UROP: Project Salud Research Assistant

Seasonal role: 1/5/2024-5/15/2025 

Estimated pay: $14.00 per hour  

Company division: Institute for Engaged Learning  

Location type: On-site 

Academic year up to 10 hours each week  

Spanish Proficiency Preferred 

***Undergraduates Only***

UROP Program 

DUE is home to IEL and the CRL administering the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) in the academic year and summer. UROP provides funding support for undergraduate students to work with a mentor on real-world problems to gain research and scholarly skills that can be applied to their college coursework and future careers. 

Project summary: 

Project Salud 

We will be conducting interviews with English and Spanish-speaking Latine adolescents 13-17 years old and their parents on discrimination and mental health topics in order to better understand the facilitators and barriers to parental support in helping teens navigate racial-ethnic discrimination experiences. We will be analyzing these data, and we plan to use this information to co-create programs to support adolescent mental health and wellbeing. 

Specific tasks that the UROP student will complete:  

The student’s primary role will be to:

1. Analyze and summarize qualitative data findings from interviews
2. Work with Dr. Guerrero and others to integrate findings from survey data and interviews.
3. There may be an opportunity to carry out interviews with participants if additional interviews are needed.
4. For the interviews that were completed in Spanish, the bilingual student would help to confirm the Spanish transcription is accurate and the translation of the transcript to English is also accurate

Specific qualifications we desire the UROP candidate to have: 

This work would likely fit best for an undergraduate sophomore or junior who has a foundational understanding of key concepts and frameworks of public health, psychology, sociology, anthropology, or a related field. Proficiency in the Spanish language would be very beneficial, as parents who are interview participants are likely to prefer Spanish. However, this is not a strict requirement, and those without Spanish proficiency will be considered. 

Availability: 

There may be times when interviews will need to take place when participants are available, such as in the early evenings or on weekends. 

Learning objectives:  

In accordance with the IU Indianapolis Profiles of Learning for Undergraduate Success, experience in UROP positions will help students meet the learning outcomes below and become acquainted with the following profiles:  

Communicator  

Convey ideas effectively and ethically in oral, written, and visual forms across public, private, interpersonal, and team settings, using face-to-face and mediated channels  

Innovator 

Approach situations in original ways, pose solutions and encourage others to share their thoughts. Carry out and execute plans to completion and address complex research problems to make a difference within research and communities.  

Problem solver  

Make connections among ideas and experiences, gain analytical skills to evaluate current procedures and determine effectiveness through use of data and research.