In my data analysis course, I used the 2022 General Social Survey to study whether women who have attended college are less likely to want more children than women who have not, and how that pattern changes across demographic groups.

The project made me think more deeply about how research actually comes together. Choosing variables and deciding how to measure things took more thought than I expected. I had to think about what really mattered to my question and how it fit into the bigger picture. Doing the literature review helped me see where my work fit in with what others had already found, and how small choices in design can change what you learn.

I also learned a lot of the practical side of research—cleaning data, coding in R, and running statistical tests. It was my first time working independently with a large dataset, and it taught me how much time and focus that process takes.

More than anything, this project helped me see that I enjoy this kind of work. It confirmed that data analysis is something I want to keep studying, not just because it’s useful, but because I like the process of figuring things out and making sense of patterns in real data.

This is the final poster I created for my semester long project. We had the chance to share the project with other students and professors. It was great getting feedback on the project that help me choose my course of study.