Loyola University Chicago

Between 2- 6 undergraduate students participate on our research team each semester. Many stay for multiple semesters – which we take to be a good sign! As an undergraduate research student, you may expect:

Ten hours per week of work in the Lab. This commitment includes time spent reading, transcribing and coding, and attending Lab meetings.

Work with graduate and other undergraduate students. Over the course of the semester, undergraduate assistants will have the opportunity to work closely with one or more graduate and undergraduate students on Lab projects

Experience with one or more behavioral coding systems. We videotape and audiotape our research participants. In addition to transcription, undergraduate research assistants become involved in coding behaviors of interest.

Learn new computer software and hardware. We gather data on video and audio equipment, and then use special transcription (e.g., CLAN) and coding programs (e.g., Observer) to analyze the data. Students learn to use these programs; they also become involved in converting digital videotape to DVD format for coding.

Watch cute kids! Either by helping us with data collection (off-site), or observing recordings of our participants (in the lab), our research assistants have the opportunity to see some really cute kids engaged in a range of activities with their parents. These include observations of mother-child dyads engaged in camping activity that we bring to families homes, as well as recordings of caregiver-child interactions at the Chicago Children’s Museum.

Students may participate on our research team for credit hours. There are several options: Psych 397, Psych 399, and Honors Research. We always welcome volunteers. For further information on joining the work of our research team, please contact Dr. Haden.