Aili Q
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Southern California (USC)
Expertise
Social Psychology, Psychology Research Methods, Statistics
Bio
Hi there! My name is Aili Qiao, but you can call me Alice. I'm a social psycholosit by day, and a serious-casual gamer by night. My primary research efforts are in understanding goal-oriented social decision-making; in other words, I spend my days asking "why do people do *that*?" Then, I come up with hypotheses, run research studies, collect and analyze data, and present findings to whoever is willing to listen (mostly at national conferences and in academic journals). Recently, my research focuses on investigating how humans respond to experiences of social rejection. In the past, I've looked at how people judge self-defense actions, as well as what makes people swipe a certain way on dating apps. Outside of academia, you can find me playing video games, hanging out with my cats and succulents, writing songs and poetry, as well as baking delicious sweets!Project ideas
The Proposal
Do you have a vague research idea but have no clue where to start? Then this is the project for you! By working on a research proposal, you'll learn how to define your research questions, pick the best research methodology, and learn some cool stats to answer those questions. Together, we'll discuss the challenges your research project may face, pros/cons of your methods, and the potential significance of your findings. At the end of this project, you'll have a "research proposal" that should convince any reader of the importance of your project (and hope that they'll agree to fund your research)!
The Study
Do you have the perfect research questions and a clear sense of how you want to go about answering them? Then let's do the study together! By conducting a psychology study, you'll put together a research plan, carry it out over a period of time, and learn how to synthesize the data. Together, we'll put your research skills to test, discuss extensively the ethics of psychology research, and take data-analysis step-by-step. At the end of this project, you'll have completed a research study, and earn the life-long bragging rights among family and friends!
The Write-Up
So, you conducted the study and collected the data. Now what? Well, it's time to put your findings into writing! By writing a research report, you'll learn to clearly outline your methods, understand how to present data, and talk about the significance of your findings. Together, we'll break down the structure of a good research report, work on the manuscript iteratively, and discuss the nuances of scientific writing. At the end of this project, you'll have a copy of your research report! Whether it be academic (like a peer-reviewed paper) or general (like a blog post).
The Literature Review
You wanna learn more about existing research in the field of your choice? I got you. Whether it is to find patterns in past empirical findings, summarize cool theories in a field you like, or lowkey diss the methods used by past researchers, doing an extensive review of the existing literature is the way to go! You'll find research papers, read them critically, and synthesize what you've found. Together, we'll go through the criteria of a "good" research paper, the ways to go about obtaining research papers, and talk about the findings you come across. Choose this project if you're down to read a lot and want to feel like an utter expert on a topic!
Or, if you're open to one of my research interests...
I'm interested in anything that has to do with social decision-making. I've worked on dating-app behavior, jury decision-making on criminal cases, and in-game player social behavior. We can find a cool project for you along those lines!