My Research Plan
I will be conducting one cycle of action research. I have decided not to implement and evaluate my action plan as my research for a couple of reasons, including that many of the impacts of SSS are not measurable and may not become evident until years into the future.
Therefore, in this single cycle of action research, I ideally would want data on (1) the formal and informal networks of current Harvard students and (2) the formal and informal networks of Harvard alumni. Because the SSS will be an informal collection of data from current Harvard students (through conversations and reflections), I will focus my action research outside of the SSS themselves and on alumni networks.
I will be conducting these “expert interviews” with Harvard Alumni who have graduated between 1 and 30 (or more) years ago and asking each a set of questions about their networks during their time at Harvard and their current networks. I aim to interview a total of 50 Harvard alumni. During this interview process, I will ask 6-8 of them to come into the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning to film their interviews. I will compile clips from these interviews to create a short video that tells the story of the importance of undergraduate social networks on post-graduate social and professional success.
Research Question | Data Collection |
What were the racial, gender, age, academic, and professional makeups of black Harvard students’ networks during their undergraduate studies? | I will ask each interviewee to draw their “ego-network” that consists of the eight people they had their most ‘important conversations with’ during their undergraduate years. |
How did the makeup of their undergraduate networks inform the makeup of their postgraduate networks? | I will ask each interviewee the following questions: (1) Do you find it easier or more difficult to make friends after college, (2) Do you consider your network to be more diverse or less diverse now than it was in college, and (3) Do you wish you did anything differently in your friendship or professional networks during your time at Harvard? |
As a current student, I hold an interesting positionality as a researcher. I will be younger than my interviewees. I will be friends with some of them (recent graduates) and strangers to others. I anticipate that my positionality as a black, young, Harvard student will make the interviews a bit more natural.
In regards to ethical conduct. It will be important for me to formally ask all my interviewees for permission with the consent form. I will need additional consent forms for those whom I will be filming if I publish their media.
I also want to note that these are the current research methods I plan to use, but I do not want to discount the potential value of data that comes from SSS participants, themselves. While conducting this action research with alumni and running SSS, I am also actively thinking about how data from SSS can be collected and analyzed over time. A regular survey asking students about how many new professors or friends they’ve connected with in the past week could be informative, but invasive. However, I do not want to miss any opportunity to collect valuable information that could positively contribute to the future of SSS at Harvard.