Vicky Chen spent her summer on Seattle public transit—not as a commuter, but as a research assistant for the Department of Sociology's collaboration with Sound Transit. The project focuses on the Link light rail, investigating why people might avoid public transit and how to make informed interventions to make Seattle public transit more safe and usable. In 2025, Vicky and her classmates in SOC 403: Applied Research worked with their instructors to develop and pilot new research methods for studying social disorder.
“As an RA, I learned during the summer data collection that group work is not simply the sum of individual contributions; it depends on communication, mutual support, and working toward a shared goal. This hands-on experience gave me practical research skills and showed me how larger research projects are built through countless small details and steps.”
The Department of Sociology prioritizes community-engaged learning experiences for students. Students like Vicky do great work through rigorous research that gives back to our community.
The Principal Investigators of this project are Nathalie Williams and Kyle Crowder. This project is made possible with collaboration and funding from Sound Transit and Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology.