We haven't had a meeting since my last post because everyone else had something come up, so it would have been me & Dr. Spencer handing out. That would've been alright if either of us had the results from the latest pre-test, but we didn't.
I hope we get to have our meeting this week because I don't see us doing any of it over the break that begins in a week.

Stress, stress, stress!
Maybe we should do a study on how people cope with the stress of being on a research team!

:]

Everyone loves a lollipop!

Update.

I'm the kind of person who isn't good at working with others - I've always been the one person in the group who ends up doing most of the work...probably because I'm so controlling. At any rate, this makes working on a research team difficult.
Our research is focused on the rationalization of academic misconduct. Basically, we want to see which forms of cheating are found to be the most acceptable & what the thought processes are behind cheating in the first place. As with any research, we have to do a series of pre-tests to work out all of the survey's kinks & whatnot. This is usually easy, but not this time!
Our first administration was to a remedial math class because we figured if freshmen could understand the directions, then the upperclassmen should definitely understand them as well! The class didn't get it. Not at all. It's so annoying because we didn't know whether or not they really didn't understand the directions or they were just too lazy to pay attention to what they were doing. I have a feeling it was the latter. At any rate, we had to do another administration.
I waited & waited, & waited some more for the other members of the team to administer like they said they would because I wanted to begin actual administrations before Thanksgiving Break...preferably the second week in November. True to form, I became so frustrated that I told everyone I'd just administer in one of my English classes...it wasn't a lower-level course, but there were a variety of English majors with a wide age-range. It took forever to get that administration done because the guy who had the revised version of the measure wouldn't get back to me! This is why I have issues with group work. Someone always drops the ball. I was finally able to get a copy of the measure after I bitched & bitched about it & administered the Wednesday before we went on break.
I was happy with the results...but some of the other members thought they wanted to know more about which forms of academic misconduct were more acceptable, so now we have to change it again. This sucks big time & is really beginning to piss me off because the team decided to add something to the measure that I suggested to have on there for the second pre-test!
So here we are, at the beginning of December & we are still pre-testing. I don't know whether or not we'll be finished with administrations in time to present in April...


I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

People can be so awesome!

This guy is amazing - I don't know how people come up with this stuff!

Geekologie.com

Psi Chi

Ok, so I've been involved in the National Psychology Honor Society (Psi Chi) since 2006 & last year I got on board with its research team. Here's the basic rundown: myself, along with 3 other students & our sponsor conducted a replication of a study performed 15 years ago that dealt with scientific literacy. At the end of our research we went to Meredith College in Raleigh, N.C. & presented at the Carolina Psychology Conference. It was an awesome experience...& will look amazing on my cirriculum vitae!! The woman who organized the conference came to see our project specifically, which was an honor since she's the chair of the psychology department at North Carolina State University.

Here's a picture of the 4 of us following our presentation:

Me, Brittany, Nichole, & Charles

Now I'm doing it all over again! Charles & I are taking on an entirely new study this year instead of performing a replication. We are trying to find out the ways in which students at our university rationalize academic misconduct. It hasn't been easy so far, but things will work out! We plan on presenting at the Carolina Conference again this coming April with the hopes of doing even better than we did last year! My blog will mainly focus on the evolution of our study, but I'm sure I'll put some random things I like on here too!

SocialVibe

I want to start by posting my SocialVibe badge!