"From the Beginning"
IPR gives undergraduates unique, early start in research

Fall, 2009, Volume 31, Number 1

IPR Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants: (back) Stephan Bilharz, Matthew Boucher, Faith McAuliffe, IPR Director Fay Lomax Cook, and Jared Salisbury; (middle) Jonathan Eng, Miles McGinley, Lauren Troy, Rachel Park, and Manoj Budidha; (front) Pei Chen, IPR Summer Undergraduate Program Director Emma Adam, and Evelyn Carter.

Evelyn Carter was first exposed to the research process as a study participant—a requirement for her Introduction to Psychology class. Now a senior psychology major, Carter is running her own study of interracial interactions in the Social Perception & Communication Lab led by IPR social psychologist Jennifer Richeson.

“I’ve never put a whole study together before, but I oversaw this project from the beginning,” Carter said, describing her original study of how mental strain alters perception of subtle racial bias.

Coming in with some experience in coding and running simple studies, Carter saw IPR’s Summer Undergraduate Research Assistants Program as a chance to take her skills to the next level. She said the experience of coming up with a study—and seeing it through to the end—has given her extra confidence in applying to graduate school.

“Students gain a real advantage in their careers—whether in academia, social service, or other policy-related areas—when they are introduced to research early on in their education,” said Emma Adam, who directs the IPR program, which hosted a total of 25 undergraduates working with 23 IPR faculty members this year.

Many of the IPR summer undergraduate research assistants have little or no prior research experience, so the program is designed to lay out the basics and let students build their skills along the way. To help them get started, IPR graduate students conduct a three-day training on statistical methods and software at the beginning of the summer.

Senior Stephan Bilharz, a double-major in math and economics, already had some statistical training, but he learned a new software program and refined his coding and data modeling skills while working this summer on several projects with IPR Faculty Associate Daniel Diermeier, a Kellogg professor of managerial economics and decision sciences. For Diermeier’s research on the origin of “zero-sum bias”—or the “I lose if you win” attitude—in negotiations, Bilharz got to run a study for the very first time.

“I’ve had the opportunity to go into preschools and interact with subjects—it always amazed me that they were only 4 years old but had the concentration to figure this out,” Bilharz said.

Back in the office, Bilharz appreciated the chance to experiment with his own ideas—a key benefit to this type of research program, he said.

“In my experience, you get a lot of freedom in modeling the data,” Bilharz said. “It requires a lot of independence and initiative. It’s a great skill set.”

For more information, see www.northwestern.edu/ipr/ugradresearch.html.