Tabling at the Honors College to obtain participants for our survey
Author: Emily Ye | Major: Biology & Public Health | Semester: Spring 2025
Hello! My name is Emily Ye, and I’m an Honors Biology and Public Health undergraduate student on the pre-medical track. This spring, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Honors Arkansas: Health and Wellness course. The class focused on studying the health and wellness issues that impact the state of Arkansas and the root causes behind these issues. As part of the course, we engaged directly with community organizations, government officials, physicians, and advocates to gain a better understanding of healthcare in the state. One of the highlights of the course was a team research project that allowed us to investigate a specific health issue affecting our community.
My team chose to focus on reproductive and maternal health knowledge and attitudes among undergraduate students on our campus. We were inspired to choose this topic after speaking with State Representative Denise Garner and Camille Richoux—the Health Policy Director at Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Through our conversations with them, it became clear that Arkansas is facing significant gaps in maternal health resources. We learned that the highest number of postnatal deaths occurs in the year following birth, due to unsafe sleep practices and lack of access to care. Additionally, nearly one-third of new mothers experience unexpected pregnancies.
We wanted to better understand where knowledge gaps and misconceptions might exist among college students. Our survey focused on three main topics: contraception, maternal health, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). By collecting and analyzing this data, we hoped to identify where our efforts might be most beneficial and explore potential initiatives to better support students on our campus, whether that be through increasing access to resources or jumpstarting an initiative.
Our research revealed that students are generally most informed about contraception, while topics related to pregnancy and maternal health had the most significant knowledge gaps. Outside of the results, this experience taught me the importance of cultural sensitivity and inclusive language when designing research tools. I learned that even small changes in wording, like a more neutral tone, can impact how participants interpret and respond to questions. As an aspiring physician, I hope to carry this skill and approach sensitive health topics with empathy, respect, and a commitment to understanding diverse perspectives.
One of the most challenging parts of our project was recruiting participants for our survey. Initially, we hoped to gather responses from both undergraduate and graduate students, but we quickly realized that there was a lack of graduate student participation. As a team, we decided to narrow our focus to undergraduate students. Reaching a diverse and representative sample of students required strategic planning. To make students feel more comfortable to ask questions, we tabled at high-traffic areas like the Union and the Honors College, ultimately encouraging more engagement with our survey.
Looking ahead, we are working to perform statistical analyses on the survey data to explore possible correlations across different demographic groups. This fall, we plan to present our findings at the Health and Wellness Summit, as well as reflect on potential solutions to implement on campus.