Judge not, that ye be not judged

This month marks the two-year anniversary of my being employed at the coding lab. And I love it. It was my undergraduate post-India employment, and it became my graduate school research assistantship. And recently, I have been allowed the opportunity to be one of the TAs in teaching the coding class. And essentially, as a TA, I get to team-teach the class with a co-worker. And, being the semi-vain person I am, I delight in thinking that I teach a 400-level capstone class to undergrads. I'm so cool.

I used to describe my job by saying that I "watch family videos and judge people". And while that isn't inaccurate, it isn't a very good description of what I do. So here's a more descriptive explanation of what it means to code.

Essentially, coding is quantifying behavior. I will observe two people interacting, and will identify certain behaviors, and give those behaviors a numerical rating. And that rating can then be used as part of a quantitative data set for research purposes. In the coding lab, we code observable data, in the form of video tasks that were recorded of families responding to discussion cards. We look at content, tone and affect.

For example, if I observe a wife giving her spouse a kiss on the cheek, I will code for Warmth/Support (WM), Physical Affection (AF) and Prosocial (PR). If it is followed by a compliment from the wife, I would add Escalate Warmth (EW). If the husband were to respond by pushing away his wife and calling her a derogatory name, I would code for Hostility (HS), Physical Attack (AT), Verbal Attack (VA) and Antisocial (AN). Other codes include, but are not limited to Humor/Laugh (HU), Sadness (SD), Anxiety (AX), Interrogation (IT), Communication (CO), and Listener Responsiveness (LR). There are also several parenting scales that are unique to coding parent-child tasks. For each scale, I will give a number score, ranging from 1-9, based on the frequency, intensity, and characteristic-ness of that behavior for each individual being coded. For example, I might give a dashing young father a score of 7 for Physical Attractiveness (PA). And I would give a parent a 5 on Quality Time (QT) if their child can name some examples of shared, mutually enjoyed activities.

I think that this is fascinating. Granted, I also thing that its cool to play Girl Talk on the roof of the chicken coop and that Bloated Heifers and Flaming Arrows would be an awesome name for a roadtrip CD (and when Kris and Nor get back from their missions, its going to happen). There are probably those whose interests diverge from my own.

Anyway, moral of the story: I love my job. And now I'm going to go work on a powerpoint to use in tomorrow's class.

P.S. I've decided that we need to start having a Song of the Week in the coding lab. The overall theme song is Every Breath You Take by The Police. Because, let's be honest, if the lyrics "every move you make, I'll be watching you" don't describe coding, I don't know what does. This week's song is A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action by Toby Keith, which hopefully acts as a gentle reminder to keep focused on work. By the end of the semester, I anticipate having an awesome Coding Lab CD. I will probably title it "Consistent Discipline for Coders".