Area Description and Program Goals
Quantitative psychology focuses on the use, development, and teaching of advanced statistical methods for social and behavioral research. The integration of sophisticated analytic methods and technical computing with social and behavioral research remains a highly sought after profile for applied researchers, both in the public and private sectors.
The program at Portland State University is designed to develop students technical acumen while also cultivating an appreciation and familiarity with substantive issues in Psychology. We offer training in Applied Quantitative Psychology which emphasizes the development of skills related to various aspects of data from applied research, spanning design, collection, entry, validation, visualization, exploration, and modeling. Students receive training in technical and theoretical aspects of data analysis with particular emphasis on the use of modern standard and modern topics in statistical analysis, including structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, psychometrics, longitudinal analyses, and meta-analysis. Computer application with conventional and open-source software is an important component of student learning.
Students will work toward contributing to applied problems through the appropriate use, integration, and development of analytic techniques and tools needed in Psychological science. Students are required and have a variety of opportunities to gain experience with applied psychological research from among the four substantive areas available in the department: Community Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and Social Psychology.
Main Contact:
Joel Steele
j.s.steele@pdx.edu
503-725-3946
Faculty
Core Faculty
- Todd Bodner, Ph.D.
- Focus: Field experiments, measurement, meta-analysis
- Jason Newsom, Ph.D.
- Focus: structural equation modeling, multilevel models, longitudinal analysis
- Liu-Qin Yang, Ph.D.
- Focus: Measurement, multilevel analysis, survey design, daily diary methods
Curriculum
Graduate Seminars
- PSY 5/621 Univariate Quantitative Methods
- PSY 5/622 Multiple Regression and Multivariate Methods
- PSY 5/624 Research Design in Applied Psychology
Electives
- PSY 5/610 HLM for Longitudinal Data Analysis
- PSY 5/610 SEM for Longitudinal Data Analysis
- PSY 5/610 Introduction to Statistical Computing with R
- PSY 5/623 Structural Equation Modeling
- PSY 5/626 Multilevel Regression Modeling
- PSY 5/625 Categorical Data Analysis
- PSY 5/695 Psychological Measurement
Resources