Week 2: Recall Prompts and Questionnaire Content
Aashi H -
Welcome back, everyone!
Over the last week, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing the future of my project with my mentors. I was hunting for an alternate route than a remote project. After all, the fun of the project comes from actually conducting the experiment! I was at work one day when an idea struck me – I could do the project right at my workplace.
After speaking with my mentors, I have decided how to do my project in a feasible, yet effective way that can give me generalizable results.
I would be looking at the short-term therapeutic effects of music on the perceived stress levels of those recalling a stressful experience. As a Starbucks barista, I understand firsthand how stressful Saturday morning rushes after a marathon are. After speaking with other friends in the food/restaurant industry, they all concur that stress is quite a prominent factor in the workplace.
Recall Prompt
The key to making this project yield results is the recall prompt. What do I mean by that?
It is not possible to get data for my project in a live scenario, especially because many places do not allow Airpods in while working. So, I would need to read the participant a recall prompt. This prompt, descriptive but short, would put the participant back into a stressful scenario they remember from work. For example, at Starbucks, this would be if we were 5 minutes over on our drive times and 10 minutes over cafe times.
Of course, this prompt has to vary per restaurant. For example, a griller at Chipotle would define a stressful situation differently.
When the participant reads this prompt, they will recall a stressful situation, triggering an immediate stress response. This will be visible through their rate. Then, the participants will go through the survey and music.
Questionnaire
The second key part of this project is the questionnaire. Although there are many questionnaires that combine stress and anxiety, my questionnaire isolates stress for more accurate and generalizable results. Additionally, a majority of questionnaires measure stress levels over the course of a month or more. Therefore, one of the tests I am inclined to use is the PSS-10 (Perceived Stress Scale).
This 10-question survey is scored like a personality test. Answers are given on a scale of 0-4, for a total of 40 points. Working with my mentor, Dr. Kumar, I am editing the PSS-10 to give results for the recall prompt, and not over the course of months or more.
Next week, I will have a refined version of the questionnaire I am sending out, and hopefully the names of the restaurants I am targeting. I hope to see you next week!
Comments:
All viewpoints are welcome but profane, threatening, disrespectful, or harassing comments will not be tolerated and are subject to moderation up to, and including, full deletion.