Proposal

Narrative

As a research methodologist, my role is to train doctoral students and medical residents in research. An important skill in research is that of expertise in survey methodology and software associated with cognitive and behavioral assessment. Expertise in survey methodology. An important skill in research is the collection of information through surveys. While survey research can be conducted online via the Internet, there continues to be a need to conduct survey research in controlled environments, at locations frequented by specific populations, and locations that lack Internet access (see Fernandez, Sanchez, & DeDonno, 2018). To effectively conduct this type of research, mobile computers are needed. Doctoral students and medical residents will be trained in all aspects of survey research such as; developing surveys , creating electronic surveys, and extracting data from survey programs. In addition, students will gain experience in working with participants at remote sites in collecting data. An outcome of this training will be real-world field experience in survey research. All survey research projects will use existing software (e.g., Qualtrics, REDCap) for which FAU maintains licenses. Expertise in cognitive and behavioral assessment. Cognitive and behavioral assessments are an important aspect in the study of learning and behavior. In general, cognitive and behavioral research is conducted in controlled settings and often at remote locations. Doctoral students and medical residents will gain experience in using e-prime, a popular assessment program, as well as various assessment applications. I procured e-prime through another funding source. An outcome of this training will be knowledge and field experience in conducting cognitive and behavioral assessments. The sustainability section provides an overview of immediate and future projects that will provide advanced training in survey methodology, and cognitive and behavioral assessment.

Facilities

No facilities renovations required.

Hardware Requirements

Request includes 3 laptop computers. See Supporting Documentation for description of the laptops. There are no other hardware requirements. No need for MS Office as the units will be used for data collection. Note: there is flexibility in the laptop.

Software Requirements

No software requirements as the laptops would be used solely for data collection. The only software requirement would be Windows 10 (or newer) which is included in the hardware quote. The cognitive and behavioral assessment software (e-prime), was procured through another funding program. The remaining requirements would be Qualtrics and REDCap which FAU maintains licenses. REDCap may be the preferred application as the FAU license includes a mobile application that enables data collection in locations that do not have Internet access. Finally, I believe FAU already has a virus protection application which would be needed.

Personnel Costs

No expected personnel costs.

Other Costs

No other expected costs.

Timeline

Upon approval of funding - Schedule meetings with current doctoral students and other research faculty to discuss integrating laptops including survey methodology and/or cognitive behavioral assessment research. In addition, existing survey methodology and cognitive behavioral assessment presentations will be delivered throughout the College of Education, but also through the Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI). I have delivered these presentations in the past in the COE and OURI with good response relative to a desire to conduct research. Upon receipt of the laptops - Coordinate an appropriate rollout in the use of the laptops will take place. It is estimated that laptops will be in the field within 60 days of receipt. The laptops will be deployed to additional research studies as described in the Sustainability section. I would expect the laptops to be in the field 10-11 months a year. Specific Timeline: Month 1 – Meetings and presentations to discuss research studies. Begin creating surveys with researchers Months 2-3 – Upon receipt of laptops – Load e-prime software, access survey application and begin testing survey and/or cognitive behavioral assessment programs. Coordinate distribution of laptops in the field Months 4-7 – Laptops in the field collecting data. Begin scheduling redistribution of laptops to upcoming studies Months 8-10 – Redistribution of laptops to other studies Ongoing – Repeat on an annual basis the steps above for each academic year

Sustainability

There are several projects planned. An immediate project would be exploring the influence of working memory on learning. Students would learn how to code in e-prime and implement a working memory task. This project would be conducted in-person and at remote sites. While the student will gain skills in conducting assessments, the results may also help the student better understand factors that influence student learning. Another project will train students in the exploration of factors that are associated with teacher satisfaction. This project would provide training to the student in survey research, and the collection of data at local and/or national teacher conferences. Relative to medical residents, a follow-up project is planned to explore factors that cause distrust among minority and uninsured patients when it comes to healthcare (Alpers, 2018). Another potential project for doctoral students is to explore aspects of cognition and health education. Still another planned project would be exploring vaccine hesitancies of minorities and the uninsured. There is evidence that vaccine hesitancy rates are higher in Florida and in minority populations (Malik, et al., 2020). FAU maintains two medical clinics that primarily serve minorities and uninsured. Working at the resident clinics, residents would learn to develop surveys to assess factors associated with vaccine hesitancies. Beyond training in survey research, the residents may gain a better understanding of patient vaccine hesitancies which could aid the resident in addressing the concerns with their patient base. To accommodate the study population, the data collection would be conducted at the resident clinics. Essentially, the laptops will enable me to enhance our capabilities to provide advanced field training in survey methodologies, as well as cognitive and behavioral research.

Resource Matching

No anticipated resource matching.

Implementing Organization

The implementing organization would be the College of Education.