Stephen Thomas Ewing and Dr. Gawain Wells, Psychology
The Youth Outcome Questionnaire Self Report (YOQ S-R) is a new psychological measure for adolescents. It is designed to track how an adolescent feels that he or she may be changing in mental health treatment. In order to do that, we took a sample of adolescents from Provo High School who had never been in treatment. They completed a questionnaire at two different times about two weeks apart. In doing so, we are able to compare our “normal” data base with those who are receiving therapy. Therefore, we can establish norms for the psychometric characteristics of the instrument. The self-report version of the YOQ is being developed because many adolescents in treatment do not have a stable parent or guardian who can fill out the questionnaire for them.
Working with faculty member, Darren Hirsche, who teaches psychology at Provo High was a pleasure. In an effective manner, he integrated the purposes of this study into his lecture material. Moreover, in order to help us collect more data and minimize the attrition rate he offered a few bonus points to those who were willing to participate. Through this ORCA scholarship I learned to more effectively deal with Darren and to coordinate both of our schedules to further the research goals.
However, there were some glitches in achieving the research goals. I worked on this project with another student who was less than reliable. On short notice this student would become unavailable to collect data from the students at Provo High when he and Darren arranged for an agreed upon time, thus leaving Darren with more lecture time than he had planned on. This lack of responsibility made it difficult for me to earn the trust of Darren, and perturbed Darren somewhat.
In part because of this irresponsible behavior we were unable to collect sufficient data to merit presenting our findings or publishing them in a reputable journal. However, I am currently in the process of gathering data from Darren’s classes this semester, fall 2000. With the data collected last year coupled with the new data we hope to collect this semester we will likely be able to achieve statistical validation for our study.
Carrying out the research for this ORCA project has been a blessing. It has enabled me to see and experience more fully how difficult and challenging it is to carry out a research project from start to finish. I have appreciated the growth and insight that has come from dealing and working with Darren, the instructor at Provo High; the other student with whom I collected data; and Dr. Wells, my faculty mentor. He was more than patient and kind in the manner in which he helped tutor me and help me through this project. I look forward to helping him in his research endeavors for many years to come.