Andrew Moore, ORCA Scholarship Recipient 2000

I received an ORCA award in December of 1999. At the time, my proposal dealt with family dynamic influences on EEG neurofeedback treatement of adolescents with ADHD. This was a multidisciplinary effort, and, to my knowledge, research of this sort had not been conducted before. Though I felt a genuine excitement at the beginning, I soon realized that I had bitten off a coordination and research effort bigger than I could chew. I had to rely on a local psychologist that I was working with for help in recruiting patients, as well as for use of his facilities and equipment, and I soon realized that he had become disinterested in the project and was not willing to further pursue collaborating with me. The final obstacle in completing the project was that my thesis advisor, Rosalie Pratt, on whom I was heavily relying for support and direction, experience kidney failure, and became unable to continue advising me on the project. Dr. Pratt was undoubtedly the support that I needed to overcome the blow from the psychologist with whom I was working. I therefore felt that I was paralyzed in my efforts and began talking with the ORCA office in pursuit of another project.

Though I felt at the time that this experience represented a failure, I have since learned some very important things about research. For one thing, there is a delicate balance between “trailblazing” and walking the beaten path in research. Trail-blazing is not something that I would generally recommend for entry-level research. Rather, I would recommend starting off on the beaten path, led by a trusted mentor, who will take the learner by the hand, showing him the methods and tricks of the trade. After the learner feels some semblance of confidence in what he is doing, it is then appropriate to venture. What I tried to do, to some degree or other, in all of these projects that I started but did not finish, was trail-blaze without any guidance when I reached obstacles in my path. Though doing research in areas that has never been done before can initially be exciting, it is easy to get discouraged when you run up against obstacles and have no one to guide you through them. If I were to apply for another research grant, I would first want to do research in an area where research had been done, with a willing mentor. After learning the research methods appropriate to that area of study and gaining a realistic idea of what can and cannot be done, I would then branch out.

After Dr. Pratt came down with kidney failure, I found another project that peaked my interest. Tim Heaton and Renata Forste from the Sociology department allowed me to be a research assistant on a project that they were carrying out in South America. My understanding when committing to the project was that they would guide me through the research process so that I could provide something valuable to their project, something that they wanted me to provide.

After several months of familiarizing myself with the project, I realized that they were under the impression that I would pick a project that on my own, for my own interest. Again, I found myself trailblazing without a guide. I lost all desire to work on the project, because I realized that, once again, I was over my head. I knew almost nothing of sociology, demographics, and international development issues, and I knew, or at least strongly believed, that I would not be able to complete anything of value without someone willing to take me by the hand and walk me through everything. I felt discouraged and without the support that I felt I needed at that time to continue working. My involvement in the Heaton/Forste project was by no means fruitless, however. Through my involvement with these international development issues, I ended up doing a summer internship with an NGO called HELP international. This trip turned out to be a life-changing experience in which my career direction has been very much shaped. Because of this experience, I am now interested in obtaining a masters of public health degree in international health.

In summary, I have learned much about research through my experience with the ORCA projects I undertook. I did not necessarily learn the things that I initially imagined I would learn, but I learned how to be realistic in approaching research.