Hello, my name is Annie English, and I am honored to have been chosen as one of the recipients of an IDEA Grant this year! Currently, I am a junior pursuing a double major in Criminology and Psychology. I plan on obtaining a graduate degree of some kind, before heading towards a career in criminal analysis. Ideally, I would like to work for a federal organization analyzing data and producing research to help inform legislation related to criminal justice. I am also interested in forensic psychology, and hope to center my research around this discipline. I would like to conduct research focused on how the brain influences criminal and deviant behavior. I plan on spending my remaining time at Florida State focused on my Honors Thesis, and applying to post-grad internships at various federal organizations.
I have been awarded the David B. Ford Undergraduate Research Award for $2,000. This award serves as a grant that will fund my Honors in the Major Thesis project. My project aims to explore how music preferences influence perceptions of juvenile deviance. With this funding, I will be able to conduct a vignette survey through a highly respected online survey platform, significantly elevating the reliability of my participant pool and data.
Currently, I am working with my thesis director, Dr. Keller Sheppard, to construct vignette scenarios and questions. We are also currently in the process of submitting my project to the IRB for approval. Once approval is obtained, we will conduct a preliminary test run of the questionnaire via convenience sampling of students here at FSU to work out any kinks before officially conducting the survey over summer.
Over the summer, I will use the funding I’ve received to upload my survey to Prolific, a highly respected survey platform through which I can obtain an adequate sample size representing a diverse population. The survey will be paid for using the award I have received, and the money will go towards compensation for participants, contributing to the reliability of participant responses. Once the survey is completed, I will spend the remainder of the summer and Fall semesters analyzing and refining my data as well as writing up a final paper for my Honors Thesis defense in the Spring 2026 semester.
Being an IDEA Grant recipient adds new exciting aspects to my project. I will be writing a handful of blog posts reflecting on my experience with this research. Additionally, I will be presenting my work at FSU’s annual President’s Showcase in the Fall 2025 semester. I have a busy year ahead of me, with a summer filled with research and data analysis, and an Honors Thesis defense in the 2026 Spring semester! I couldn’t be more excited to be working on this project, and with this award, I am even more motivated to produce an excellent paper!
I am honored to have been chosen to receive this grant, and I extend my gratitude to the Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement, the IDEA Grants committee, and Dr. Keller Sheppard. Additionally, I would like to thank Mrs. Pamela Ford, whose donations have made this award possible.
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