Office Hours With Dr. Lacy

Name: Lauren Harper

Program: Ph.D. Counseling Psychology

Year In Program: 3rd

Where can people find you (website, social media, etc.): Facebook is your best bet! You can find me under Lauren Simone Harper

Words of advice/helpful information: I hope you either hear yourself or hear what you need and that this launches you closer to who you're destined to be.

Anything else you would like to add: Thank you Dr. Lacy for your steadfast commitment to Black women and the Black scholar community. It's been an honor to know you, work with you, and call you my sista-scholar!

First, figure out:

Topic: What is the general thing you want to talk about?

Problem: What issue will you research address?

Purpose: What will be the point of your research project and how does it connect to the problem?

 

Once you know those two things, then you can write your main research question. Some other things that you can do to figure out your first question:

 

1. Get all of the thoughts out of your head. Take a brain dump, either writing, talking to someone, or recording yourself. You want to say or write everything that you are thinking in relation to your topic. This will help get clear and to focus down on your topic.
2. Read existing literature. You have to know what has already been done regarding your topic. What have other people found? If there is nothing, what does that mean? WARNING: Please don't get stuck here. Using reading as an excuse will hinder your progress. [CONNECT ARTICLE]
3. What is your time frame and capacity with this project? How much time do you have? Is this a project that you can do alone or will you need others? There is more time to do more research projects, however, let's get this one done first.

 

Need help writing your research question? Share it in the comments or email me at [email protected] and I'll give you feedback on it.

Name: TJ   Program: College Student Affairs Administration at UGA   Year In Program: 2nd   Where can people find you (website, social media, etc.): I am TerahJay on any and all social media where I want to be found haha! (Twitter, IG) and theterahjay.com   Words of advice/helpful information: It's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. ― Benjamin Button, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button