Issue: June 2011

The Methodology Center
Penn State Lion Shrine

 

Welcome to The Methodology Center eNews!

Greetings,

Linda M. CollinseNews is a new tool The Methodology Center is using to keep people informed of the latest news and innovations at our Center. eNews will be generated on a (roughly) monthly basis to announce events, software releases, publications, and other pertinent Center news. You are receiving this message for one of the following reasons: you attended a Summer Institute, you are a registered user of our website, or you signed up for our mailing list. Please add mc@psu.edu to your address book to ensure that you receive future eNews. If you wish to unsubscribe, you can do so by clicking the SafeUnsubscribe link at the bottom of this email, but we hope you will stay with us and take a moment each month to learn about new developments at The Methodology Center.

I hope you enjoy eNews!

Linda M. Collins, Ph.D.
Director, The Methodology Center
Penn State University

 

 
2011 Summer Institute on Innovative Methods

Dr. Linda Collins, Director of The Methodology Center, will be teaching this year's Summer Institute on Innovative Methods on the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST), which was the topic of her recent presidential address at the annual conference for SPR (Society for Prevention Research). The Institute will be held September 8-9, 2011 just outside of Washington DC at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. The deadline for applications is Friday, July 1.

Read more or register for the institute.

 

 
New software for intensive longitudinal data

Time-Varying Effects Model MacroThe TVEM (Time-Varying Effect Model) SAS macro is an excellent tool for estimating the coefficient functions in TVEMs for intensive longitudinal data (longitudinal data with more frequent measurements than traditional panel data). Traditional analytic methods assume that covariates have constant effects on a time-varying outcome. The TVEM SAS macro is able to estimate the time-varying effects of covariates. This macro allows researchers to answer a broad array of research questions about how relationships change over time.

Read more or download the macro.

 

 
New software for latent class analysis (LCA) with a distal outcome

Distal Outcome Excel CalculatorThe LCA with a Distal Outcome Excel Calculator allows users to estimate the probability of a distal outcome as predicted by latent class membership at an earlier time. This model-based approach simultaneously estimates the latent class model and its association with a distal outcome. To read an article that uses the calculator, click here.

Read more or download the Excel calculator.

 

 

June featured article

June Featured Article

Modeling multiple risks during infancy to predict quality of the caregiving environment: Contributions of a person-centered approach

Stephanie T. Lanza, Brittany L. Rhoades, Mark T. Greenberg, Martha Cox, & The Family Life Project Key Investigators

In rural America, infants who grow up in poverty are often exposed to many risks. Unfortunately, it is impossible to isolate the impact of individual risk factors because they co-occur so frequently. Understanding the interactions between these risks can help researchers target factors to prevent later academic failure and other problems. This article compares several methods, both variable-centered and person-centered, for modeling multiple risk factors during infancy to predict the quality of caregiving environments at six months of age. Four approaches to multiple-risk analysis were compared: a bivariate approach, multiple regression analysis, the cumulative risk index, and latent class analysis (LCA).

Read more...

 

Upcoming workshops

Susan Murphy and Daniel Almirall

Methodology Center researchers Susan Murphy and Daniel Almirall are running several workshops on methodological approaches for empirical development of adaptive interventions.

See the list of workshops.

 

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