Observational Research

1. Define key variables.

1. Create an operational definition (i.e., a clear description of exactly what a researcher means by a concept) of homesickness.
   1. Homesickness is the distress and functional impairment caused by an actual or anticipated separation from home and people and things you’re familiar with. (http://wellbeing.rice.edu/homesickness/)

2. Lead participant through informed consent, which is a brief description of the research and a sense of the procedure.

1. Inform participant that they will be asked to complete several questionnaires and then will be asked to allow researchers to look at their dorm room.

3. Give participant a packet that includes the homesickness scale (Figure 1) and several other questionnaires.

Figure 1. Homesickness Scale. This questionnaire was adapted from Archer et al.¹

1. The extra questionnaires serve as distractors so the participant does not know the true purpose of the study.
2. Have participants fill out the scales, with extra attention paid to the homesickness scale.

4. Have two observers visit participant in his or her dorm room to log observations of homesickness.

1. These two observers are different from the researcher who administered the surveys so that no bias is present from the survey results.
2. Observers ask the participant for permission to look around the room.
3. Observers look for evidence of homesickness, which includes: pictures of parents, family, friends from home; clothing from their high school vs. college; high school yearbook; and a low presence of university logos/paraphernalia.  Observers log these observations on their clipboards.
   1. Ask participant to open drawers/closets and to clarify, for observers, who appears in pictures.

5. Debrief.

1. Explain that the true nature of the study is to determine if homesickness is evident by looking at a student’s dorm room. Tell participants that the surveys, other than the homesickness scale, served as distractors in the research so that they would not know what the observers were looking for in their dorm rooms.
2. Remediate risk by referring participant to the counseling center if they are experiencing any homesickness.

6. Analyze the data.

1.  Score the homesickness scale survey completed by participants.
2. Observers discuss/review their notes and then score participants on a 1-7 scale (ranging from ‘not at all homesick’ to ‘extremely homesick’).
   1. These same two observers are used to observe all participants’ dorm rooms to ensure that the scoring is consistent.