Salon 2
Training and Early Career Work in Quantitative Psychology and Prevention Science (303184)
*Milica Miocevic, Arizona State UniversityHolly Patricia O'Rourke, Arizona State University
Ingrid Carlson Wurpts, Arizona State University
Keywords: quantitative psychology, methodological research, data analysis, early career work
Quantitative psychology is an interdisciplinary field combining statistics and social sciences. The authors have conducted both methodological research and primary data analysis in prevention research as part of doctoral training in this area. Our methodological research has focused on the development and testing of statistical methods for the evaluation of indirect effects (mediation) in prevention and intervention studies. We have also worked as data analysts for two prevention studies aiming to promote the health of law enforcement officers and evaluate the causes of unhealthy behaviors that lead to obesity among teenagers. Social science methodologists often encounter low statistical power, small sample sizes, unreliable measurement, unmeasured confounders, participant attrition, and issues related to longitudinal data. Our presentation discusses the intersection of our methodological research with the challenges we have faced in applying statistical models to prevention data during our doctoral training. Finally, we discuss future directions for our research.