by Katrina Hageman
This article is part of a series highlighting CALS students participating in the 20th anniversary of Science with Practice. The other articles feature research by Emma Alstott, senior in global resource systems, and Rachel Becker, senior in horticulture.
Caroline Strawhacker, a junior in agricultural business, agronomy and economics, used her Science with Practice involvement to help people navigate changes in the land market, drawing from her agricultural background and economic passion.
“I wanted to participate in Science with Practice because it helps students easily form connections with research professors and gain valuable information outside of the classroom,” Strawhacker said.
Alongside Rabail Chandio, an assistant professor of economics and head of the Iowa State Land Value Survey, Strawhacker analyzed data from rural appraisers, landowners and farm managers to learn about their experiences, perceptions and expectations regarding land value.
“I really enjoyed the opportunity to learn from my mentor because she is extremely knowledgeable in what she does,” Strawhacker said. “Everything I have learned from her has been very beneficial both in my research and future career.”
Strawhacker’s career goal is to work in farm management, and Science with Practice has allowed her to gain new skills to stand out in that profession.
“My biggest takeaways were learning how to do qualitative research because research I have done in the past has only been quantitative,” Strawhacker said. “I learned how to use the data we collected and find other resources that back it up and how to display our findings to a certain audience.”
Last spring, Strawhacker and Chandio worked on analyzing all interviews. Over the summer, Chandio wrote an academic paper on investment themes, and this semester, they have been analyzing more than eight other themes identified through the interviews.
Strawhacker’s role has included analyzing interview transcripts by documenting quotes, categorizing, finding common themes across all participants and summarizing those key points. She has also looked at similar land value research studies to compare and support their findings.
“A challenge I had to overcome was finding articles that back up some of our topics,” Strawhacker said. “For example, online auctions are still new, which means there is not much research that has been done on it, making tested data hard to find.”
“I would definitely recommend Science with Practice to students because it has been a great way for me to get exposed to the research process and meet professors willing to help me develop my skills,” Strawhacker said.
Strawhacker will conduct her Honors capstone project with Chandio next semester, continuing their land value research.