Sample Biographies
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Robert A. Bjork Wendy Castleman Robert Hoffman Mark McDaniel Gregory E. Monaco |
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Helga Noice Victoria Romero Ann Speed Gordon Willis Dan Wright |
Gordon Willis
Professional Biography: Gordon Willis received his Masters and PhD from Northwestern University, Department of Psychology. He is currently Cognitive Psychologist in the Applied Research Program, National Cancer Institute, at NIH. He serves as a consultant to both intramural and extramural researchers on issues of questionnaire design, survey pretesting, cognitive interviewing, and other qualitative means for evaluating survey questionnaires. His work relies heavily on a cognitive model of the survey response process. Lately he has become increasingly engaged in the cross-cultural aspects of survey methods, particularly the use of qualitative interviewing techniques to assess subtle differences in item function across disparate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups.Personal Statement: What I find most engaging about my research is that the work is in basis interdisciplinary – and brings together my background training and interests in several areas, including psychology, health, statistics, biology, and anthropology. I have the opportunity to constantly attempt to innovate in the application of cognitive techniques; to develop new methods; and to conduct very fascinating research to assess the ways in which people are actually thinking about survey questions, ‘under the surface.” Additionally, I am able to contribute to a very worthy overall endeavor – the control and eventual eradication of cancer.
I did not choose applied research; applied research chose me. My adviser’s wife was also a Professor at Northwestern, and needed a research assistant to assess the ways in which young children understand and solve math word problems – so, an applied area of psychology. Later my wife noticed an advertisement for a Federal government position that emphasized the use of cognitive methods to understand the manner in which survey respondents understand and answer survey questions, and there seemed to be a connection between these areas. Taking the position in the government created a jump to the health research field, where I have remained ever since. The work remains very applied in nature, as the fundamental challenge – taking into account thought processes when designing materials for human consumption – has persisted.
Advice? Don’t get locked into assumptions about where you will end up, based on where you start out in school. If you are potentially interested in applying psychology beyond the strict realm of the field of psychology, narrowly defined, learn as much as you can about research methodology generally, and be sensitive to the parallels that exist within other fields (epidemiology, education, evaluation, law enforcement) where the language may differ, but the problems are similar. Look for internships or job opportunities that may be outside of your usual “zone of consideration”. In particular, avoid the tendency to become provincial in your thinking about research – when researchers in other fields use strange vocabularies and appear to be ‘doing things all wrong’, try to consider their point of view, and figure out how your perspective as a psychologist may be able to contribute, and how you can clear the existing communication barriers. Don’t become “stovepiped” – that is, don’t associate only with other psychology students and psych profs, and only go to psych conferences. Finally, don’t try to choose your direction based on an assessment of where you’re going to be able to find a job – that’s impossible to predict, and could be the wrong direction anyway. Choose something you’re really interested in, and you’ll be in a good position to find a way to create a career out of it.
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