Research Assistant Yoda
Author: Yodalys Aguilar Quiros | Major: Psychology | Semester: Spring 2022
My name is Yodalys Aguilar or Yoda, for short. I am a psychology major receiving mentorship from Dr. Matt Judah, an assistant professor in the department of psychological sciences, and Russell Mach, a third-year doctoral student enrolled in the Clinical Psychology, PhD program. Our ongoing research project surveys the mental health experiences of international students who are participating in study abroad programs at the University of Arkansas. This research is important because it may help future investigators understand how acculturation is associated with a variety of mental health experiences among international students.
During the first several months of the project, I learned that research is about accepting changes. Coming up with the research idea, designing the project, being approved by the IRB, and launching the project were steps that took time and effort. However, with the support of Dr. Judah and Russell, I was able to move the project forward.
Before the spring semester, I spent most of my time reflecting on my research interests. which was a challenging but rewarding process. I looked up topics or problems that I found particularly interesting and engaging. I also explored the research that had been already done with international students. Along the way, I sought the advice of many professors and graduate students . After exploring the literature, I decided that researching mental health among international students was a topic that really captured my attention and motivated me to pursue further research.
Starting the spring grant term, I designed a survey on Qualtrics that spans topics of identity, acculturation, discrimination, loneliness, rumination, anxiety, and depression. Because this is an online longitudinal study with three assessment points, the survey took quite some time to build. We created our own system to track participants and manage notifications. This was a necessary step in order to reach all eligible international students at the U of A.
After we finalized the surveys, we created the online consent form. Because this project is a paid research study, and we offer students the option to enter themselves into a gift card raffle , we had to seek advice from the International Students and Scholars office (ISS) at the University of Arkansas. Giving monetary compensation (i.e., winning a gift card) to international students can be a very complicated process. Thanks to the advice of the ISS office, we were able to move the project forward.
Following three months of hard work, we launched the project on October 12th, 2022. We received a lot of feedback from participants and made real-time changes to the Qualtrics platform. We updated our recruitment system and the readability online consent form, to name a few other examples. To date, 80% of participants successfully completed all three parts of the study. We will launch the study again next semester. With all of the changes made over the last semester we expect to have an even higher percentage of acceptance among international students.
This research project has reaffirmed my passion for conducting and leading research related to mental health. I have decided to pursue a career in research, especially diversity within neuroscience.