The Institute for Social and Behavioral Research (ISBR) is an interdisciplinary research center, the goal of which is to facilitate state-of-the-art research in the social sciences. Faculty from psychology, sociology, human development, political science, education, and economics come together at ISBR to address important questions about human behavior.
Faculty who have used ISBR’s grant preparation services agree that taking advantage of ISBR’s free budget preparation, text formatting, and electronic grant-submission assistance greatly reduces the amount of time required to complete and submit grant applications.
Although ISBR’s traditional research strength has been long-term longitudinal studies of families and observational studies of marital and family interaction, faculty research interests are wide-ranging and ever-expanding. Examples include work on conceptions of honor across cultures, the effects of violent video games on youth, and the social networking patterns of female small business owners in small rural towns.
ISBR’s Data Acquisition Unit is expert at recruiting, interviewing, and retaining research participants. Recently, ISBR scientists have begun to include genetic variables in their studies of behavior over time.
ISBR’s Observational Coding Unit meets the highest standards of inter-rater reliability in its application of standardized rating systems to quantify important dimensions of videotaped interpersonal interactions.
Assistance is also available on research design and statistical analysis through ISBR’s Research Methods Unit. Workshops are offered on structural equation modeling and other advanced data analysis techniques.
