Research
Political Science & International Relations Department
Research Projects
Students can become involved in Valpo’s Community Research and Service Center in a variety of ways. Many of the projects are done as part of community-based learning built into courses. There also are paid research associate positions available, as well as unpaid and paid internships.
The responsibilities of a research associate include helping with designing studies, preparing questionnaires, developing and drawing samples, conducting surveys, coding and analyzing data, writing reports, and presenting the results of the research. Research associates have come from disciplines as varied as sociology, political science, education, social work, and communication.
Internships are often project-specific, single-semester activities undertaken for credit. Internship opportunities have included projects such as community mapping, neighborhood association development, community organizing, and studies of bias incidents in the region. Departments represented through internships include geography, education, German, English, communication, sociology, political science, business, economics, and others.
A study for the community foundations of Porter, Lake, and LaPorte Counties focusing on the effect of the recession on the operation of organizations across the region funded by these foundations. The data is used to assess and alter the funding strategies of these organizations.
This is our fifth year of involvement with the Michigan City Schools on this project. We provide quarterly and summer reports evaluating all the after school programs in Michigan City.
This is a study done for the Visiting Nursing Association (VNA) to determine the need for a youth bereavement center in Porter County. The data helped move the project forward and the bereavement center is already operating.
This is our third quality of life study for the City of Valparaiso. This year’s was a survey of 2,700 households in the city that asked residents to evaluate city services and other conditions. The results were presented formally to the City Council and the report is available on the city’s web page.
The school board did a series of focus groups to determine school district concerns, and we then did a survey of a sample of 3,000 households in the school district to determine the extent that the concerns uncovered in the focus groups were shared by the rest of the community. The data here was used to develop the school system’s strategic plan. The report is available on the Valparaiso Community School’s web page.
A study for the City of Hobart to test the feasibility of cooperating with the Valpo to Chicago bus and create either a stop in Hobart or a separate bus that would take residents to Chicago daily. This was also linked into similar studies that we have done for other places such as Valparaiso, Schneider, Cedar Lake, Highland, Crown Point, Lowell, Munster, and Winfield. These all were done as part of our partnership with the Regional Bus Authority (RBA).
For the Valparaiso University Career Center and as part of their grant, we surveyed Valpo alumni about their experiences with internships.
A study with the Times Media Company on attitudes towards regionalism and the Regional Development Authority. This was a survey of 3,500 households in Porter County. The results appeared in the Times on Nov. 14.
A questionnaire was designed on ethics for the City of Valparaiso to use to examine the commitment to ethical principles by employees of the city.
We are cooperating with the Valpo education department on a survey of principals who have had our students teach with them.