Papers by Frances Chumney
We hypothesised that men would do better than women on difficult tasks pertaining to the geograph... more We hypothesised that men would do better than women on difficult tasks pertaining to the geography of the United States. Undergraduates from the southeastern United States (mostly white) comprised five groups (n=125-127 each). One group was instructed to list the 50 states and the 25 largest cities from memory; a second group additionally received an outline map of the United States as an aid; a third group labelled each of the states within their outlines on a map of the United States and labeled the 25 largest cities on a second map of the United States; a fourth group wrote the name of the states and cities on separated and randomly presented outlines of the states; and the fifth group performed a map reproduction task. Percent correctly identified was lower for the last three tasks and men did significantly better for states and cities on the map-labelling (context-present) and the fragmented states (context-absent) tasks. The results suggested that the men performed better on t...
Without measurement, forward progress would not be possible in educational or other research cont... more Without measurement, forward progress would not be possible in educational or other research contexts. Measurement, the process by which a variable is operationalized for the purpose of describing that variable in a quantitative manner (Hills, 1981; Kane, 2001), serves as the link between questions and answers. While the process of measurement bridges the gap between research objectives/questions and the data that is collected, measurement techniques (i.e., analytical approaches) bridge the gap between data and conclusions. Sound research is founded on three underlying concepts which serve as pillars to its structure: theoretical relevance, a sound process of measurement, and appropriate analytic methods. Theoretical relevance is important in that it ties new research to existing research and should guide the development of research questions and hypotheses. However, theoretical relevance is only a part of measurement insofar as it leads to the identification of key variables to be ...
Autism & Developmental Language Impairments
Background and aims This study investigated timing of diagnosis for African American (n = 50) and... more Background and aims This study investigated timing of diagnosis for African American (n = 50) and European American (n = 118) children with autism spectrum disorder in a North Carolina sample. Methods Using survey methods, a total of 168 North Carolina families were recruited. Results The two racially diverse groups did not differ significantly in the age at diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (African American: M = 49.72, SD = 25.83; European American: M = 43.78, SD = 20.16; t(75) = 1.45, p = .15, 95% CI [−14.10, 2.22], d = .27; BF10 = .582). Exploratory analyses revealed that within the African American sample, the age of diagnosis was positively correlated with parental ratings of Social Motivation from the Social Responsiveness Scale ( r = .30, p 0.05) for the European American sample. Additionally, children who received another initial diagnostic label had a later age of diagnosis for autism spectrum disorder. This finding had a larger effect size in the African-American gro...
Rural schools face significant challenges in providing effective professional development (PD) op... more Rural schools face significant challenges in providing effective professional development (PD) opportunities for teachers, including geographic isolation, limited availability of PD resources, and the lack of available staff to support PD efforts (e.g., coaches, consultants, substitute teachers for teacher released time). Physical distance has been identified as a major deterrent for rural schools to provide PD to teachers (Hansen, 2009; Rude & Brewer, 2003; Weitzenkamp, Howe, Steckelberg, & Radcliffe, 2003). In addition to being geographically isolated, rural teachers may have to deal with a lack of teaching resources, as well as out-of-date classrooms and labs (Lynch, 2000; Marlow & Cooper, 2008). They often teach multiple grades and multiple subjects and wear many hats within the school, including coach, bus driver, and director for multiple extracurricular activities (Minner, Berns, Century, & Hiles, 2003). In general, their salaries are less than their non-rural counterparts (S...
Principal components analysis and factor analysis are common methods used to analyze groups of va... more Principal components analysis and factor analysis are common methods used to analyze groups of variables for the purpose of reducing them into subsets represented by latent constructs (Bartholomew, 1984; Grimm & Yarnold, 1995). Even though PCA shares some important characteristics with factor analytic methods such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the similarities between the two types of methods are superficial. The most important distinction to make is that PCA is a descriptive method, whereas EFA and CFA are modeling techniques (Unkel & Trendafilov, 2010). Together, PCA, EFA, and CFA are used to analyze multiple variables for the purposes of data reduction, scale construction and improvement, and evaluation of validity and psychometric utility describes the appropriate problems to which each might be correctly applied, and discusses the similarities and differences between these three methods. Principal components analysis (PCA; Goodall,...
Science teachers’ experiences, attitudes, perceptions, concerns, and support needs related to the... more Science teachers’ experiences, attitudes, perceptions, concerns, and support needs related to the use of educational computer games were investigated in this study. Data were collected from an online survey, which was completed by 111 science teachers. The results showed that 73% of participants had used computer games in teaching. Participants who had used computer games in teaching had more positive attitudes toward the use of educational computer games in the classroom than those who had not used games. Middle school teachers were more confident and reported a higher level of perceived benefits than did high school teachers. Potential distractions appeared to be the major concern the participants had about using computer games in the classroom. The major barriers to integrating educational computer games into the classroom included lack of computers, lack of time, time needed for preparation for school and national high-stakes testing, and lack of knowledge about science games. P...
The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the effects of a family-school partne... more The present study is a large-scale randomized trial testing the effects of a family-school partnership model (i.e., Conjoint Behavioral Consultation, CBC) for promoting behavioral competence and decreasing problem behaviors of children identified by their teachers as disruptive. CBC is a structured approach to problem-solving that involves consultants, parents, and teachers. The effects of CBC on family variables that are commonly associated with important outcomes among school-aged children (i.e., family involvement and parent competence in problem solving), as well as child outcomes at home, were evaluated. Participants were 207 children with disruptive behaviors from 91 classrooms in 21 schools in kindergarten through grade 3 and their parents and teachers. Results indicated that there were significantly different increases in home-school communication and parent competence in problem solving for participants in the CBC relative to control group. Likewise, compared to children in...
I am lucky to have had an amazing support system throughout my education. From teachers and facul... more I am lucky to have had an amazing support system throughout my education. From teachers and faculty advisers, to friends and family, my journey has been filled with caring, creative individuals who inspired and supported me along the way. I would like to thank my graduate adviser, Dr. James Bovaird, for always acting in my best interests, but not hovering too closely. I would also like to thank the other members of my supervisory committee, Drs. Charles Ansorge, Jolene Smyth, and Greg Welch, for their support and flexibility in the time before, leading up to, and during my whirlwind dissertation. I cannot name everyone who has been there for me along the way, but I am grateful to fellow graduate students who kept me laughing through the final countdown. I would not have made it to the end of this journey without the people who shared my excitement, endured my anxiety, tolerated my neurotic text messages, and validated all the emotions I had along the way whether or not they were justified. For helping me battle those 99 luftballons, I offer my heartfelt appreciation to my sister, Cynthia Estep, and fellow graduate student Natalie Koziol. This most recent journey has been a long and winding adventure. My children, Amelia and Alex, made the crazy trip nothing short of magical. Thank you both for the endless support, giggles, cuddles, and maniacal laughter. You are amazing, unique people who are never afraid to show your true colors. Finally, I wish to thank my mother, Sandra Chumney, for everything she has done to help me reach this goal. Because of you, Mom, I always knew my children were with someone who loved them, and that made it possible to focus on other responsibilities. I appreciate you for always reminding me to slow down, but never trying to break my stride.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Symposium on Partial Least Squares Path Modeling - The Conference for PLS Users, 2015
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of Partial Least Squares under lessthan... more The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of Partial Least Squares under lessthan-ideal conditions selected to imitate real-world data. A simulation study with a 3×3×2×2 design was conducted. The design and data features of interest were sample size (50, 300, 1000), number of items per latent variable (3, 5, 7), degree of model misspecification (correctly specified, misspecified), and nature of the relationships between items and latent variables in the measurement models (reflective, formative). Bias of model parameter estimates, and bias and accuracy of standard error estimates were examined to evaluate the performance of PLS for each experimental condition.
Current Research in Psychology, 2012
Dangerous driving behavior is particularly difficult to study for many reasons. Researchers must ... more Dangerous driving behavior is particularly difficult to study for many reasons. Researchers must be creative to capture meaningful data, but innovative techniques often meet with problems that might be solved through the broader use by others. The researchers generally lack a central location from which to review and choose from past methods. This article reviews the techniques used to study driver behavior, particularly in the areas of aggressive and other types of dangerous driving. Problems in the literature are noted, including a lack of definitional consistency and the need for theoretical frameworks. While this presentation focuses primarily on problems in studying aggressive driving, the methods covered are more or less applicable to all manner of driver behavior issues, including risk-taking, drowsy driving, attention problems, training efficacy and age-related issues at both ends of the spectrum. This study disseminates information on a wide array of driver behavior study methods, including self-report, observation, simulation and instrumented vehicles and researchers a means to quickly review and choose from current approaches. Advancement in the field can depend upon the development of innovative methods of investigation and this study is meant to begin many conversations that can hopefully further such developments.
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Papers by Frances Chumney