Week 3: Methodology & Bingo

Hi everyone! In this blog, I will be going over my project progression during Week 3 and what I’m looking forward to in Week 4.

Week 3: Methodology & Bingo

This week, my focus shifted from refining my argument to strengthening the structure of my research methods and preparing for data collection. After spending the past two weeks developing my literature review and overall direction, I worked on making my methodology more detailed, clear, and actionable.

For a majority of the time, I wrote and edited my methodology section, particularly clarifying my participants, instruments, and overall analysis plan. I refined my survey questions and finalized my interview framework to better capture how elderly patients perceive the affordability and stability of out-of-pocket healthcare costs. In addition, the consent forms were confirmed and edited based on ethical considerations, ensuring that they are both ethically sound and easy for participants to understand. This process made me think more critically about how question wording and structure can influence the quality and reliability of responses.

Alongside this, I continued expanding my literature review by reading The American Healthcare Paradox. This book added an important perspective on how the United States spends significantly more on healthcare than other countries, yet often sees worse outcomes—especially for vulnerable populations like the elderly. Incorporating these ideas has helped me further contextualize my research and strengthen the policy dimension of my argument.

My internship with the Jewish Association Serving the Aging (JASA) also continued this week, where I became more involved in day-to-day operations. I helped organize files, sort donor contributions for an upcoming gala, and write handwritten thank-you notes to supporters. I also completed my required HR training. While these tasks were more administrative, they gave me a deeper understanding of how nonprofit organizations function and support the communities they serve, which is directly connected to my research on elderly care. I did also play a very high-stakes game of Bingo with seniors living in assisted living, which allowed me to continue building the bonds necessary with potential interviewees. 

Overall, Week 3 was about building a strong foundation for data collection—ensuring that my research design is thoughtful, ethical, and ready to be implemented.

Week 4 Plan

Next week, I will begin collecting data through interviews with participants. I’m looking forward to applying everything I’ve prepared so far and starting to gather real insights that will shape the next phase of my project.

Thank you for reading my Week 3 Blog!