September 2016, Society Opening Event: Journal Paper Discussion
“Why Most Published Research Findings Are False” by John P.A. Ioannidis (2005)
Time: 11am-noon, September 29, 2016 (Thursday)
Location: Scarfe Library Block Room 278 (the block behind Education Library)
Moderator: Dr. Yan Liu
Guest speaker panel:
Harlan Campbell (PhD Candidate, Department of Statistics)
Dr. Amery Wu (Assistant Professor, MERM program, Faculty of Education)
Dr. Bruno Zumbo (Professor, MERM program, Faculty of Education)
We will discuss Ioannidis’ paper and ask questions: How does Ioannidis’ paper inform our research practices? Are most published findings false? That is a bold claim. We will have opening remarks by the panel members and then discussion among all the participants. Our goal is to learn from each other and to create a community of scholars interested in quantitative methods.
October 2016, Journal Paper Discussion
“Understanding and Using Mediators and Moderators” by Amery D. Wu and Bruno D. Zumbo (2008)
Time: 11am-noon, October 27, 2016 (Thursday)
Location: Scarfe Library Block Room 278
Moderator:
Oscar Olvera (Ph.D. Candidate, MERM program, Faculty of Education)
Discussion panelists:
Dr. Daniel Cox (Assistant Professor, CNPS program, Faculty of Education)
Dr. Yan Liu (Assistant Professor, MERM program, Faculty of Education)
We will discuss the conceptual details and empirical use of mediators and moderators in psychology and the social sciences. Wu and Zumbo (2008) is good background reading for this discussion — the Wu and Zumbo paper provides a description of mediators and moderators as well as a discussion of how to conduct mediation and moderation analyses. You are welcome to bring examples to share with us.
November 2016, Research Presentations
Making Causal Inference: Studies Using Mediation Models or Randomized Controlled Trial Design
Time: 11am-noon, November 17, 2016 (Thursday)
Location: Scarfe Library Block Room 278
Moderator: Mauricio Villalobos (Ph.D. student, MERM, ECPS)
Speakers:
Julia O’Loughlin (Ph.D. student, Counselling Psychology, ECPS)
Geralyn Ruissen (Ph.D. student, Sports Psychology, School of Kinesiology)
Researchers have always attempted to make causal inferences, but we need to know when and how to make causal inferences. We will have further discussions on this topic.
“Attachment Avoidance, Alexithymia, and Gender: Examining their Link with Emotional Disclosure Tendencies and Event-Specific Disclosure” by Julia O’Loughlin
Abstract: To bridge the gap in the literature, Julia and her colleagues investigated the possible mediating effect of alexithymia on the relation between attachment avoidance and emotional disclosure. They also evaluated whether gender moderated the relation between attachment avoidance and alexithymia and alexithymia and emotional disclosure, respectively. Additionally, daily diary methodology was used to examine how attachment avoidance and alexithymia predicted participants’ disclosure relating to actual events, with varying degrees of emotional intensity.
“Comparing Acts of Contrasting’: Effects of an Affective Mental Contrasting Intervention on Physical Activity” by Geralyn Ruissen
Abstract: Using a randomized controlled trial design, Geralyn and her colleagues compared the relative efficacy of a mental contrasting intervention that targeted affective judgments associated with physical activity, in relation to a mental contrasting intervention that targeted instrumental judgments, and a ‘standard’ mental contrasting intervention.
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