Newswise — ITHACA, N.Y. – A New York City-based mobile communication lab is enabling researchers to diversify their pool of study participants to include those rarely surveyed and hardest hit by society’s problems.
Shoppers browsing at the farmer’s market in Staten Island, New York, recently found an unusual offering: Cornell University researchers who want to know what they think about the air pollution right in their own neighborhoods.
Over the course of the day, 70 Staten Islanders stepped up to what appeared to be a normal RV, where they were asked if they’d like to participate in a 20-minute survey in exchange for $20 in farmers market vouchers. The RV houses a mobile communication lab that is changing social sciences research at Cornell and beyond.
One of a handful in the country, the lab enables researchers to include people in socio-economic, racial and geographic groups who are not often involved in social science research.
“This lab really allows us to take research beyond the ivory tower,” said Neil Lewis Jr. ’13, assistant professor of communication in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “And it highlights a strength of Cornell as a place where any person can be in any study.”
The lab is specially fitted with eye-tracking equipment that enables researchers to trace the path of a person’s eye movement and measure how long their eyes rest on a particular spot on the computer screen, which tells them what the person is paying attention to.
Most psychophysiological research in higher education is done online or on campus with people most readily available to researchers: college students.
“If that’s all you study, it gives you a really narrow view of human behavior,” Lewis said.
In Staten Island, participants sat at computers inside the RV and viewed digital maps created by H. Oliver Gao, professor of civil and environmental engineering, showing the ebb and flow of air pollution on Staten Island and other boroughs in New York City at different times of day. With funding from Cornell’s David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, the researchers are hoping to understand whether the parts of the maps the participants pay attention to correlate with their environmental concerns and intentions to take a variety of environmentally friendly actions.
Perhaps most importantly, the study participants say they are grateful to be asked to share their opinions.
“In the Bronx, they said, ‘No one usually cares what we think,’” Lewis said. “For communities that are used to being unheard, it’s a huge statement for us to even show up; it shows them that their voices matter.”
Cornell University has dedicated television and audio studios available for media interviews supporting full HD, ISDN and web-based platforms. For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
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