COLLEGE OF EDUCATION & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Texas A&M University

Brossart: APA Advance Training In Nonlinear Methods Can Affect Research

7/12/07

By Lauren Rouse

Dan Brossart, associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, describes nonlinear methods as an approach or outlook that tries to understand how dynamical systems work. He says the approach includes some statistical methods, but the emphasis in placed on an increased understanding of variability, rather than an attempt at controlling it or viewing it as error. 

Brossart attended a one-week American Psychological Association "Advance Training Institute in Nonlinear Methods for Psychological Science" at the University of Cincinnati. 

"It's probably too soon to tell but [the training] has definitely impacted the way I view what's possible with research, and the workshop has opened up new ways of thinking about research and data analysis for me," Brossart said. "Nonlinear methods can show how the dynamical nature of certain behaviors reveal a good deal of rich information that cannot be extracted with more familiar analyses." 

He adds that one of the first things he thought of was that the students need to know this. 

"To produce the best trained counseling psychologists who can impact society with relevant research, our students need a strong set of research skills, and at a research university like Texas A&M, they need to be exposed to the newest methods and techniques," Brossart said. "Nonlinear methods definitely fall in that category. Its exciting to think how adding this material will challenge and expand the ways they think about research."

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