I came into KU with an M.S. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Much of my research interests focus on traditional I/O topics such as employee selection, performance evaluation, and job analysis, but I am also interested in psychometric research in areas such as applications of item response theory, factor analysis, and test equating. I am currently researching aberrant response patterns as an indicator of test cheating. I work as a GTA for PSYC 650/790: Statistical Methods in Psychology, and I also work in the Psychometrics Department at Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. I live with my wife and children in Olathe, KS.

I am currently enrolled in both the quantitative and developmental psychology programs at KU. My primary research interests are self-regulation and the development of morality in young children. My quantitative interest is in structural equation modeling, though future work is aimed at examining nonlinear dynamical systems.

I am originally from the Ozark Mountain region of North Central Arkansas. Before attending KU I received a B.A. in psychology from Lyon College in 2004 and a M.S. in experimental psychology from Emporia State University in 2006. I am currently a second year quantitative student working under the direction of Todd D. Little, Ph.D. I am also a graduate research assistant for the Kansas Early Head Start Evaluation Project lead by Christopher L. Smith, Ph.D. My current research interests include program evaluation and missing data. In my spare time, I enjoy fishing, running, and biking.

My primary research interest is in decision-making and discrete-choice models, with extensions to sequential choice and group process models, using game theory and social choice frameworks. I am particularly interested in the application of these models to the analysis of public policy.

My primary research interests include applying structural equation modeling techniques (i.e. latent growth curve modeling, dynamic p-technique modeling) to time series data in examining interindividual differences in intraindividual change.  I’m currently working on a study of daily mood fluctuation to evaluate how daily events, life stressors and other mood/emotion-relevant characteristics affect mood change and growth patterns.  Other substantive interests include the cognitive appraisal and regulation of emotion.

I hold a 50% GRA appointment working at Advanced Statistical Methods (ASM) Core in the Center for Biobehavioral Neurosciences in Communication Disorders (BNCD).

My primary research interests are in applications of Item Response Theory (IRT) and Structural Equation Models (SEM) for solving psychometric and educational problems including equating, measurement invariance, and differential item functioning (DIF). Additional areas of interest include applications of categorical data analysis, hierarchical data analysis (i.e., mediation and moderation), IRT, and SEM to educational and organizational research. My recent projects involve the application and development of SEM models, which incorporate applied techniques to identifying individual and sociocontextual differences. Currently, I am conducting a simulation study that examines how well MIMIC models of different identification techniques work in terms of correct and incorrect DIF identification.

My quantitative interests include: structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, interdependent data analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and mediation models. Currently, there are a number of overlapping themes in my research: 1) ways to reconsider time in traditional panel models, 2) mediation in longitudinal models, and 3) models for interdependent data analysis. My developmental interests focus on the parent-child relationship and the reciprocal effects that parents and children have on one another.

I came to KU from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where I spent two years teaching math (Calculus I-III and a graduate course in mathematical statistics). My prior graduate work was in mathematics/statistics (MS, Missouri State; NSF Graduate Fellowship, Iowa State) and social psychology (MA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign).

I am interested in statistics generally, and especially in mathematical statistics, mixed model theory, and psychometrics (including item response theory and multiple classification models). At present I am teaching Statistical Methods in Psychology I-II.

My hobbies include reading (Winston Churchill, C. S. Lewis, and Paul Johnson are favorites) and playing an occasional jazz piano gig. I live in Kansas City, Missouri with my wife, three-year-old son, and baby daughter.

Degree Earned: MA 2008
Thesis Title:
Email: libsmcco@gmail.com
Advisor: Todd D. Little
Current Position: Portfolio Administrator, D.A. Davidson Co., Great Falls, MT

Degree Earned: PH D
Thesis Title:
Email:SAWALAGM@uwec.edu
Advisor: Todd D. Little
Current Position: Assistant professor of psychology at the University Of Wisconsin / Eau Claire

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2002
Thesis Title:
Email:jbovaird2@unl.edu
Advisor: Susan Embretson
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2006
Thesis Title:
Email:ashley_buonasera@hotmail.com
Advisor: Todd D. Little
Current Position: Senior Manager, Workforce Analytics, Marriott Corporation

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2003
Thesis Title:
Email: lhoffman2@unlnotes.unl.edu
Advisor:Paul Atchley
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Degree Earned: Ph.D 2007
Thesis Title: Test Taking strategies that will affect your score: Fact or fiction?
Email: jivie@csufresno.edu
Advisor: Susan Embretson
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Cal State Fresno

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2000
Thesis Title:
Email: kschmidt@virginia.edu
Advisor: Susan Embretson
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Virginia

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2004
Thesis Title:
Email:
Advisor: Susan Embretson
Current Position: Unknown

Degree Earned:Ph.D 2003
Thesis Title:
Email: yang50@indiana.edu
Advisor: Susan Embretson
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Indiana University