Nichols, Lucy

Ben Burke is a PhD student in Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University and has a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Ben is one of the longest serving team members on the Military REACH team, and he primarily works on TRIP reports, research reports, and social media posts. A few of Ben’s most notable contributions are 1. Writing over 45 TRIP reports 2. Co-authoring 4/5 research reports 3. Lead author of “A review and application of posttraumatic growth for enhancing the well-being of military service members and their families” 4. Four editorials featured in monthly newsletters a. The importance of credibility in research design, implementation, and evaluation b. Speaking science-ese: Why clear communication is so vital to academic writing c. Sorting through the pile: The helpfulness of theory in research d. The importance of understanding trauma Ben’s colleagues described him as kind and compassionate, humorous, a thoughtful scholar, an encouraging teacher and mentor, and a genuine nerd - always ready to discuss movies or video games. Ben adds incredible value to our team, and we are thankful for the work he does to make research practical and useful to our target audiences. Below Ben discusses his interest in research, his future plans, and video games! 1. Why are you pursuing a PhD in Human Development and Family Studies and what is your end goal/dream job? I am pursuing a degree in HDFS because people are endlessly interesting and I believe that HDFS provides an excellent way to study individuals and families while accounting for important contexts (relationships, environments). My end goal is to work in a university as a teacher and researcher. Teaching is one of my great passions and research allows me the opportunity to continue learning and exploring fascinating topics that can be of help to others. 2. So, you like gaming. What is your favorite part of gaming culture and how does that coincide with your background as a family scholar? How do you bring the two together? What I love most about gaming and gaming culture is a hard thing to narrow down, because there are myriad things I adore about both. I'll focus in on the parts that are related to my work as a scholar studying family and relationships. Gaming is a medium that brings people together, despite the popular narrative that gaming is for the socially stunted. Spending any amount of time in an online multiplayer game or a game streaming website demonstrates how communities are constantly formed and fostered around gaming. I've heard countless stories of friendships that were initiated and maintained through playing games or how parents used games as a way to connect with their children. Additionally, gaming is often used to raise money for charity. Last year, I got to witness gaming communities raise millions of dollars for St. Jude's Children’s Research Hospital, which was an incredibly beautiful experience. Ultimately, when we talk about gaming and gamers, we're talking about people, and this medium can be an incredible tool for beneficial relational connections. 3. What drew you to Military REACH? I was drawn to Military REACH because of Dr. Lucier-Greer. Mallory is a fantastic person and scholar who is doing important research. I have learned a great deal about military families and I believe in the work we do because I believe the end goal of research should be to benefit others. REACH's goal is to put beneficial knowledge into the hands of families, helping professionals, and policy makers and that goal is inherently worthy of pursuit. 4. What has been your favorite project to be a part of while working with Military REACH? My favorite project to work on with Military REACH was the research report on posttraumatic growth. I learned so much about the nature of trauma and the resilience and growth that humans can display in the context of stressful circumstances. It was a privilege to be a part of such an enlightening and encouraging project.

Featured News

https://militaryreach.auburn.edu/fnbenburkefinal.jsp

Burke, Benjamin

When I was an undergraduate student, I had little interest in the role of theory in research. Honestly, it felt like a waste of time. Theory seemed like a bunch of old thoughts, all proclaiming obvious things about human experiences. “Yes, of course stress can lead to crisis,” I would think. “Why does anyone need to make a ‘Family Stress Theory’ to describe something so basic?” However, over time I have grown to see the invaluable utility of theory and its application to scientific study. Here, I will discuss the importance of theory because of its commonality in human experience and the power of theory to organize, explain, and predict phenomena. Theory development and application are nearly universal human experiences. People have been developing formal and informal theories about life for virtually all of recorded history. Consider the old adage: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Essentially, this statement is a theory about where fires can be regularly located. Consider how the originators of this statement may have developed this expectation about the correlation between smoke and fire. Evidence was acquired: “I see smoke over there.” This evidence was blended with other observations: “Every time I see smoke, there has been some kind of fire.” Theory was developed from these observations: “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” This is a simple illustration, but the point is that theory development is ingrained in human experience. We want to understand the world, and theory aids us in that understanding by providing a mental framework to organize evidence and use that evidence to explain and predict phenomena. One of the primary ways that theory assists with understanding is by providing a frame or map to organize available data. Imagine you are going to a department store to buy a new set of pajamas. Unfortunately, when you get to the store you are dismayed to see that all of the clothes, shoes, jewelry, and appliances have been thrown into a large pile in the middle of the floor. Instead of trying to dig through the pile, you decide to try a different store. There, you find that all of the items have been neatly organized by sex, age, and type. As a result, it is easy to navigate the clothing sections and find your new favorite pair of pajamas! This is similar to the organizational clarity that theory provides academic research. Theory groups information in a systematic, understandable way. When new information is generated about a topic, it can be organized into its appropriate theoretical category to assist with understanding the phenomena as a whole. Additionally, aspects of the topic can be further clarified through explanation and prediction. Theory organizes information into a coherent story that can be used to explain and predict phenomena. Using an example from earlier, a theory would help us know to expect smoke from fire, and may eventually explain why fire causes smoke. In another example related to human sciences, let’s consider why some families seem to struggle with stressful events more than other families. The Family Stress Theory (Hill, 1949) was developed to accomplish this very task, and it organizes data into four basic categories: stressor events, resources, perceptions, and crises. The theory suggests that these various factors influence one another to produce different outcomes for families dealing with stress. When new data emerge through scientific study, the information can be organized into these categories, and used to better understand what kinds of families are most likely to adapt or experience a crisis. Ultimately, theory used in this way helps us predict human experiences with greater clarity, which assists with general understanding and can be transformed into practical use through application. Over time, I have grown to see theory as a vital aspect of scientific work. Theory is a basic aspect of the human experience that assists with our understanding of the world around us. Theory helps us better clarify phenomena and develop meaningful applications to adequately address important needs. Without theory in research, readers are less informed about how each piece of data fits into the broader whole and may be left to sort through a disorganized pile of evidence to find needed information. Reference Hill, R. (1949). Families under stress: Adjustment to the crises of war separation and reunion. New York, Harper & Brothers.

Family Story

https://militaryreach.auburn.edu/ffSortingThroughPile.jsp