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阿尔图纳,爸爸. — When 十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校 student 泰勒弗莱 collaborated on a research project with other Penn State researchers, it didn’t just lead to a paper being published in the 美国刑事司法杂志 — it was also the springboard toward a career he never envisioned for himself.
弗莱, an undergraduate student majoring in criminal justice and minoring in psychology, 与内森·克鲁斯共同撰写了这篇文章, 刑事司法助理教授, 和尼古拉斯·罗兰, 社会学教授, 都在十大网投平台信誉排行榜阿尔图纳分校, 还有理查德·温德林, assistant professor of administration of justice at Penn State New Kensington.
那篇文章——”Firearm Ownership, Defensive Gun Usage, and Support for Gun Control: Does Knowledge Matter?” — measured public support for certain types of gun control while simultaneously assessing how knowledgeable participants were about gun legislation, 规定, and functioning based on data collected from a representative sample of 宾西法尼亚n residents.
The collaboration began when 弗莱 saw a poster based on Kruis’ previous research in his office and instantly connected to it. 作为一个猎人和枪支拥有者, 弗莱 has long had an interest in why individuals hold certain views on guns.
“当博士. Kruis offered me a position in a research lab,弗莱说, “I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and I knew this was the topic that I wanted to research more thoroughly.”
The paper was based on research conducted in the Integrated Social Science 研究 Lab, which currently enrolls a dozen undergraduates and involves former members of the lab now in careers or advanced graduate training and is co-directed with Rowland.
弗莱 was involved with each part of the project, though his major contributions were related to conceptualization and data collection. 在他们早期的研究中, the trio only used one measure of gun knowledge and one measure of support for gun control. When conceptualizing an extension of that work in the lab, they soon realized that those concepts were much more nuanced than they originally considered. 弗莱 helped develop gun knowledge tests and the measures of orientation toward gun control that were used in the final paper.
“我协助创建了一个试点研究, and I helped design survey questions for our current study, 清理和编码数据, 运行数据分析, and present the findings at multiple conferences,弗莱说. “Dr. 克鲁斯博士. Rowland made sure that I was involved in every step of the process, and I’m grateful for their guidance and the opportunities they gave me.”
According to 弗莱, those opportunities changed the trajectory of his life. Prior to joining the lab, he had no interest in research or graduate school. He intended to stay at Penn State only until he earned 60 credits — what is needed to apply to the 宾西法尼亚 State Police. 现在他有了不同的计划.
“I decided to complete my bachelor’s degree in criminal justice solely because of my experiences working in the research lab,弗莱说. “I am even planning on going to graduate school to continue my education. This whole experience has really changed my life.”
Both Rowland and Kruis said they have enjoyed guiding 弗莱 and witnessing his development.
“It’s been really rewarding watching him grow as a scholar and seeing his transition first-hand,克鲁斯说.
"Tyler is one of the longest standing undergraduates in the lab," adds Rowland. "This means not only does he work on research projects, but he is also instrumental in mentoring the newer students not yet accustomed to the weekly, seminar-style lab meetings and demonstrating, 通过例子, what it means to be a good citizen of the lab."
这个项目得到了一个 研究发展补助金 from the Office of 研究与参与 headed by Associate Dean for 研究 and Associate Professor of Architecture 科里Gracie-Griffin.