I am currently learning a lot about how research featuring human subjects is conducted in a lab, especially in “post” Covid times. My lab is preparing for a study that will have people in the HomeLab. I am getting to see how the lab prepares to run studies with in-person participants. There has been a lot of focus on cleaning the lab and making sure that the allotted funds for the study are being used efficiently. I have learned that when a company sponsors a study there can be different things that each person involved wants to gain from the experiment and the money has to be used accordingly. Due to my research project focus I have learned how words that I already know are applied in terms of research including attunement, moderation, and correlation.
Lately I have been learning how to code in R Studio which has also been my biggest challenge. I have never been very tech savvy and it is easy for me to get overwhelmed so I have had to take my time understanding R Studio and how to produce data in it. I do understand that knowing how to code is an extremely valuable task but that has not made learning it any easier.
My social identity plays a big role in my understanding of research. People of my socioeconomic background have a history of being either overlooked or taken advantage of when it comes to human based research. I try to stay conscious of how any research will apply differently to communities of color and if people of color are significantly included in specific research.