Personal Contributions to Truth Initiative

As I begin my ninth week of my internship, I would like to reflect on my personal contributions to Truth Initiative. I have two tasks that I perform on a daily basis: filtering through the message inbox and helping with the organization and management of incentive payments for study participants. In addition, my supervisor asked me to come up with my own personal project. I will be analyzing the relationship among COVID-19 and various aspects of vaping. As this project is still in its initial stage, I do not have additional details about it at this point in time. My supervisor told me that this examination will most likely be used for internal purposes.

Another part of my job involves study participant communication. This means that if study participants do not take their surveys on their own time, I make follow-up calls to try and get these individuals to take the survey with me over the phone. This responsibility definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone as I find it extremely uncomfortable to cold call; however, with each call I make, I have found that some of my nerves dissipate. At the end of last week, I made the final calls for one of Truth Initiative’s studies’ that has been going on for a couple years now. The data collection process spanned over 15 months, but the research process itself involves more than just data collection. The study team proposed their idea and waited grant approval as well as IRB approval.

Beginning next week, I will assist with another round of data collection for a different study. My obligations include setting up the reminders for study participants to take their surveys as well as study participant communication. These calls will operate the same way as the previous study I assisted with. By making these calls, I not only help collect data for the study, but also, I help free up time on my supervisor’s busy schedule as well as the full-time research assistant’s schedule. In essence, they do not need to worry about calling study participants, and they can devote their time to other tasks that I may not have the knowledge or experience to assist with. I have really enjoyed my time at Truth Initiative thus far and I look forward to what’s to come in my last four weeks!