Research Assitant Internship with the Handelslabbet, Blogpost #3

 Hej alla,

It’s been a hot second since you’ve read from me last but now I am back to give you my final update of the field study experience.

The last time you’ve heard from me, I have been struggling with a serious case of FOMOA (fear of missing out on an article) and have been tasked with the creation of my own research model and experimental guideline.
Going from there, I focussed on analyzing the research models and experimental guidelines of articles I read, filtered out the hypothesized relationships, and evaluated which connections were proven to be correlated and which weren't.
As I am a very visual person, it helped me a lot to actually draw onto those models (via Adobe Illustrator) and visually map out my thought process. Like this, I was able to see which hypotheses were proven, which scholars managed to prove similar relationships and which connections were proven to not exist or influence each other in a reversed way. Additionally, I was able to see, which connections weren’t hypothesized within this group of articles I evaluated. Furthermore, how trust is incorporated within the observed research models is done in a variety of ways. Seeing this, helped me to formulate and design my own research model by thinking about the connections that I am curious about, and that would help e-tailers gain insights into the cognitive and emotional processes influencing a customer's decision to purchase. I sketched out my research model on paper and then transferred it to adobe illustrator to be able to move around and test out different ideas.
Together with Jenny Balkow and her research team from the Handelslabbet, the research model was discussed and further refined. I was tasked to narrow it down and think about ways to operationalize my hypothesized connections within an experiment with the digital showroom. Our final meeting involved me presenting my idea and thought process and us further refining the model. This was the final product of my research assistant internship and could be tested within an experiment on a later stage.
To conclude, I can definitely say that this experience taught me a lot and gave me a new perspective on the work of a researcher within social sciences. I learned, that, even though no paint, fabric, or other material is involved, the work of researching is still a very creative process that requires curiosity, thinking out of the box, and analytical skills. It is safe to say that this time opened up a new perspective and sparked an interest in research in me.

So, if you are wondering whether a research assistant internship would be the right thing for you, I can tell you don’t be afraid to dive into it and try researching out even when coming from a practical background. You’ll learn a lot and gain a new understanding of academia and social sciences.