Every week, our Youth Climate Corps fellows spend a day at Northeastern University to learn about doing social science research on environmental justice.
Professor Laura Kuhl (Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and International Affairs) and Professor Sara Constantino (Assistant Professor of Psychology and Public Policy) at Northeastern University lead these learning sessions.
The goals of these social science learning sessions are:
- Gain familiarity with the concept of environmental justice and reflect on how it applies to East Boston
- Recognize and be able to communicate to the general public about key topics related to energy justice including the relationship between energy and climate change, energy transitions, and energy efficiency
- Understand the role of public policy and government programs in supporting energy transitionsÂ
- Gain familiarity with key concepts in social science research design, including developing a research question, selecting appropriate methods, and sampling strategies and be able to identify pros and cons of different approaches
- Recognize ethical considerations for human subjects research and reflect on how to design an ethical survey
The fellows learn about different sources of energy – both renewable and non-renewable, and how energy is produced and consumed locally and globally.
They learn about climate change, and programs that the City of Boston offers to its community members to collectively reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and mitigate climate change, such as Community Choice Electricity and Mass Save.
Although these programs provide incentives for easy and smooth introductions, they are still not widely adopted by the residents. Therefore, over the summer, the fellows will conduct social science research to understand what are the barriers for residents in East Boston to introduce these programs.
Currently, the fellows are learning about various social science research methods, such as conducting survey, individual interview and focus group. They work together to design survey questions and interview questions, design flyers to advertise their research study to residents, and create protocols to visit various neighborhoods to collect surveys and recruit interview participants.
Laura and Sara are creative about designing different learning activities and making the learning interactive. The fellows frequently work in groups to make sense of the complex topic of evironmental justice and their contribution to create a just energy future.
We will provide updates in future blogs on the exciting social science research the fellows embark on. Please stay tuned!