Name: Karli Southward
Major: Social Work
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Abilene, TX
Mentor: Dr. Stephen Baldridge, Social Work
What I Study: Beginning last spring our research team began to compile a community assessment over a local Head Start program, through the course of this assessment we discovered that this school has a severe absenteeism problem. After meeting with various staff members on this campus and through deeper research, we decided to create an intervention strategy that is focused on behavior modification. Over the summer and this semester we have worked closely with school personnel to design a program that will be implemented in the spring of 2014 that will focus on behavior modification, which will be geared towards the parents of the students at this school.
Why I do research: I originally decided to go into research to get the experience of this process. In the profession of social is definitely a benefit to have done some form of research during your education. That was what I had in mind when we took on this project last spring, but over this semester as our intervention strategy started to take shape, my views on research began to change. Now I see myself wanting to do research because it has the ability to improve a program that has gaps in its services. At times it can be boring and challenging, but it’s encouraging to know that in the end we could make a difference in program that is helping so many families.
Awards: 2013 Undergraduate Researcher of the Year Finalist