Dr B's Research Experience

Prevention Science

Doctoral Coordinator for Communities That Care at the Prevention Research Center at Penn State.
​Supervised by Prof Dr Mark Feinberg

Research Expertise / Data Analytics

Instrument Development

  • Understanding needs of client
  • Determining research goals and hypotheses, and mapping out the “Big Picture”
  • Review of literature and instruments
  • Research on validity and reliability of instruments
  • Testing scales in available datasets
  • Selection of items and scales based on research objectives and hypotheses being tested
  • Adapting wording of items or language to local culture / context
  • Formatting questionnaire and ensuring visually appealing and easy layout
  • Pilot testing instrument for clarity and content validity
  • Determining burden of questionnaire on participants (e.g. amount of time needed).
  • Psychometrics of items and scales
  • Reformatting questionnaire and checking layout
  • Launch of instrument

Research Partnership Development

Strategic partnerships developed in past projects:
  • UNICEF
  • University’s Department of Psychology
  • Nestle
  • The Malaysian Ministry of Education
  • School principals and counselors
  • The National Zoo
  • Actors Studio
  • External trainers

Applied Research Intervention Development

For example, in Mentoring Malaysia (MM), I developed the following:
  • Intervention framework
  • Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) learning activities
  • Training modules for youth mentors in promoting Positive Youth Development
  • Partnership development 
  • Instrument development 
  • Training for RAs

Grant Development

  • Needs assessment, Literature Review & Research design
  • Budget development
  • Proposal Development
  • Research on grant funding prospects
  • Applications to key funders
  • Discussions and meetings with key funders
  • Agreement or contract with funders

Financial Management

  • Developing receiving network at the university for receiving and managing grants
  • Developing internal financial management and tracking system that includes designing the spreadsheet, appointing a person to track expenses, logging and filing all receipts and expenses, checking with Bursary that numbers match-up
  • Staff recruitment & managing salaries of team members hired
  • Managing procurement such as hardware or software
  • Managing internal and external vendors
  • Managing expenditure on project implementation
  • Generating periodic financial reports for the university
  • Generating financial reports for grant funders as it maps on to agreed deliverables

Level of Research

  • Systems level (i.e., coalition functioning of key community leaders)
  • Individual level (i.e., adolescents within secondary schools)

Human Participants Procedures

  • Meetings and discussion with various internal and external parties concerned for necessary approvals.
  • Completing necessary documentation for university Human Subjects approval in ensuring ethical research.
  • Developing consent procedures and documents for government, school and individual participants.

Steps in Data Management

  • Data Collection & Storage
  • Data Entry
  • Data Merging
  • Data Checking
  • Creating datasets in SPSS and SAS for analyses
  • Data cleaning – e.g. addressing missing data

Data Collection Preparation

  • Printing required copies for each set
  • Serial coding (for tracking)
  • Developing data collection guide for RAs that includes how to introduce the questionnaire and answers to possible questions or clarifications that participants may ask.
  • Preparing survey bags for RAs with surveys, materials (e.g. pencils, erasers, sharpeners), rubber-bands.
  • Participant list
  • Feedback form for any incidences or challenges faced by RAs.

Data Collection & Management

  • Training of RAs for data collection – including how to manage large group participation sessions (e.g. classroom management of adolescents)
  • Training of RAs for data entry
  • Training of RAs for data checking 

Data Entry Preparation

  • Variable labeling
  • Data entry spreadsheet development
  • Checklist for RAs

Software Used

  • SAS
  • SPSS
  • AMOS
  • MS Suite

Research Analyses

  • Writing SAS codes for various types of analyses
  • Psychometric analyses on items and scales
  • Correlational analyses
  • Exploratory Factor Analysis
  • Confirmatory Factor Analysis
  • Structural Equation Modeling
  • ANOVA & T-test
  • Hierarchical Linear Regression
  • Multilevel Modeling

Presentations & Publications

  • Literature Review
  • Making sense of research findings in the face of existing literature
  • Determining and Formatting how to display results so as it provides useful information and is easy to understand
  • Collaborating with methodologists / statisticians
  • Generating Technical Reports for team members
  • Presenting reports to key stakeholders such as UN and Government officials
  • Manuscript development
  • Submission of manuscript to professional conferences
  • Submission of manuscript to peer-reviewed journals
  • Presentation at conferences and meetings

Research Training

HDFS536/PSY536 Research Methods in Developmental Processes
Methodological issues in research on varying stages of development across the individual life span. 

HDFS519 Methods of Statistical Analysis in Human Development
An overview of basic statistical concepts, models, and methods for the analysis of development and change. In-depth study of linear regression with one or more predictors.  Methods for estimating, and making inferences about, model parameters, and techniques for assessing model fit. 

HDFS503 Human Development Intervention
A broad introduction to theory, methods and research in Prevention Science

HDFS508 Best Practices in Intervention
It covered interventions from the domains of prevention and treatment and discussed interventions designed to prevent or remedy a variety of behavioral and mental health problems and/or to build health and resilience across the lifespan. Integrating developmental theory, basic developmental processes, developmental psychopathology, clinical intervention and evaluation.
HDFS526/PSY526 Measurement in Human Development 
Principles and methods for assessment of human developmental processes across the life span. This course was structured around four major topic areas: classical test theory; generalizability theory; item response theory; and factor analysis.  

HDFS517 Multivariate Study of Change and Human Development 
Models of development and change derived from empirical research utilizing multivariate research design and procedures. 

A paper was developed as part of class requirement (unpublished). Latent Growth Curve Modeling using SEM to predict trajectory of adolescent depression from age 13 to age 15 using average family support across years and gender. Secondary data was obtained from the Colorado Adoption Project.

HDFS506 Program Evaluation
Design and evaluation of programs in a wide range of human services (e.g., health care, social services, education). It provided an introduction to theory and application of program evaluation, with focused attention to the details of how such work can be proposed and conducted. 

Other at MA Level
Psychological Assessment, Test Administration