Exploring disparities in an urban settings: Research students turned researchers

Introduction: Required research methods courses are often a dreaded part of public health, social work and other professional graduate degree curricula. In this presentation we discuss how we turned the members of a qualitative methods class into members of a research team in order to excite students about research and explore participant perspectives on disparities, health and the urban infrastructure. Methods: From day one, the students were engaged in collaboration with the professor, to identify a research topic, choose a data collection strategy (photo-elicitation), layout a study time-line, identify a target population, develop an interview guide and recruitment strategy, identify obstacles and ethical challenges and prepare an IRB application. Finally, the students analyzed data using Nvivo9 Software and assumed the role of co-authors and were invited to work on the manuscript being prepared for publication. Basically, every element of the syllabus was addressed through the process of planning and carrying out a research project. Each student investigator and the professor (n=18) recruited a study participant (graduate students from programs across the university), trained them in the appropriate and ethical use of photography in this context. Study participants were asked to define and explore the concept of disparity in their urban environment and were instructed to use their smart phones or digital cameras to document their exploration over 1 week. Using participant-generated photographs each member of the team conducted a photo-elicitation interview with a participant. Discussion: We will describe student satisfaction with this approach as well as study findings.