About me

    About Me

    As a quantitative psychologist and research leader, I am passionate about harnessing the power of data to drive innovation and inform decision-making. My career is built on a forward-thinking vision that blends leadership with cutting-edge technical expertise. I am dedicated to leading teams and organizations into a data-centric future.

    Vision for the Future of Data

    Embracing the New Data Landscape

    The world of data is changing rapidly, offering unprecedented opportunities to optimize how we analyze and use information. With work no longer confined to physical locations and rigid schedules, we can strategically leverage human and technological resources for better data-driven decisions. Our goal is to design databases that provide secure, timely, and user-friendly access to data, enriched by emerging technologies that make it accessible anywhere, anytime.

    Adapting to Cloud-Based Realities

    With the shift to cloud-based platforms, mastering cloud data access and collaboration is essential. Effective leadership is crucial to keep teams focused on goals while ensuring data integrity. Technical skills are key to collecting, analyzing, and leveraging data in innovative ways to answer both emerging and predefined questions. This requires a multifaceted approach, including research, clinical models, data mining, predictive methodologies, and program evaluation.

    Leadership Philosophy

    Building a Future-Ready Team

    Throughout my career, I have embraced leadership roles grounded in strong personal and professional relationships. My mission is to empower teams to achieve sustainable growth in services, funding, staff satisfaction, and strategic partnerships.

    Key Leadership Priorities:

    1. Strategic Planning: Guiding organizations with clear, actionable strategies.
      • Example: Crafting a five-year strategic plan that aligns team goals with the organizations mission and future market trends.
    2. Productivity and Quality: Ensuring efficiency and excellence in operations.
      • Example: Revise existing or implementing new project management tool(s) that boost team productivity and project quality.
    3. Funding and Partnerships: Cultivating financial support and strategic alliances.
      • Example: Securing research grants through strategic partnerships and stakeholder engagement.
    4. Reflection: Promoting a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
      • Example: Introducing regular team retrospectives to reflect on successes and areas for improvement, leading to continuous process enhancements.
    5. Mentoring: Developing team member potential for growth.
      • Example: Establishing a mentoring program that pairs junior staff with experienced leaders, resulting in higher employee satisfaction and retention.

    My leadership philosophy centers on nurturing relationships, making data-driven decisions, and committing to growth and excellence.

    Productivity and Quality

    Driving Analytical Excellence

    My mission is to provide responsive, efficient, and high-quality analytical support. This involves collecting detailed information about research activities and analyzing it using various metrics. These metrics help evaluate progress and identify areas for improvement.

    For Research Staff:

    1. Grant Submission Engagement: Percentage of staff involved in grant proposals.
      • Example: Increasing the percentage of staff engaged in grant submissions from 20% to 80% within three years.
    2. Project Load Distribution: Average workload among staff.
      • Example: Balancing the number of projects per staff member to ensure equitable distribution and prevent burnout.
    3. Research Dissemination: Tally of grants, publications, presentations, and other activities.
      • Example: Increasing the number of team publications in high-impact journals from 5 to 31 over two years.
    4. Qualitative Feedback: Assessments based on feedback from stakeholders and peers.
      • Example: Implementing a 360-degree feedback system to gather comprehensive evaluations of staff performance.
    5. Billable Time: Percentage of time spent on billable activities.
      • Example: Optimizing staff schedules to increase billable time from 60% to 75%.

    For Research Leaders:

    1. Strategic Plan Success: Percentage of successfully executed strategic plans.
      • Example: Achieving an 80% success rate in executing strategic plans over a five-year period.
    2. Productivity Enhancement: Improvement in research productivity.
      • Example: Enhancing research productivity by 30% through new data analysis tools and methodologies.
    3. Funding Success: Total research funding secured.
      • Example: Securing over $5 million in research funding through strategic grant applications and partnerships.
    4. Leadership Feedback: Effectiveness and team morale ratings.
      • Example: Achieving high leadership effectiveness scores from team members in annual surveys.
    5. Citation Impact: Number of citations indicating research impact.
      • Example: Increasing the number of citations for team publications by 50% through targeted dissemination strategies.
    6. Collaboration Growth: Expansion of collaboration networks.
      • Example: Expanding collaboration networks by partnering with 10 new research groups over three years.
    7. Invited Talks: Invitations to deliver talks and keynotes.
      • Example: Receiving invitations to deliver keynotes at six major conferences in one year.
    8. Research Output Increase: Contribution to increased research output.
      • Example: Doubling the research output of the team by introducing efficient workflows and encouraging innovative research approaches.
    9. Innovation Metrics: Development of new methodologies or products.
      • Example: Developing three new research methodologies widely adopted by the academic community.

    Technical Expertise

    Pioneering Statistical and Quantitative Methods

    My research focuses on developing innovative statistical methods to bridge the gap between controlled experimental simulations and real-world applications. Addressing challenges like missing data has been a key area of my work, earning recognition and grants from esteemed organizations.

    Selected Publications:

    1. Howard, W. J., Rhemtulla, M., & Little, T. D. (2015). “Using principal component analysis (PCA) to obtain auxiliary variables for missing data in large data sets.” Multivariate Behavioral Research, 50(3), 285-299. [Impact Factor 3.691]
      • Example: Demonstrated a new approach to handling missing data, widely adopted by researchers in various fields.
    2. Nicholson, J., Deboeck, P. R., & Howard, W. J. (2017). “Attrition in developmental psychology: A review of modern missing data reporting and practices.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 143-153. [Impact Factor 1.760]
      • Example: Provided best practices for reporting missing data, influencing guidelines for multiple journals.
    3. Zhou, C., Gao, Y., Howard, W. J. (2017). “Evaluation of combining bootstrap with multiple imputation using R on Knights Landing platform.” Poster presented at the 4th International Conference on Cyber Security and Cloud Computing, New York, New York.
      • Example: Showcased a novel method combining bootstrap and multiple imputation, enhancing data analysis accuracy.

    Conclusion

    My journey as a quantitative psychologist and research leader is driven by a commitment to innovation, leadership, and technical excellence. By embracing the evolving data landscape, I aim to lead teams and organizations toward a future where data-driven decisions are at the forefront of success.