Student Researchers Head to South Carolina in Mobile Research Laboratory

Had the words “Exploring Human Experience” not been painted on the sides, the Social Science Research Institute’s (SSRI) ResearchMobile might pass as a run-of-the-mill trailer. But unlike a typical trailer, the 37-foot mobile lab is decked out with soundproof cubicles equipped with computers, video cameras and equipment for measuring physiological responses to interview questions.

After numerous stops around the Triangle in the past year, the ResearchMobile will cross state lines for the first time Dec. 12 to help a team of student researchers interview South Carolina flood survivors. The 10 students, including two Master of Public Policy (MPP) candidates, will conduct interviews with residents of Columbia, Charleston and the rural communities around Lake Marion under the supervision of Nicholas School Assistant Professor Elizabeth Albright.

Alexandra Cooper, the SSRI’s associate director for education, said that while Albright had already determined a number of key sites for the team to “park” the ResearchMobile, the students would recruit the subjects upon arrival. The students will then work with Albright as part of an Education and Human Development Bass Connections project team in the spring semester to “clean” and process the data collected in the field.

Cooper said this project was exactly what she and others at the SSRI had in mind when they sought funding to develop the ResearchMobile.

“When we were trying to get financial support for [the ResearchMobile], one of the arguments we put forward was that it could be positioned in contexts like the aftermath of a natural disaster,” Cooper said. “The people who have lived through it are not in a position to come to a university to talk about their experiences, so researchers need to go to them.”

Read the rest of Ezgi Ustundag’s article in DukeToday , learn more about the project team and find out how to get involved with Bass Connections.