Sociology and Statistics, '15 working with Professor Alexandra Killewald

Professor Killewald and I are investigating how men change their employment behavior when they get married and how these changes affect men’s wages. Our project uses data from a nationally representative panel survey which has followed respondents since 1979. I spent a summer at Harvard working on the project and then continued during the school year as an Undergraduate Research Scholar at the Institute for Quantitative Social Science.

I downloaded the data for our project, coded the analysis, and wrote the first draft of the methods and results sections for our paper. We will present the paper at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, and we are revising the draft to submit to a peer-reviewed journal. Through my work on the project, I have learned how to translate a theoretical question into a testable statistical model. I have also learned to deal with data problems such as missing values and to test our models for robustness to alternative specifications. By sending drafts back and forth with Professor Killewald, I have also learned how to write and revise a research paper so that it is clear, interesting, and thorough for a reader who may not be familiar with the research. In addition, Professor Killewald has advised me on my own independent projects and given me a taste of what graduate school in sociology might be like. Doing research has helped me to better understand the field of sociology, and it has introduced me to a thriving community of researchers in our department and beyond.