Francesca Smith

Sociology, '14 working with Professor Bruce Western

During my senior year I’ve been working on Professor Bruce Western’s Boston Reentry Study research team, which aims to study the transition from prison to community by collecting data on the experiences of former Massachusetts state prisoners. My role on the team is to work as a translator and interpreter, helping other researchers communicate with Spanish-speaking respondents. This means that I translate documents for the study, but also help conduct in-person interviews with respondents. I also occasionally attend research team meetings where I learn about the project’s ongoing progress. It has been so interesting learning about this large-scale and collaborative approach to research, and I have really enjoyed getting to know different members of the research team (such as sociology graduate students and full-time researchers) during our rides to interviewees’ homes! Also, criminal justice and incarceration is a topic that I am interested in but never got the chance to take a class on, so working on this study has been a great way to explore a topic in sociology that is different from my own area of focus.

My experience working on the Boston Reentry Study team has also very helpful for my own independent research process as a senior thesis writer in the department. Working with the study’s interview guides and conducting interviews with experienced researchers, I learned strategies that I could apply to my own project. Also, my thesis adviser is a member of this research team, and it has been great to further connect with and learn from her by working together in a different capacity. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend the experience of working as a research assistant in the sociology department!