School: Summit K-12
City: Seattle, WA
Grades taught:  7-8 (Middle School Science)

Principle Investigator: Jeanette Norris, Ph.D.
Department: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute
Institution: University of Washington

Project Description
The Norris Lab is currently working on the first stages of Project WIN. Project WIN is a series of experiments that will investigate women’s negotiation of condom use as well as their decision to have unprotected sex in relation to alcohol consumption, alcohol expectancies, and situational factors such as the woman’s relationship with the male and her knowledge of the male’s sexual history. In the experiment, women between the ages of 18-35 will participate in an experimental session in which they will read a story depicting a sexual encounter with a man and answer questions. Subjects between the ages of 21-35 will be randomly assigned to an alcohol condition of either a .04 BAL, .08 BAL, control condition in which no alcohol is administered, or a placebo condition in which they believe they have a .04 BAL but no alcohol was actually administered. Other variables that will be manipulated are the type of relationship the woman has with the man in the story (new, established, or disrupted) and her knowledge of his sexual history (unknown history, known safe history, or known risky history). The subjects between the ages of 18-20 will participate in the same experimental conditions; however, they will not consume any alcohol. This group of participants will be told in the story that they are drinking alcohol and will then be asked questions to measure the effect of alcohol expectancies (how they think they would behave while intoxicated).

The Norris Lab recently conducted 5 focus group sessions of women between the ages of 18-35 in which discussion pertained to women and social relationships with men. The sessions were taped and transcribed with the intention of using the qualitative data to refine the experimental story and the dependant measures. I was given the opportunity to attend a session involving 8 participants between the ages of 18-20 and to analyze the session. Once the tape of the session was transcribed, I used a Long Table Approach of analyzing the data and creating a summary of the themes expressed by the participants. This summary was then used in conjunction with the other 4 focus group summaries to help the Norris Lab create the experimental story. The focus group summaries will also be used to construct the dependant measures.

My time spent in the Norris Lab has provided a unique opportunity for me to see the intricacies of how studies with human subjects are conducted. Additionally, I have been able to experience the process of working with qualitative data and evaluating it to generate conclusions. I have enjoyed seeing the implementation of the scientific method on studies investigating human behavior and anticipate incorporating more of such studies in my classroom, as they will be inherently applicable to the students’ lives.

Acknowledgements
Thank you to the entire Norris Lab for making my summer research experience interesting and enjoyable. Special thanks to Jeanette and Tatiana for taking their time to guide me through such a valuable learning experience.