Research
I am a methodologist. I study statistical, psychometric, and research methodology.
My current statistics research focuses on statistical methods for testing if two variables are opposites, and the effect of data point censoring on correlational techniques. In the past, I have evaluated inferential techniques for reliability (coefficient alpha), and I have designed new measures of reliability (concordance correlation coefficients).
My current psychometrics research focusses on the development of psychological measures related to climate change (including measures of climate change hope and trust and actions that people can take to reduce climate change), assisting in the design of studies to understand and solve environmental problems, and collaborative projects where I help other faculty design and evaluate psychological measures on a variety of topics. In the past, I have designed and evaluated new tests of emotional intelligence (the ability to perceive, understand, and manage emotions in oneself and others) and social intelligence (the ability to interact effectively with others in order to accomplish your goals). I also designed new scoring methods. Program for Open-Ended Scoring (POES) is a computer program for automated scoring of open-ended tests. POES was originally designed to score the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS; Lane, 1990), but it can also be used to score other text material.
My previous research on methodology focused on procedures to prevent and detect data entry errors. The Poka-Yoka Data Entry System is an Excel add-on that allows researchers to enter their data twice. The system compares the two entries and identifies mismatches and values that are outside the allowable range for those variables.