Professor Richard Lee’s research team will be taking on new undergraduate research assistants (UGRA) registering for PSY5993. UGRAs will be involved with research projects in the area of counseling psychology, cultural psychology, and prevention science. Current research studies include ethnic identity, discrimination, cultural socialization, health disparities, transnational adoption, and parenting. Many studies are focused on Asian American populations but other studies target other racial minority and international populations. Past UGRAs have performed literature searches, data collection, data entry and cleaning, and both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. UGRAs are expected to attend weekly research team meetings, work independently on assigned tasks, and take initiative in communicating with research team members. UGRAs are expected to work 6-8 hours/week in addition to attending meetings. Ideal candidates are motivated psychology students who are planning to apply to graduate programs.
Please contact [email protected] if interested in registering in PSY 5993: Directed Research and becoming an undergraduate research assistant. Be sure to write “DIRECTED RESEARCH” in the email subject heading. If you do not write “Directed Research” in the subject heading, you will not be considered for an RA position. Last, continue reading the below instructions.
If you are an undergraduate student or a community member who is interested in joining the research team, please complete the online RA application form. After completing this form, email [email protected].
Research volunteers – whether a UMN student or a community member (including students from other colleges/universities) – who are accepted into the lab also must complete this university community volunteer form.
Undergraduate students at the UMN must register for PSY5993: Directed Research. See more information about registration. The Undergraduate Research Contract for PSY5993 is now located online – this is the absolute best and most efficient method for students to complete PSY5993 registration. Psychology Advising staff will review the completed contracts and issue a permission number students to register for the correct section of PSY 5993.
Undergraduate students seeking an advisor for their senior major projects or honors thesis also must complete the above RA application form and schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Lee. Please read below for more details.
Major Project Information
Students who want to complete an empirical research study (not a literature review) for their Major Project assignment should have already worked in the research team for two consecutive semesters (summers do not count). In most cases, it means a student will have been actively involved in my team since their junior year (or earlier). Students in their final year (last one or two semesters) of school who are just joining the team are less likely to have the requisite research knowledge and skills to complete a research study for the Major Project. Instead, it is advised that the latter student will complete a literature review.
Honor Students
Honors students typically have worked in the research team during junior year as part of their honors practicum. This early research experience is the stepping stone to conducting empirical research using original (or existing) data for their honors thesis in the senior year. That is, these honors students will have my support to collect new data as they will have had sufficient time to develop their study ideas and submitted the research protocol for IRB approval. If an honor student has not done an honors practicum in my research team, then they will only be able to use existing data for their honors thesis.
UROP Grants
Undergraduate students who have worked in the research team for at least one semester (preferably two semesters) are encouraged to consider applying for an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant. Learn more about the UROP.
Student Expectations
- Prefer commitment to two consecutive semesters working in the research team, but will to take on students for only one semester if needed for graduation.
- Prefer completed coursework in research methods and data analysis (unless a student is a freshman/sophomore).
- Complete online IRB and HIPAA training. IMPORTANT – If you are submitting or managing IRB protocols (e.g., honors thesis, independent research, research coordinator), you must read and consult with the IRB Investigator Manual.
- Attend weekly 1-hour research lab meetings.
- Attend weekly 1-hour reading group meetings.
- 5-8 hours/week of lab work, including a group research project.
- A slide deck presentation of the group research project (if registered for PSY5993).
- Review the Security and Compliance Handbook
Working with your assigned supervior – Before joining the research team, students must read the Familee Lab RA Expectation document which was created by one of my graduate students. All students (with a few exceptions) will be assigned a graduate student who will directly supervise your research activities. Accordingly, students must understand their roles and responsibilities. Read this document now and refer back to it throughout your time in the team.
Please read this: Research Assistant Expectations Document
Attendance – Students must attend two weekly meetings: a 1-hour research mtg and a 1-hour reading group. If a student is unable to attend the research mtg, then it is mandatory to attend the reading group. If a student can attend the research mtg but is unable to attend the reading group, then the student must submit a 1-page SNAP response paper to the assigned readings.
SNAP 1-page response papers – Students who are not able to attend the reading group must submit 1-page, single-spaced SNAP response papers based on the readings. Do not write separate SNAP papers for each article. Instead, your response is based on an integration of the readings. SNAP refers to Summary and significance sentence, Novel idea or finding, Analysis of approach and method, Plan for improvement or next step. It should consist of 2-4 brief paragraphs corresponding to each of these points.
Group research project – Students will be assigned to teams of 3-4 undergraduate students to work on a group research project. One student will be assigned the team lead for each group. For this project, you will be given a data set (including a data/codebook with a list of all the variables) from which your team must identify a research question and develop study hypotheses. You will then develop a study design to best answer the hypotheses. At the end of the semester, your team will present this proposed project as a slide presentation to the rest of the lab. Teams that create well-designed studies will then have an opportunity to actually run the study the following semester (if so motivated). The group research project will be presented during the last two classes of the semester.
Research/reflection paper and digital story tips (when applicable) – The topic for this 5-10 page paper (or digital story) is based on your interest and what you have discussed/learned in the research mtgs or reading group. You should (a) pick a topic from readings or research work (e.g., ethnic identity, discrimination, cultural socialization, stigma), (b) review the literature on this topic (drawing initially from weekly readings and then conducting a more extensive literature review), (c) identify a thesis (e.g., ethnic identity protects against discrimination or cultural socialization affects child development), (d) present and critique relevant research (i.e., how well does published research support your thesis), and (e) draw some conclusions.
The paper must use APA-format (6th edition) and be double-spaced. The digital story format is flexible but you can find guidance on how to create one at this UMN Digital Story link here. You should avoid using colloquial language (e.g., “It is crazy to think…”). It is best to use simple sentences (i.e., subject, verb, predicate). Do not start sentences with a gerund (e.g., Eating ice cream makes my stomach ache). Each paragraph should contain only one main idea or thesis, followed by supporting evidence. Finally, there must be a reference page at the end (it does not count toward the page limit).
NEW in 2020 — You cannot self-plagiarize or submit a paper that you have submitted elsewhere for another course. You are allowed to submit a paper that builds off work submitted elsewhere, but it must not substantially overlap more than 30% as determined by Turnitin or other plagiarism detection software.
The paper will be due on the first day of exams at 12 noon. It will be graded using the G.O.A.L. grading rubric. G.O.A.L. stands for Grammar, Organization, Analysis, and Literature. Each of these four criteria will be weighted equally in the final paper grade.
Course Grading Rubric – Students registered for 5993 will be graded based on the following areas of performance: a) weekly attendance (25%), b) participation in lab discussions and research activities (25%), c) quality of work in research activities including the group project (25%), d) and final research/reflection paper (or group research presentation) (25%).
Final Note – Not all students who register for 5993 will be actively involved in research projects. Participation in specific lab research will depend on whether there is a need for an RA for a given study project. Students with prior involvement in the research team and who demonstrate motivation, interest, maturity and conscientious behavior will be given priority in selection.