RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Initial Statement of Research Interest:
My research interests focus on classroom motivation with a particular emphasis on engaging marginalized youth. Drawing on qualitative methodologies and privilege/oppression theories, I plan to investigate how students from disadvantaged social-standing shape their adaptive and maladaptive behaviors for schooling.
Final Statement of Research Interest:
My research interest focuses on the factors that affect how queer youth function within their educational peer groups. I will examine how the use of social-networking technologies can facilitate the formation of positive social relationships for these marginalized students in the high school environment.
Changes in Research Interest:
When my doctoral journey began, I was interested in how to motivate and engage marginalized youth in order to improve academic success. As I researched my topic, I realized two important things: First, the topic was too broad. This made it difficult to appropriately address vital aspects of multiple marginalized groups. I needed to focus my research on a specific group of at-risk youth in order to effectively advocate for their needs. Second, I failed to explicitly mention the integration of technology army intended "tool-set". The final statement of research interest corrects these issues and represents the most recent iteration. I will continue to revise and modify this research interest over the course of my five-year doctoral program.
Summary of Experts:
Danah Boyd
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
Boyd's work informs my research interest through her writings on social networking and teen sociality:
Mary L. Gray
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
Gray's work informs my research interest through her writings on LGBTQ youth, gender identity & sexual orientation:
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
Corliss' work informs my research through her writings on medical risk factors associated with LGBTQ Youth:
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
- Social media
- Youth practices
- Tensions between public and private
- Social network sites
- Other intersections between technology and society.
Boyd's work informs my research interest through her writings on social networking and teen sociality:
- "Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media" (MacArthur w/ Digital Youth Team)
- "Taken Out of Context: American Teen Sociality in Networked Publics" (Boyd's dissertation)
- "Why Youth Heart Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life"
- "Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship" (with Nicole Ellison)
Mary L. Gray
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
- Intersections of new media, social movements, and cultural identity
- Social theory and ethnography of gender and sexuality
- Sociology of youth and public culture
Gray's work informs my research interest through her writings on LGBTQ youth, gender identity & sexual orientation:
- "Queer nation is dead/long live queer nation: The politics and poetics of social movement and media representation"
- "Negotiating identities/queering desires: Coming out online and the remediation of the coming-out story"
- "In Your Face: Stories from the lives of queer youth"
I selected this researcher on the basis of her areas of expertise:
- Sexual Behavior
- Homosexuality
- Bisexuality
- Minority Groups
- Gender Identity
Corliss' work informs my research through her writings on medical risk factors associated with LGBTQ Youth:
- "Childhood gender nonconformity: a risk indicator for childhood abuse and posttraumatic stress in youth"
- "High burden of homelessness among sexual-minority adolescents: findings from a representative Massachusetts high school sample"
- "Reproductive health screening disparities and sexual orientation in a cohort study of U.S. adolescent and young adult females"
- "The mediating effect of childhood abuse in sexual orientation disparities in tobacco and alcohol use during adolescence"
Annotated Bibliography
Review: Emotional Distress Among LGBT Youth: The Influence of Perceived Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation
Almeida, J., Johnson, R., Corliss, H., Molnar, B., Azrael, D. (2009) Emotional Distress among LGBT Youth: The Influence of Perceived Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 38(7): 1001-14. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s10964-009-9397-9
Review: Defining and Measuring Cyberbullying Within the Larger Context of Bullying Victimization
Ybarra, M., Boyd, D., Korchmaros, J., Oppenheim, J. (2012) Defining and Measuring Cyberbullying within the larger context of Bullying Victimization. Journal of Adolescent Health. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.031
Review: Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults
Ryan, C., Russell, S., Huebner, D., Diaz, R., Sanchez, J. (2010) Family Acceptance in Adolescent and the Health of LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 23(4). http://familyprojectsfsu.edu/publications
Review: Youth Empowerment and High School Gay-Straight Alliances
Russell, S. T., Muraco, A., Subramaniam, A., & Laub, C. (2009) Youth empowerment and high school gay-straight alliances. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(7): 891-903. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9382-8
Review: Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television
Morrison, E. G. (2010). Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(5), 650-665. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1080/00918361003712103
Review: Anti-Transgender Prejudice: A Structural Equation Model of Associated Constructs
Tebbe, E. N., & Moradi, B. (2012). Anti-transgender prejudice: A structural equation model of associated constructs. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 251-261. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu//10.1037/a0026990
Review: Measuring Multiple Minority Stress: The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale
Balsam, K., Molina, Y., Beadnell, B., Simoni, J., & Walters, K. (2011). Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. American Psychological Association 17(2), 163–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023244
Review: Biological Determinism and LGBT Tolerance; A Quantitative Exploration of Biopolitical Beliefs
Dunn, K. (2010). Biological Determinism and LGBT Tolerance: A Quantitative Exploration of Biopolitical Beliefs. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 34(3), 367-379. http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/852898534?accountid=12598
Review: The Impact of an LGBT Safe Zone Project on Campus Climate
Evans, N. J. (2002). The Impact of an LGBT Safe Zone Project on Campus Climate. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), 522-522. http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/195174951?accountid=12598
Review: An Academic Course that Teaches Heterosexual Students to be Allies to LGBT Communities
Ji, P., Du Bois, S.,N., & Finnessy, P. (2009). An academic course that teaches heterosexual students to be allies to LGBT communities: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 21(4), 402-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10538720802690001
Almeida, J., Johnson, R., Corliss, H., Molnar, B., Azrael, D. (2009) Emotional Distress among LGBT Youth: The Influence of Perceived Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 38(7): 1001-14. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1007/s10964-009-9397-9
Review: Defining and Measuring Cyberbullying Within the Larger Context of Bullying Victimization
Ybarra, M., Boyd, D., Korchmaros, J., Oppenheim, J. (2012) Defining and Measuring Cyberbullying within the larger context of Bullying Victimization. Journal of Adolescent Health. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.12.031
Review: Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults
Ryan, C., Russell, S., Huebner, D., Diaz, R., Sanchez, J. (2010) Family Acceptance in Adolescent and the Health of LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing 23(4). http://familyprojectsfsu.edu/publications
Review: Youth Empowerment and High School Gay-Straight Alliances
Russell, S. T., Muraco, A., Subramaniam, A., & Laub, C. (2009) Youth empowerment and high school gay-straight alliances. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 38(7): 891-903. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-008-9382-8
Review: Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television
Morrison, E. G. (2010). Transgender as Ingroup or Outgroup? Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Viewers Respond to a Transgender Character in Daytime Television. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(5), 650-665. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/10.1080/00918361003712103
Review: Anti-Transgender Prejudice: A Structural Equation Model of Associated Constructs
Tebbe, E. N., & Moradi, B. (2012). Anti-transgender prejudice: A structural equation model of associated constructs. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59(2), 251-261. http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.cl.msu.edu//10.1037/a0026990
Review: Measuring Multiple Minority Stress: The LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale
Balsam, K., Molina, Y., Beadnell, B., Simoni, J., & Walters, K. (2011). Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. American Psychological Association 17(2), 163–174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023244
Review: Biological Determinism and LGBT Tolerance; A Quantitative Exploration of Biopolitical Beliefs
Dunn, K. (2010). Biological Determinism and LGBT Tolerance: A Quantitative Exploration of Biopolitical Beliefs. The Western Journal of Black Studies, 34(3), 367-379. http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/852898534?accountid=12598
Review: The Impact of an LGBT Safe Zone Project on Campus Climate
Evans, N. J. (2002). The Impact of an LGBT Safe Zone Project on Campus Climate. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), 522-522. http://ezproxy.msu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/195174951?accountid=12598
Review: An Academic Course that Teaches Heterosexual Students to be Allies to LGBT Communities
Ji, P., Du Bois, S.,N., & Finnessy, P. (2009). An academic course that teaches heterosexual students to be allies to LGBT communities: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 21(4), 402-429. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10538720802690001
Exploring and Developing My Research Interest
- Read: One of the most important aspects of developing my research interest is educating myself on prior research. To that end, I will read a minimum of 2 peer-reviewed articles per week in my area of interest. Specifically, I'd like to focus in on research articles that discuss transgender issues in the high school setting. Even in the LGBTQ community, trans issues (and individuals) are commonly overlooked or even dismissed. These students are an integral part of the queer community and little research specifically addresses their unique needs and perspectives. This additional research base would strengthen my understanding of queer marginalization. I have found that the most effective tools to use in article selection are applicability to and/or focus on my research focus, publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and sufficient references and citations.
- Analyze: In order to advance my understanding, it's imperative to integrate ideas only after I've critically analyzed them. To reach this goal, I will complete a critique on any informational source I use to inform my research. Further, I will cross-reference informational sources to connect ideas and build a cohesive body of information in my mind.
- Write: One of the most important personal goals for my Ph.D. journey is to enrich the educational community by adding to our collective body of research. I want to know that I've made a difference in some small way. This requires being published in peer-reviewed journals. And that requires writing. Lots and lots of writing. To achieve this, I will write a minimum of 7,000 words per week.