Stories

LILO developers asked students to share some stories about real-life situations in which they had to conduct research in order to make important decisions.

"The Car of My Dreams"

Research Problem: "I’ve driven junk cars my entire life. They’ve all run fine, believe me, and not one of them has been a “money-sink” in terms of repair after repair like some of my friends' cars, who drive real BOMBS. My cars have been good reliable cars, but I’ve never felt that driving was FUN. I've only driven junky reliable cars. I've had my eye on a BMW for years, but felt that it was too extravagant a purchase for the income I was earning at the time. I could never afford a new car… but one day, a good used car came along.

Three years ago I had the chance to buy a 1989 model — then 14 years old, ancient really in terms of the cars of most people. But it had low miles, and I knew the owner pretty well, and she had meticulously taken care of it, and had all of the service records for the entire life of the car. She wanted $2500 for it - wow, and only 80,000 miles — something I could afford.

Still, I had to know: What kind of repairs were in store for me? Could I find a good mechanic in Honolulu to establish a relationship with? How easy would it be to get parts for this car? And quite honestly, how long would this car last me?

Of course, there is a lot of information available in car reviews, BMW Web sites, and from friends who have younger editions of this car, or even have had the same edition as this car, but traded up. Fortunately, I know several friends who swear by BMWs — it’s the only car they drive. BMW is a pretty solid German brand, and there is a large dealership in Honolulu. I found an excellent repair manual in print for the make and model and bought it to add to my small home library."  

Where did I find what I needed to know? "All in all, I depended on my network of friends who have the same make of car. I found a good BMW mechanic through my Toyota (my previous car) mechanic. I went online to Amazon to find a good repair manual for the make and model of my car, and got reviews of it there as well.

So, I relied on several methods of finding the information I needed."

"Moving Away from Home to Go to School"

Research Problem: "My mom wanted me to move out of the house to get my own place. I needed to decide where I want to live, what I could afford, and how am I going to generally handle things.

I know I will be going to WCC and eventually transferring to Hilo for school. So I needed a place down the Windward side and then in Hilo for a couple of years. I know there are dorms in Hilo, and also my aunty lives there, but on O`ahu I would have to live with a friend or family member for now. I know I can afford something small and reasonable or share a room or pay rent to my aunty when I'm in Hilo.

I needed to know how much my rent will cost. To figure that out, I needed to know how much the Hilo dorms cost, or maybe apartments there, or even if my aunty really wants me to stay with her. I need a job too, even if I have a scholarship. I needed to pay off things now. I needed to figure out how I was going to manage things with work, school and lifestyle.

I got information from UH Hilo on the cost of the places. Also, asked my aunty for other information. I found out about job openings around Hilo by looking in newspapers, hooking up with people "in the know," and even advertisements on utility poles! So I needed to organize myself thoroughly for each day, and use my time wisely.

The information I got directly from UH Hilo was the greatest because there is a program to help students look for places to stay at."

Where did I find what I needed to know?" From several difference places - UH-Hilo, my aunty, from newspapers, a little Internet, from friends, and from my employer when I found a job."

"A Health Problem"

Research Problem: "I was recently diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and was trying to find a good doctor to treat me. I knew the doctors in Hawaii weren't very good. I needed to know about doctors with expertise treating this disease and where they were located."

Where did I find what I needed to know? "I looked in magazine articles, the Internet, called around, and asked other doctors. Probably talking to other doctors was most helpful because I could ask lots of questions, but everything helped a little."

These stories are three examples of research problems that crop up every day. And each of them relied on information found from friends, health professionals, educators, and the Internet.