How Does One Do That? Adding New Tools to the Research Toolbox
Thursday, January 27, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
San Antonio, Texas
Pre-conference Overview
Methods and tools that seemed exotic 20 years ago have become surprisingly user-friendly in recent years. In many cases, specialized software is not needed and one doesn't need to be a method specialist to adapt such technologies to one's burgeoning research. Yet, very few social-personality PhD programs have the luxury of adding a wide-scale methods component to their curricula. As a result, powerful tools are left out of the toolbox, perhaps permanently so.
The 2011 Training Committee Preconference brings together a set of six talks covering the basics of six methods that are powerful, flexible, and of wide interest. The speakers are well-known for their skills in teaching social-personality psychologists how to use such methods in their own research. Ulf-Dietrich Reips, from the University of Deusto, will cover the basics of using the Internet in research, a tool the field has seen more and more use of in recent years. Eddie Harmon-Jones, from Texas A&M, will introduce the neurocognitive methods that have given rise to one of the hottest areas of the field - social neuroscience. Rick Hoyle, from Duke University, will explain how to use structural equation modeling procedures to better understand one's data and key constructs. Mediation is a key conceptual tool in social-personality psychology and David MacKinnon, from Arizona State University, will introduce what have emerged as the recommended procedures for assessing it. Shelly Gable, from the University of California, Santa Barbara, will cover the basics of multi-level modeling, a powerful tool for capturing daily processes in experience-sampling studies. Richard Gonzalez, from the University of Michigan, will explain how to collect and analyze dyad-level data, of critical interest to relationship researchers. Talks will involve a combination of elements such as presentations, demonstrations, and handouts. The goal is not to teach the student everything that has to be known, but rather to give concrete pointers and introduce clarity to methods that many would wish to use if they only knew how.
Program of Events
| 8:30 - 9:00 | BREAKFAST AND INTRODUCTORY REMARKS | Michael D. Robinson Richard Gonzalez |
| 9:00 - 10:00 | Using the Internet in Personality and Social Psychology Research | Ulf-Dietrich Reips
University of Deusto |
| 10:00 - 11:00 | Collecting and Analyzing Biological Sources of Data | Eddie Harmon-Jones Texas A&M University |
| 11:00 - 11:15 | BREAK | |
| 11:15 - 12:15 | Structural Equation Modeling | Rick Hoyle Duke University |
| 12:15 - 1:30 | LUNCH & TABLE DISCUSSIONS | |
| 1:30 - 2:30 | Mediation: New Recommendations and Procedures | David MacKinnon
Arizona State University |
| 2:30 - 3:30 | Multi-Level Modeling: | Shelly Gable
University of California, Santa Barbara |
| 3:30 - 4:30 | Working with Dyad-Level Data | Richard Gonzalez
University of Michigan |
Participants, Titles, and Abstracts
| Ulf-Dietrich Reips University of Deusto Using the Internet in Personality and Social Psychology Research |
The Internet is a powerful tool for data collection. More and more, social-personality psychologists are using it to conduct basic and applied research. The talk will cover the basics of how to use the Internet in social-personality research. |
| Eddie Harmon-Jones Texas A&M University Collecting and Analyzing Biological Sources of Information |
Neurocognitive methods (e.g., EEG, fMRI) have been used for several decades in understanding basic cognitive processes such as those involved in attention, object recognition, and reading. Such methods have been successfully adapted to answer important questions in social-personality psychology. The talk will cover some of the key methods used in this literature. |
| Rick Hoyle Duke University Structural Equation Modeling |
As social-personality psychologists, our central interest is in conceptual constructs (e.g., self-esteem, prejudice, etc.), not numbers per se. Structural equation modeling is a powerful tool for understanding one's data at the construct level. The talk will cover the key uses of structural equation modeling. |
| David MacKinnon Arizona State University Mediation: New Recommendations and Procedures |
What's the mediator seems to be the mantra of many reviewers these days. Recommended procedures for assessing mediation have changed somewhat since Baron and Kenny's (1986) well-known paper. The talk will present these new recommended procedures and how to instantiate them. |
| Shelly Gable University of California, Santa Barbara Multi-Level Modeling |
A major development in social and personality psychology has been the experience-sampling protocol, whereby researchers can assess lives as they are lived. Such data need to be analyzed appropriately, though, to make the best inferences possible. The talk will present multi-level modeling as a general purpose way of handling such data. |
| Richard Gonzalez University of Michigan Working with Dyad-Level Data |
Social interactions and relationships are inherently dyad-level data. What this means, concretely, is that Person A's behavior is likely dependent on Person B's behavior and vice versa. Such relational dynamics can be modeled. The talk will introduce methods for doing so. |