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Nichole Goh’s research highlights how social support systems helped students through COVID-19
May 11, 2021
Nichole Goh is a fourth-year student. She is an international student from Malaysia and an avid music listener, who loves going through Spotify and finding music from ‘unknown’ artists. Her sociological interests are in health (health of the Asian diaspora and mental health), food, arts (film and music), migration, crime, law, and technology.
What was your project about? What are the main takeaways from your work?
My main project explores the effectiveness of social support amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, my project hopes to highlight the voices and experiences of Southeast Asian UBC students living through the pandemic and looking at how their received social support has helped them.
The main takeaways from my project highlight the adaptive nature of social support systems and the importance of digital skills as a factor that can promote or inhibit social support. The adaptive nature of social support systems highlights how the different functions of social support (emotional and tangible support) are able to be received through virtual means. Moreover, this project emphasized the importance of digital skills in this era we are currently living in. The ability of these students to maintain relationships with friends and family throughout the pandemic was attributable to their digital skills that allowed them to effectively navigate through different virtual spaces (such as social media platforms).
UBC Sociology student Nichole Goh
What inspired you? How did you get interested in this topic?
I had various inspirations to pursue this particular research project. My own personal mental health journey and my experience of living through the pandemic inspired me to further explore the health and wellbeing of my fellow peers and their experiences. Additionally, my own identity as being Southeast Asian inspired me to dedicate my research to highlighting their voices and experiences of living through the pandemic.
I got interested in this topic while I was talking to my mentor at the time, Emily, who I was able to talk through all the ideas and topics I was passionate about. She was instrumental in the process of applying for my Honours thesis as she helped me take these broad ideas and helped me narrow them down and turn it into a feasible research project for my Honours thesis. So thank you, Emily!
What was the most difficult part of this learning journey? What was most satisfying?
The most difficult part of this learning journey was staying focused and centered. At times, it became easy to start drifting off-topic and exploring other concepts, especially in the early stages of writing and producing this Honours thesis.
The most satisfying is seeing all this hard work come together. While conducting these virtual interviews, I had written a few ideas down as to what my key themes might be. However, as time progressed and I began to write and develop my Honours thesis, I was able to slowly put the pieces together. It was a truly satisfying feeling being able to visually see months of work slowly taking its form.
“The ability of these students to maintain relationships with friends and family throughout the pandemic was attributable to their digital skills that allowed them to effectively navigate through different virtual spaces (such as social media platforms).”
Nichole Goh
UBC Sociology
What skills did you develop or strengthen as a result of this project?
From this project, I had developed qualitative research skills, which included planning and executing virtual semi-structured interviews. This project also allowed me to develop qualitative analysis skills which I had not much experience with prior to this project.
What assistance did your supervisor provide to help you succeed with this project?
My supervisor has been integral to my progress and success with this project. Dr. Yue Qian has been very encouraging throughout my whole Honours thesis journey, providing thorough feedback, comments and notes for my drafts that help me to develop my arguments and main points. Moreover, having virtual meetings to discuss my findings and run ideas by her have been crucial to the development of my Honours thesis.
What advice would you give to students who are interested in a similar project (e.g. directed studies, Honours thesis, quantitative or qualitative research)?
My advice to those who might be interested in a similar project is to really pick an area you are interested in. This may seem pretty self-explanatory but my passion and interest in my topic have been the main reasons I am able to follow through and work hard to complete this project. So my advice is to really think about the topic you would want to explore and really consider if this topic is something you will still be interested and passionate about 8 months from now.