Sociology Undergraduate Research Program
SURP is a quarter-long program that gives current Sociology majors the opportunity to gain research experience and contribute to ongoing projects led by faculty and graduate students.
Participating students will receive course credit (SOC 499) according to the number of hours worked, or for completing specific tasks. Projects offer between 2 and 5 credits. All SOC 499 credits are graded C/NC.
SURP runs during Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. Please check this page for current project descriptions, which will update quarterly.
Applications for Spring 2026 opportunities will open on Monday, February 9th and close on Sunday, February 22nd at 11:59pm. Decisions will be released the week of March 9–13.
Please carefully review the project descriptions and requirements below before applying.
Spring 2026 opportunities:
Project 1: Enemy Aliens: German Internment During WWI
Professor Peter Catron (faculty supervisor)
continuing project from Winter Quarter 2026, accepting new applicants
Project Goals: This project is assessing the long-term consequences of German internment during the First World War. The data include information on all individuals who the U.S. interned during WWI under the Enemy Aliens Act.
Credits: 3
Hiring: 1–2 students
Research Work:
- Transcribe assigned number of historical records each week (involves using an app, which displays the record image and the fields that we need to transcribe from the record image.)
- Attend weekly research team meetings
Required Skills:
- Basic R skills
Preferred Skills:
- Interest in history
Project 2: Studying Aging Using Performance Aging Curves in Sports
Professor Hyungmin Cha (faculty supervisor)
Project Goals: The goal of this project is to examine how aging processes shape performance trajectories in sports by analyzing aging curves across the life course. By leveraging performance data, the project aims to identify patterns of peak performance, decline, and heterogeneity across individuals and contexts, using sports as a clear and measurable setting to advance broader understanding of aging dynamics.
Credits: 2–3
Hiring: 1–2 students
Research Work:
- Construct the analytic dataset through web scraping and data compilation
- Identify and extract publicly available information on professional athletes from sources such as Major League Baseball (MLB) or the English Premier League (EPL), including performance metrics, career timelines, and contextual characteristics
- Clean, merge, and document data to create a longitudinal dataset
Required Skills:
- Basic familiarity with spreadsheets
- Strong organizational skills
- Attention to detail
- Willingness to learn new data-related tools
- No prior experience with programming or web scraping is required.
Preferred Skills:
- Prior exposure to data collection
- Basic coding (e.g., Python or R)
- Web scraping
- Interest in sports analytics, aging, or life-course research
Project 3: Nature and the Life Course
Professor Sasha Johfre (faculty supervisor)
continuing project from Winter Quarter 2026, accepting new applicants
Project Goals: What is the value of nature across the life course? In this project, we are interviewing two groups of people: older adult gardeners and youth outdoor educators. We seek to better understand how nature and the outdoors are conceptualized and valued in the lives of people of very young and very old ages.
Credits: 3–5
Hiring: 4–6 students
Research Work:
- Transcribe interviews
- Identify potential interview participants
- Review scholarly literature
- Communicate with research team
Required Skills:
- Typing (for transcription)
- Proficiency in English
- Detail-orientation
Preferred Skills:
- Fluency in Korean (not required)
Project 4: Media Coverage of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Professor Theresa Rocha Beardall (faculty supervisor)
Project Goals: Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls receive uneven public attention, and media coverage helps shape whose stories become visible, credible, and urgent. This project examines how news coverage frames these cases, whose voices appear in reporting, and how patterns of attention shift across outlets and time. Students will build a 40 year dataset of news articles and prepare it for qualitative coding.
Credits: 3
Hiring: 4–5 students
Research Work:
- Build a national inventory of Tribal and other relevant news outlets and archives, with publication metadata and access pathways
- Collect news articles on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across the 40 year study window, using shared search and filing protocols
- Log each article in a structured dataset with standardized fields such as outlet, date, location, headline, and archive link
- Screen articles for inclusion using agreed criteria, documenting edge cases and decisions
Required Skills:
- Interest in Indigenous studies and gender justice
- Proficiency in G-Suite and Excel
- Strong English reading and writing skills
- Attention to detail
- Cultural awareness and sensitivity
Preferred Skills:
- Experience with qualitative data software
- Interest or experience in webscraping
Project 5: Procedural Justice from the State Level
Amber Burrell (graduate student supervisor)
continuing project from Winter Quarter 2026, accepting new applicants
Project Goals: In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court’s State v. Blake decision found the law criminalizing drug possession unconstitutional. Blake-related convictions in Washington State qualify to be removed from individuals’ criminal records, and any legal financial obligations paid as a result qualify for financial reimbursement. This project examines the State v. Blake decision to understand power, control, and justice within implementing the Blake decision. The Blake decision acknowledges the harm done on communities and its effort in reversing the War on Drugs and includes justice language. Although the opinion may have been justice centered, I question, was the implementation “justice” centered? This project will take a multi-level analysis, examining structure and organization of the court system and its impact on state and county processes and exploring how “justice” is felt for those impacted. If you are interested in law, criminal justice, and criminology research, this might be a great study to work on.
Credits: 3–5
Hiring: 2–4 students
Research Work:
- Collecting publicly available data
- Interviewing county practitioners
- Qualitative coding
- Literature review
Required Skills:
- Qualitative analysis or willingness to learn quickly
Preferred Skills:
- Usage of qualitative software
Spring 2026 SURP Application
Application will open on Monday, February 9th at 8am and close on Sunday, February 22nd at 11:59pm. Decisions will be released the week of March 9–13.
Find general information about research and internships here.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities outside SURP:
Understanding Homelessness in King County Project
WINTER 2026 SOC 499 B (SLN: 22158): Research Assistant Registration
We have opportunities for undergraduate students to join Professor Almquist's team working on counting unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, using respondent driven sampling (RDS). Several positions are available, and students decide how many credits they want to sign up for. The work commitment increases with each additional credit selected. The registration request form has additional details.
Description of Research
The initial research focuses on collecting data on people experiencing homelessness in King County. This data will be used to estimate the total number of people who are unsheltered in King County and analyze their characteristics. Data will also be collected on subgroups (e.g. by race, gender, veteran status, age, etc.) within the larger group.
Role of Undergraduate RAs in project
Undergraduate RAs will serve as data collectors. They will receive training on data collection procedures and sensitivity. After training, they will sit at tables at specific public library locations, receive respondents and set them up to take the surveys. The RAs will also manage referrals, tracking, and allocation of incentives.
To participate in this project, follow the steps below.
Step 1:
- Academic Credit Registration: WIN 2026 SOC 499 B SLN: 22158 RDS Registration Request Form
- Volunteer Registration: Students who do not want or have room for additional academic credit can volunteer instead by completing the Volunteer Request Form.
Step 2:
All students, whether registering for academic credit or only looking to volunteer, will need to complete a King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) Volunteer Form.