User:SShearer

About Me

Hello! I am Sydney Shearer, a rising senior from Juniata College in central Pennsylvania. I am working towards a double major in Data Science (concentration in Psychology) and Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. During the summer of 2021, I am participating in an REU at Marquette University, working on research concerned with Preventing Postpartum Mental Health Problems with Dr. Sabirat Rubya.

Project Description

(From Marquette REU Project Description)

"Postpartum mood disorders represent a major public health issue in the USA affecting between 10% and 20% of mothers. Pregnancy and stressors related to caring for a newborn may increase the risk of poor mental health among women, which in turn may have serious detrimental effects on the health and well-being of the mother and her child. Approximately 1 in 7 women suffer from postpartum depression. The negative effects of postpartum depression on child growth and development, both immediate and long lasting, include impaired attachment, behavior problems, social and cognitive limitations, and low self-esteem. While many studies have been conducted on the prevalence, risk factors and successful treatment rates of it, very few studies have focused on the role of technology to address and meet the mental health needs during postpartum. The goal of this study is to develop a better understanding of maternal postpartum mental health and to design mHealth technology that they will be able to use for assessing and dealing with their mental health problems. Students on this project will conduct interviews and surveys on new mothers to understand their mental health needs and strategies for help-seeking. They may also have the opportunity to develop and prototype new system design ideas for improving postpartum mental health and wellbeing based on research findings."

Work Log

Week 1

Tuesday 6/1

• Attend REU Orientation (1.5 hours)
• Attend Mini Data Science Bootcamp (4 hours)
• Begin reading papers provided by Dr. Rubya (1.5 hours)

Wednesday 6/2

• Continue Mini Data Science Bootcamp (6 hours)
• Update wiki page (0.5 hours)

Thursday 6/3

• Continue reading papers provided by Dr. Rubya (2 hours)
• Attend Dr. Brylow's talk on Good Research Practices (1 hour)
• Meet with Dr. Rubya for introductions and to create a research plan for the summer (1 hour)
• Update wiki page (0.5 hours)
• Begin keyword searches on Google Scholar (1 hour)

Friday 6/4

• Gain access to databases through Marquette VPN (1 hour)
• Attempt various keyword searches for literature across databases (3.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Week 2

Monday 6/7

• Attend Responsible Conduct of Research Training (5 hours)
• Begin to narrow down found literature (2.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Tuesday 6/8

• Continue various keyword searches for literature across databases (2 hours)
• Continue to narrow down found literature (2 hours)
• Compile notes from previously read papers (0.5 hours)
• Review references from previously read papers (1 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Wednesday 6/9

• Begin online portion of Responsible Conduct of Research Training (5.5 hours)
• Attend REU Professional Event covering Technical Writing (1 hour)
• Update wiki page, prepare schedule for tomorrow's meeting, and reflect (0.5 hours)

Thursday 6/10

• Complete online portion of Responsible Conduct of Research Training (5 hours)
• Meet with Dr. Rubya (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)
• Attempted to continue keyword searches but faced difficulty with Marquette VPN (0.5 hours)

Friday 6/11

• Continue various keyword searches for literature across databases and begin filling out paperwork related to systematic literature review (4 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Week 3

Monday 6/14

• Continue various keyword searches for literature across databases and filling out paperwork related to systematic literature review (5.5 hours)
• Read one paper (Doherty et al. 2019) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (1.5 hour)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Tuesday 6/15

• Continue filtering through literature and filling out paperwork related to systematic literature review (5 hours)
• Read one paper (Zuccolo et al. 2021) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (1.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Wednesday 6/16

• Continue filtering through literature and filling out paperwork related to systematic literature review (2.5 hours)
• Read two papers (Feldman et al. and Barry et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (2.75 hours)
• Attend REU Professional Event -- Student Check Ins & Research Presentation (0.5 hours)
• Redo RCR training module 2 (1 hour)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Thursday 6/17

• Prepare for meeting and meet with Dr. Rubya, organize materials post-meeting (1.75 hours)
• Finalize paperwork related to systematic literature review (2.5 hours)
• Prepare social media post with Kirsten Boeh (0.5 hours)
• Search Google for online perinatal mental health communities (1 hour)
• Begin creating slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (0.75 hours)
• Read papers (Gao et al.; not relevant) (King et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (1 hour)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Friday 6/18

• Read three papers (Gui et al., Wang et al., and Fealy et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (3.75 hours)
• Perform a Google Scholar search for related literature (0.5 hours)
• Perform Google search for online communities and resources, review materials found during search (1 hour)
• Browse website related to research-based mental health apps (0.5 hours)
• Find relevant statistics through trustworthy organizations (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect, prepare schedule for next week (0.75 hours)

Saturday 6/19

• Began reading paper found during systematic literature review before experiencing internet outage (0.5 hours)

Week 4

Monday 6/21

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Finish reading paper (Haga et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (1 hour)
• Finalize search for relevant statistics (0.75 hours)
• Work on slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (1.5 hours)
• Read three papers (Maryame et al., Allen et al., and Lennard et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (3.5 hours)
• Reply to relevant emails (0.25 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Tuesday 6/22

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Read six papers (Carneiro et al., Saha et al., Lara-Cinosomo et al., Osma et al., Seshu et al., and Sprenger et al) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (6.25 hours)
• Work on slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (0.75 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Wednesday 6/23

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Read four papers (Hantsoo et al., Loughnan et al., La Porte et al., and Li et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (3.25 hours)
• Work on slides and practice for 6/30 Mini Presentation (2.75 hours)
• Attend REU Professional Event -- Student Check Ins and Research Presentation (0.75 hours)
• Prepare for meeting tomorrow with Dr. Rubya (0.25 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Thursday 6/24

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Read six papers (Nair et al., Haga et al., Jiao et al., Ayers et al., and two O'Mahen et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (5.5 hours)
• Practice slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (0.75 hours)
• Prepare for meeting before being informed it is rescheduled for tomorrow (0.25 hours)
• Begin transferring questions from paper summaries to interview protocol and organizing (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page, meeting agenda (as meeting was pushed to tomorrow), and reflect (0.5 hours)

Friday 6/25

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Read two papers (Forsell et al. and Ramphos et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (2 hours)
• Practice and revise slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (1.5 hours)
• Continue organizing questions in interview protocol (0.5 hours)
• Prepare for and meet with Dr. Rubya (pushed from yesterday) (1 hour)
• Begin adding information to new spreadsheet about methods, participants, etc (1.5 hours)
• Review online communities currently used by perinatal women (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Week 5

Monday 6/28

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Finalize and practice slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (2 hours)
• Answer emails (0.25 hours)
• Attend REU Professional Event -- Good Technical Presentation Skills (0.75 hours)
• Continue adding information to new spreadsheet about methods, participants, etc (4 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Tuesday 6/29

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Practice slides for 6/30 Mini Presentation (1.25 hours)
• Review communities for potential web scraping (0.5 hours)
• Read one paper (Kalmbach et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (1.75 hours)
• Read three papers (De Choudhury et al., Evans et al., and Andalibi et al.) about scraping data from online communities (4.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Wednesday 6/30

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Final practice for today's Mini Presentation (0.5 hours)
• Attend Mini Presentations (2.5 hours)
• Prepare for tomorrow's meeting with Dr. Rubya (0.5 hours)
• Read one paper (Moore et al.) about scraping data from online communities (1.25 hours)
• Begin reading Sockol; realize not relevant to SLR (0.5 hours)
• Read two papers (Fonseca et al. and Jannati et al.) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (2 hours)
• Update literature review spreadsheet with years (0.25 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Thursday 7/1

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Watch videos sent from Dr. Rubya about research ethics and how to read a research paper (2.5 hours)
• Prepare for and meet with Dr. Rubya (1.25 hours)
• Read through papers showing how to write a systematic literature review paper (1 hour)
• Look into PRISMA guidelines; begin brainstorming questions and email about questions (1 hour)
• Begin writing methods section of paper (1.25 hours)
• Update spreadsheet with more information (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Friday 7/2

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Continue writing methods section of paper (1.25 hours)
• Update spreadsheet with more information (1.75 hours)
• Read forum posts on online PPD communities (1 hour)
• Attend Social & Ethical Computing Lab meeting (0.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Week 6

Tuesday 7/6

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Read forum posts on online PPD communities (0.5 hours)
• Read three papers (Hanach et al., Fonseca et al., and Chae & Kim) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (3.75 hours)
• Attend Dr. Zimmer's talk about data ethics (0.75 hours)
• Attend doctoral defense through invitation of Dr. Brylow (1.5 hours)
• Continue writing methods section of paper and begin outlining other sections (1.5 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Wednesday 7/7

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Continue working on paper (1.5 hour)
• Read four papers (Hussain-Shamsy et al., Shorey et al., Milgrom et al., and Bright et al.) found during systematic literature review (two other papers began but were not relevant) and fill out related paperwork (5 hours)
• Attend REU Professional Event - Creating Posters (1.25 hours)
• Prepare for tomorrow's meeting with Dr. Rubya (0.25 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Thursday 7/8

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Continue working on paper (0.5 hours)
• Read three papers (Loughnan et al., Hantsoo et al., and Shorey & Ng) found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork (3.75 hours)
• Sort read papers based on developed research questions (1.5 hours)
• Prepare for and meet with Dr. Rubya (1.25 hours)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Friday 7/9

• Prepare schedule for the day (0.5 hours)
• Continue working on paper (0.5 hours)
• Read three papers (Dol et al., Fonseca et al., and Kinser et al.) found during systematic literature review (one other paper began but was not relevant) and fill out related paperwork (3.5 hours)
• Search journals/conferences for more relevant papers (1 hour)
• Update wiki page and reflect (0.5 hours)

Sunday 7/11

• Read three papers found during systematic literature review and fill out related paperwork
• Update wiki page and reflect