A ‘SURE’ benefit: Students gain research skills to open doors for careers, grad school

UM-Dearborn prides itself on project-based learning, faculty mentorship and research opportunities for undergraduate students. The university’s SURE — Summer Undergraduate Research Experience — program combines all of these to give students an advantage when it comes to resume building or grad school applications.

“The magical thing about the SURE program is an ability to see and explore what you are interested in — and you get paid to do this work so you are able to put in the energy, time and effort,” says College of Arts, Sciences & Letters senior Anna Lariviere.

The SURE program pairs faculty mentors and undergraduate students for an 8-12 week summer session where student researchers conduct hands-on research, attend professional development sessions and participate in social outings. They receive a stipend for their work. .

SURE project participation increased 48% this year and provided opportunities for 49 students, who worked in areas ranging from medical research to social justice. See the complete list.

Here’s what two students gained from this year’s experience. Additional SURE projects were featured in last week’s Reporter.

Brendan McCloskey with faculty advisors Associate Professor Maggie Yi Guo and Professor Young Ro
Project. User assessment of security threats

Before company data breaches seemed like a regular thing, there was the shock of the 2013 Target data breach. Cybercriminals stole 40 million credit and debit records and 70 million customer records. Management Information Systems Associate Professor Maggie Guo, a technologist, and Operations Management Professor Young Ro, a behaviorist, researched the event at length at the time. “The breach happened because someone did not update their software,” says Guo, noting there wasn’t much other research on the topic. “So what can leaders do to best motivate people to update their software?”

After taking a hiatus from that particular research project due to the pandemic and competing priorities, the two faculty members resumed the work after learning that 2023 had the highest number of data breaches on record. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center 2023 Data Breach Report, 2023 saw a 72% increase in data breaches since 2021, which held the previous all-time record.

Enter Brendan McCloskey, a College of Business junior majoring in information management systems who often sits at the front of the class. McCloskey learned about the research work from Guo, who taught his IT-related business classes.

McCloskey spent his summer working with Guo and Ro to develop and pilot test a Qualtrics survey that explores what conditions need to exist for a person to update their computer software to protect data from a breach. This motivational understanding can help CIOs and other business leaders work to develop resources, like training videos, that play to the psyche of the computer user. McCloskey, who enjoys the technological side of business, says he’s never done research before and he wanted to get experience in database and cybersecurity work. “I now have experience in different sectors of business systems, which opens more doors for me,” McCloskey says. “I also learned how to take in and analyze relevant information fairly quickly through the literature reviews and analysis I did over the summer. That’s a skill that will help me in the future too.” 

McCloskey helped the two professors conduct their first test study. Together, they learned that motivating factors include physical proximity and perceived potential loss. McCloskey also helped contribute to the publication of an abstract about these results, which was recently accepted as a topic of presentation at the 2024 Decision Sciences Institute’s Annual Conference in November. They are currently seeking funding so McCloskey can attend the conference and present this work.

McCloskey says the SURE program not only provided additional opportunities for him, it also made him more comfortable reaching out to his professors and feeling more connected to campus. “I’m an introvert — surprise, an introvert who likes IT— and I don’t like to put myself out there. But I did and it was a very good experience for me. I am glad Dr. Guo asked me to work with her,” he says. “I learned new software, saw the level of detail that goes into research and met new people. I also am more confident in my abilities.”

Anna Lariviere with faculty advisor Associate Professor Harmony Reppond
Project. Bait and switch of the American dream: Persuasion tactics of MLMs 

Avon is calling — as is Tupperware, Amway, Scentsy and other multi-level marketing businesses. But are they selling a realistic picture of the success someone can achieve through what they offer? And what tactics do MLMs use when trying to sell the American dream?

Senior Anna Lariviere, who is majoring in psychology, wrote a persuasive paper on the 2021 Netflix documentary series “LuLaRich” for a composition course during her freshman year. What the CASL student didn’t know at the time was that, across the CASL Building, Psychology Associate Professor Harmony Reppond was beginning her own exploration into the topic.

Fast forward three years: After taking Reppond’s social psychology course, Lariviere learned that her professor conducted 51 interviews with people involved in MLMs. In those candid interviews, interviewees — many of whom were college educated — said they didn’t learn about MLMs in college and were not prepared for the outcomes they experienced. Reppond wanted to provide psychologically relevant information for MLM information seekers based on the data she’s gathered like recruitment and sales tactics.

Lariviere, who plans to attend graduate school for clinical psychology and wants to work in  healthcare, wanted to get involved with research but wasn’t sure if she’d be able to get that type of experience as an undergraduate. She says Reppond’s project gave her the opportunity she sought. “This gave me a chance to build skills and see how all the psychology classes I’ve taken come together. I’ve learned how to do this work in silos — like one class may focus on a certain aspect of psychology research — but this helped me apply it in one project,” she says.

Throughout the summer, Lariviere read through interview transcripts to look for emerging themes. “Even though the interviewees were from several different MLMs, they had common experiences. We figured out the factors at play between the people,” Lariviere says. Themes that emerged included high-control groupthink (pressure or a desire to conform) and social proof (where someone is influenced by the actions of others). Based on the themes, Reppond developed a persuasion tactics code book and she and Lariviere are working on a publication.

Lariviere says the experience confirmed her love of her chosen career field and will help her stand out when it comes to applying for graduate school. And Reppond says Lariviere is an excellent student and researcher whose work will help the public better understand MLM tactics.

“This is not saying something is good or bad. It’s about showing the system at play and how persuasion impacts people. We see it as an awareness piece,” Reppond says. “We want to give people researched information so they can make better educated decisions for themselves.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury