RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR UNDERGRADUATES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA–LINCOLN
The REU program hosted by UNL's Department of Psychology utilizes a team approach to immerse undergraduates in the experience of conducting psychological research. Upon acceptance into the program, each REU student at UNL will join a research team working in an area that matches the student's expressed interests and skills in psychology and law. Each team, consisting of a faculty member, several graduate students, and five or six undergraduate research assistants will plan and execute studies with the intention of presenting professional papers and submitting research reports to peer-reviewed journals.
Through modeling and practice, REU students will learn to apply sound methodological techniques to study real-world phenomena in a way that does not compromise the scientific integrity of the research. Successful scientists learn the art of balancing laboratory and field limitations with enough methodological rigor to provide interpretable data. This is an art students can learn only through practical experience--that is, writing the research protocols that guide data collection. The REU students will first observe and later participate in developing research protocols for the team's projects and their own investigations.
Before data collection begins, psychological scientists evaluate the costs and benefits of proposed research protocols and assure their execution will not adversely affect the lives of the participants. REU fellows will learn the ethics of psychological research as they assist their teams to balance the needs of the science with the ethical responsibilities that scientists accept when they collect data with human research participants. The students will analyze the ethical implications of their team's projects and their own proposals. They will learn how to write applications for institutional review boards so they can conduct their own research with human participants after they leave UNL.
Researchers who carefully and faithfully execute research protocols are most likely to wind up with interpretable data sets. Successful researchers share a commitment to detail and thoroughness that ensures the interpretability of their data. Most research scientists spend a great deal of time in research labs or field settings interacting with research participants. There is no substitute for experience in learning the importance of systematic and reliable laboratory procedures.
While many undergraduates find statistical analysis the least desirable aspect of social science education, it is often the most preferred activity of psychological scientists. Successful researchers enjoy writing computer programs and compiling research results. Although statistics confuse many new students in the psychological sciences, hands on contact with data analyses unravel the mysteries surrounding many complicated statistical procedures. In short, undergraduate researchers learn the value of statistical analyses and become comfortable with the computer programs that describe and draw inferences from data only when they themselves enter data into a computer file, write basic programs, and examine the output first hand.
Finally, even the most eloquent experimental data contribute little if the data are not effectively disseminated to the broader scientific community. Successful scientists working in basic and applied settings must learn how to offer results to a variety of audiences, including fellow scientists, other professionals, organizational administrators, the courts, and the public. Because the UNL research teams will be conducting ongoing research with the aim of dissemination, the REU fellows will have many opportunities to assist in organizing data, writing reports, and offering oral presentations of the findings. REU students who contribute meaningfully to research projects will be included as co-authors on research presentations and articles submitted for publication. Finally, the students will be asked to present the findings from their own projects at the annual Undergraduate Research Fair hosted by the UNL Office of Undergraduate Studies at the conclusion of the spring semester.
