My research examines socially-influenced, often religious meanings that people make in their lives, and their implications for physical and psychological health. As part of my next book project, which will look at a common perceptual bias and seek to explain the phenomenon and its variation across people and cultures. I have carried out 400 interviews thus far in Thailand, the UK, and the US, but I need to gather one or two more hundred. The focus of the work with the USOAR student will be to further develop, administer, and input these interviews, and discuss their interpretations and their integration in the broader work.
Have you ever had the experience where you learn a new word, or learn about a particular kind of car, and suddenly it seems like that word or car pops up everywhere? For some people it is a very significant sign of synchronicity and meaning, while for others it is barely registered at all. In this humanistic social science research project, we will explore why this common phenomenon happens with people, and what meanings they make of it. We will also seek to understand cultural variation in attention strategies (comparing US, UK, and Thai responses), and links to mental health, conspiracy theories, and the algorithmic uses of media. You will help to carry out interviews, conduct experiments, and administer surveys to add to the data set, and help to input and interpret the results as part of the project team. Through the work we will learn about perception and attention, and the role of mental expectations in experiencing the world around us. The project is part of a broader research agenda, which examines socially-influenced, often religious meanings that people make in their lives, and their implications for physical and psychological health.
I am looking for an engaged, curious student; no direct social science research experience is required, but if someone has had experience carrying out interviews that would be a plus for me.
This will be a good hands-on opportunity to develop skills in social science psychological and anthropological research. With this project you will:
- Become competent in interview-based empirical research collection
- Learn about research design and qualitative data interpretation
- Develop global cultural competency in thinking about medical and media effects in perception and attention
- Work with part of a team to analyze and interpret social science data