Different names for Research Activity

[hippyscientist]

Okay so I'm hoping you guys can clarify something for me. Terminology seems to vary from country to country and maybe even school to school and it's super confusing! 

As part of my undergrad degree I had to conduct an original unique piece of research - idea conception, experimental design, data collection, data analysis and the write up, with minimal guidance from a supervisor. My university called this a research project, but from what I've read in this forum and elsewhere, is this more like a "thesis" in the US? I will be doing something similar, although in slightly more depth for my MSc project too (also called a project in the UK), and discussing this with American colleagues tends to receive a slight dismissal until I explain my project.

I've had to write millions of lab reports too - where the experiment has already been designed, but I had to do the data collection, analysis and write up. What would this generally be called? I've worked as a research assistant in the UK for a major study (working with England Rugby all the way down to grassroots level sport), but it seems that this may not be the same sort of stuff that a research assistant may do in the US. I've been predominantly delivering training sessions to clubs, collecting data and analysing it, but it's not lab work - more computer-based collection and analysis.

Sorry if this seems trivial but I want to call all my research experience the right thing, so as not to discredit myself!

[TakeruK]

In North America, all of the experiences you list count as research work. I don't think the specifics really matter, but you're right that people will often refer to them as different things. In terms of applications, what I would do (and what I did!) was to have a heading with something like "Research Experience". Then, each entry under this heading specifies the project, where you worked on it, your supervisor, what kind of work did you do (thesis? research assistantship? directed studies? etc.) and what you actually did. 

In my field, there are three main types of research activities conducted by undergraduate students and I would divide them up like this:

Thesis work/project: This is usually a year-long project completed during your final year of undergraduate work. You undertake an independent study with guidance by a professor. In the end, you will have at least given one oral presentation (a defense) and written a manuscript (a thesis/dissertation). Undergraduate dissertations are generally much shorter than graduate dissertations, of course. Also, usually, a thesis is a degree requirement (at least in Canada, for the "Honours" degree, we generally must complete a thesis). As such, thesis work usually is a class where you earn credits (and you may get a letter grade or just "Pass") and most schools have policies that you cannot be paid for this work. Thesis work is also often completed while also taking your final year of classes, so it's something you'd work on like 10 hours per week.

Directed study / independent study: This is similar to a thesis but it might only be a semester long instead of a whole year long. This is also a course that counts for credit (so unpaid usually) but it is often not a degree requirement. It's more like an elective that if you have some spare room in your schedule for a semester, you might undertake a directed study project with a professor of your choosing. There also isn't a formal defense or dissertation, but you will probably have to do some final wrap-up thing to demonstrate what you learned/achieved during the semester. This might be a presentation or a report/paper.

Research assistantship: This is probably the most valuable type of experience. This can be part-time (during the school year, like the two above cases) or full-time (either during the summer, or if you take a year off of classes to do work). And this is usually paid work but you can be a volunteer research assistant too (however, in my field, most professors avoid using unpaid labour). This is more like an actual job, and you may be hired to work on a specific aspect of an ongoing project, or you may be hired to work on a new project the professor has thought up. Because these assistantships are only full time for a few months, the former is more likely because real experiments/projects are much longer. I think what you described as research assistantship work sounds lot like the research assistantships I've been doing (since I'm not in a lab field). Research assistantships can "look like" a lot of different things

In addition, research assistantships, come in a lot of different flavours! One type is where the professor/PI/lab has money from a grant or something and they just pay you from their own budget. But, in the US and Canada, there are external programs that award money to help the professor pay for your salary. This helps increase the amount of research opportunities available because it makes hiring undergraduate students less expensive and thus decreases the risk. It also helps professors think of training undergrads as a sort of "service" or "teaching" instead of just simply paying a labourer, so that professors are able to take students who have potential instead of only hiring proven researchers. In the US, a federal program that awards money like this is called "REU" (Research Experiences for Undergraduates). However, individual schools often have their own programs that will award money to their own students and/or students from other universities to work at their school for the summer. So, sometimes it might help our American colleagues understand if we describe it as "REU-like".

Finally, I think the reason that American colleagues "dismiss" your Masters work is because a Masters degree in America is very different than it is in the UK and Canada. I have had a similar experience. When I was finishing up my 2 year Canadian Masters degree (equivalent to the first two years of a US PhD program), I was presenting my work at a US conference and when I talked to a professor, I introduced myself as a finishing Masters student, forgetting about this difference. The professor thought I meant that I was in a PhD program but decided to leave with a Masters instead so he said something that was meant to be consoling like "Oh well, not everyone needs to do a PhD!". I was confused and then figured it out and explained that in Canada, we always do a Masters first as a separate program, then apply to PhDs and that I would in fact be enrolling in a PhD program later that year!

[hippyscientist]

Thanks so much for the reply! It's frustrating with the international differences - half of what I've covered in my undergrad I'm covering in my masters, and it looks like I'd be entering the PhD programme in the US having covered a lot of the required course content. Irritating but I'm okay with it - allows me to find my feet.

There are so few research assistantships in the UK for BSc students - I ended up with the one I have purely through luck and having proven myself in my undergrad thesis. I just wish "translating" experiences and opportunities was easier! 

 

[TakeruK]

When I started my PhD program, I started at the same place as someone who just finished undergrad--my school doesn't count my 2 years in a Masters program at all. As a result, one of the grad classes I took was something I took for the 3rd time and another was something I was taking for the 2nd time. Fortunately, the nice thing about grad classes is that they are specialized so that each instructor puts their own spin so I did get to see different material and viewpoints during the repeated courses. It also meant I could spend less effort on those courses and focus more on research. Ultimately, I am also okay with starting all over again and I do think it's has been good for me (and while my MSc experience doesn't count towards official PhD requirements, I did feel better prepared to tackle grad school)! But I sympathize with you on the frustration

[Cookie]

If your project is not part of a degree requirement, it should not be called a thesis. Just describe your role/tasks in each research project (all that matters anyway)