Project-based Learning. Real-world Applications.
The Social Science Research Lab, provides undergraduate students a foundational and applied experience in social science research methods, principles, and their real-world application.
Each Lab course is associated with an applied partner program that provides a topical focus for the real-world application of research methods. Ultimately, the Lab aims to further applied undergraduate opportunities in the social sciences, including from early in an academic trajectory; to integrate structured research methods instruction into an applied context; and to augment opportunities for responsive and ethical research-based community engagement.
The Lab is based in the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), drawing from SSRI’s work in evaluation and applied/community-engaged research. It is affiliated with the Bass Connections Education and Human Development (EHD) theme and also received support from Service Learning. It has served as an elective for the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate, the Science & Society Certificate, and the Civic Engagement & Social Change Certificate elective (if aligned with a student’s pathway within the certificate). The Lab has also served as a methods course within the Sociology major and, with DUS permission, built towards a Global Health major. This lab operates with a core semester (Semester 1) and an opportunity to continue active research in subsequent semester.
What Courses Are Part of the Lab?
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Semester 1 included a dual focus on: 1) healthcare administration and innovation, including interviews with Duke Health representatives on these topics, and 2) methods/processes in social science research and social science-based evaluation, including responsive partner engagement. The course met two days/week and typically alternated between focus on these two themes. Applied research and evaluation content was led by Jessica Sperling, PhD (instructor, SSRI), with additional student mentorship and course development support from SSRI’s Megan Gray, MSW and Allison Carmody, a graduate Service Learning Assistant. Healthcare/DIHI content was led by Will Ellaissi, MBA (instructor, DIHI) and Dr. Jon O’Donnell (instructor, Duke Health’s Dept. of Orthopaedics), with added support from DIHI’s Krista Whalen.
Continued Student Engagement (Following Semester 1)
Following semester 1, and based on partner interest and project fit, students have the opportunity to engage in implementing a proposed evaluation research study with one of the project partners. Starting in Fall 2018, a diverse student team (Zoe King (sophomore), Michelle Wong (junior), Sahil Sandhu (junior), and Sean Bissell (senior)) began been working under the supervision of the SSRI instructional team in empirical data collection. In partnership with Dr. Tom LeBlanc of the Duke Cancer Institute, this team has been investigating the facilitators and inhibitors of clinician utilization of electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) data. Zoe King, a sophomore on the project, explains here how this experience has informed her educational and professional trajectory.