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Thomas Sigle Dr. Green Undergraduate Research December 13, 2012 Final Reflection The combination of research and taking a research course simultaneously helped me see a great return on my research experience. I had worked on my research project for a semester before starting the undergraduate research course. I found that taking the course while doing the research allowed me to appreciate the work I was doing more and gave me new models in which to analyze what I was doing. I had a great experience in the undergraduate research seminar. When I began the experimental research project I have been working on, I did not fully appreciate the work I was doing. I took on the project as a way to bulk up my resume and prepare myself to be a more competitive graduate school applicant. I thought the research was interesting, but I did not realize the depth of the work. The majority of my project was to send emails and record data. Research didnt seem nearly as interesting as reading the findings that professors produce in their papers. I hoped that Id soon be able to analyze the data I was collecting, and waited patiently. At the end of the last semester, I had preliminary data. It was very interesting, but I set the project down. I took the research back on when I began my undergraduate research seminar. We discussed a variety of topics. Some of the topics discussed in the course didnt have much to do with the research I was doing, but most of the readings did. As I read about different types of research and the implications of research, I began to find a new significance in the project I was picking back up. I realized that my research was much more than collecting data and analyzing

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the sets. The numbers represented people and the set represented a sad situation: discrimination. I also began to appreciate the leadership role that I was taking on. Though I was working under the guidance of Bryan Tomlin, I was responsible for all the research of San Diego and Los Angeles. I took my responsibility as an opportunity to make the project my own and really put in my best work. I have seen great returns on the research I have done. I developed a better understanding of the research project and the implications that research could potentially have. I grew to appreciate my project on a much larger level than I had when I was conducting the project without the supplemental class. One of the most memorable topics of discussion was ethics. I have taken a philosophy of ethics course at Loyola. The course was great and I felt as though I came out of it with a much hazier understanding of what ethics were; I think that actually was the point of the course. When evaluating ethics in this research course, I thought back to my previous class many times. I was able to build on my previous understanding, and apply my newly understood models to the research that I was conducting. Before taking the course, I thought nothing about the fact that I was using deception as a way to gather information from human subjects. After discussing ethics, I realized that this deception could potentially be problematic. I came to the conclusion that the deception was necessary and did not harm the subjects in any way. An email that expresses interest in an apartment will not, as I concluded, affect the recipient in any sort of distressful way. I was timid to use an argument about the ends justifying the means. Such arguments have been manipulated to horrendous extents. Instead, I understand the deception to be a necessary part in the examination of this type of discrimination. Asking people, regardless of how safe and private the circumstance, if they would prefer one race to another to rent an apartment from them would not work. People would almost certainly lie. Plus, what we were

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looking for was arguably beyond a state of consciousness. The results clearly displayed discriminatory preference, but it wasnt overwhelming. It could be that landlords were making this preferential choice without even realizing that they were doing it. Maybe that is the optimistic conclusion, but its sufficient to show that simply asking people if they would discriminate between tenants based on race would not work. Another topic that I have thought a lot about is community-based research. When I initially read about community-based research, I quickly dismissed it. I have been taught in college that research is a strict discipline that is to be undertaken by professionals. Communitybased research is quite the opposite. I have come to an appreciation for this style of research, but I find it difficult to imagine how such a method would actually work. This could be a function of the fact that I study economics. Now, economics is a topic widely discussed by the general public. People from all backgrounds seem to have some sort of economic solution to problems in America, and theyre convinced that its correct. I have studied economics from a scientific perspective, and this has drastically changed the way I understand economics. Taking economic research to the community and allowing them to contribute to and direct the research would be ridiculous. This is the manner in which I first analyzed community-based research. Once I removed the research method from my own field and applied it to different disciplines, I realized that it may hold merit. Im still very skeptical of such a research style, but I do understand that it could potentially work. How exactly it would function is still unknown to me, but it may not be lost of practicality. Another aspect of this course that I appreciated was the study of different research methods. As I stated in class, I have always been a big proponent of quantitative methods of research. Good research will strive to remove itself from subjectivity. One problem that I

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perceive in the case study methodology of research is that it allows too much room for a subjective conclusion. Any research, outside of pure mathematics, is going to have this problem. Though the problem will likely always be there, generalization allows some alleviating force to the issue. I have realized that this generalization is not always possible with certain disciplines. Some subjects of study require an in-depth analysis. Such an analysis surely isnt possible for a large group of people. Instead, the researcher must examine on a case-by-case basis. It is the responsibility of the researcher to acknowledge the possibility of subjectivity and do his or her best in making objective analyses. Overall, I did appreciate the opportunity to learn about a variety of styles. I was implementing a mixed method strategy. I used purely quantitative methods to decide how many emails, or trials, would need to be ran in order to get a statistically significant outcome. Subjectivity was introduced when deciding what sorts of responses constituted a positive or negative reaction to the initial email. I spoke with Dr. Tomlin a great deal in order to make sure that we were evaluating on a well-reasoned, scientific manner with each response. This research has given evidence of what I have personally seen throughout Chicago and helped with my own development and understanding of such issues. I grew up in Fresno, CA. The city itself has a variety of different cultures, but the portion that I knew best housed a very homogenous population. Most people looked and acted similarly. In college I moved to the California cities of Malibu and San Luis Obispo. These two cities were far more homogenous than Fresno. When I came to Chicago, I realized what diversity actually was. I held a job at Morgan Stanley and worked as a mentor to struggling high school youth in impoverished CPS schools. Morgan Stanley is an institution with many very wealthy employees. Its almost a paradoxical environment where money is the topic and concern of all conversations, but its not

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actually a concern. Wealth managers at Morgan Stanley are not worried about paying for groceries. The environment of the CPS schools I went to was much different. These students came from homes that did not have more than the bare minimum. The families were struggling to make ends meet. I wondered many times what was actually taking place. I could not figure out why the homogenous population at Morgan Stanley saw no limit to their accomplishments, but the students at these schools didnt even think a college education was a real possibility. I figured that there had to be something more to this picture. It didnt make sense. Some of the students I spoke with were very bright, but they didnt see themselves with the same potential that I saw in them. My research project helped to explain what was happening. I studied discriminatory preferences in the rental housing market. Now, just because a person is discriminated against when finding an apartment does not give adequate explanation as to why a child on the West Side doesnt believe that he or she has a shot at success. The problem is much more complicated than that. What my research does do, however, is show that there is a real problem. There actually is discrimination taking place, blatantly. Then I began to run with the findings. One simply cant argue that this is the only area that such a situation is taking place. Many more discriminatory preferences must be taking place. It cant just be housing. It could be taking place in the classroom, it could be taking place in university selection, it could be taking place in finding a job, it could be taking place in promotion selection, and the possibilities are endless. These spiraling questions have made me change my outlook on what types of policy may actually be effective. For example, providing minority scholarships will help students pay for school, but what happens after graduation. Maybe, theyre just hit with the same sort of discrimination. That is a sad state. I have personally grown a lot throughout this project. It is

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easy to dismiss a feeling or idea, but it becomes much more difficult to argue with clear data sets displaying such a tragedy. This research experience has been very beneficial to the development of my professional skills. I want to find a job in finance or economics. Both fields are very quantitative and require the ability to work with large data sets. In this research, I created a large, original data set. Also, research experience is very respectable when entering these types of fields. For example, economic consulting firms almost require that applicants have some research experience. I got an interview with Analysis Group. Analysis Group is one of the top economic consulting firms, and the recruit heavily out of the top universities. In Chicago, their target schools are usually University of Chicago and Northwestern University. My research experience was one of the main things that the firm asked me about during the interview. I cannot stress how important a research experience is if a person wants to go into consulting. Outside of economic consulting, the research experience has helped my resume and job applications for investment banks and other finance related positions. The course itself has also helped with my interviews. I interviewed for a credit analyst position at a local Chicago bank. During the interview, I was asked about leadership style. I referenced the difference between a transformative leader and a transactional leader. The study of the class gave me great talking points to answer questions. I actually was offered the position and will be starting with the firm next week. Along with professional development, this research experience has also strengthened my graduate school applications. I truly enjoy the educational experience. Education can open many doors and awards the student with a new understanding of the world around them. It is a profound experience. My number one goal was to get acceptance to attend Vanderbilt Universitys Master of Science in Finance program. I have worked diligently in many areas in

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order to strengthen my application. One such area was this research opportunity. During my interview, I was able to talk about the research I have done. The director of the program appreciated the work I had done, and I believe that this experience influenced their decision to offer me admittance and a scholarship. I know that I will be able to take the experience that I had doing research at Loyola and expand on it at Vanderbilt. Dr. Green was also a great resource to have as I wrote my essays for the application. He was more than willing to review them with me and was very helpful in the recommendations he made. The readings on leadership helped me find ways that I could apply them to my research project. Dr. Tomlin now lives in New York and the other research assistants work with different cities than I do. At first, I found it difficult to apply the leadership principles that were discussed in class. The first application I was able to find was more of a reflection of how I worked with Dr. Tomlin. During the first semester I worked on the research project, we gathered preliminary data that we were able to begin analysis on. I sat with Dr. Tomlin and we went through various variables that we could look at. He was very willing to hear my suggestions, and I believe that I was able to contribute in original ways. The research analysis was bettered through this process. I realized upon that reflection that Dr. Tomlin was much more of a transformational leader than he was a transactional leader. He worked with me and allowed me to voice my opinions throughout the project. I realized that I was taking part in another form of leadership as well. Again, my project was done in a very secluded manner. There werent people that I was leading. I was, however, leading the research in two cities. It was my job to continue to produce good work and make sure that the data I was collecting was well formed. This is a type of leadership. Research itself is a form of leadership. A leader takes a group into a new place or pushes them to achieve new goals. That is fundamentally research. Research looks for new ideas and

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produces new understandings of the world. I was in charge of this process for Los Angeles and San Diego. Though I may not have been leading people, I was certainly leading a charge for new knowledge and ideas. Leadership, I have found, takes many forms. Loyolas Jesuit mission statement emphasizes learning and justice, and these two goals are certainly found in my research project. The learning portion is quite obvious. As I have expressed above, I have learned a great deal about a variety of subjects. Such subjects include, but are not limited to, leadership, quantitative methods, research methodology, and ethics. I am coming out of this project a better academic. The pursuit of justice is also heavily involved with this research project. I began to research partly because of my curiosity as to why such large economic gaps exist. The findings of this research can be important to policy and how we, as a society, understand economic gaps between races. The results show that a lot of progress is still needed. They help shed light on why this injustice is taking place. I personally have never read of seen a study that looks at rental housing discrimination. The resulting discriminatory preferences that were found can help lawmakers make the market more equal. Economics shows that there are huge benefits to living in certain neighborhoods. Neighbors could make great connections that could actually help you advance in your career and personal pursuits. If certain races are kept out of these neighborhoods, they are not able to take advantage of potential opportunities. That is not socially just. This project will hopefully help eliminate that problem. I have enjoyed this project and the undergraduate research course. Taking the course while doing the research helped me gain a better understanding of the work that I was doing. I learned many things about different research strategies, leadership theory, and ethics. Though my research at Loyola is finished, I am certain that the experience will continue to show returns as I enter graduate school and eventually the professional job market.