The Methodology Center was a force for innovation and rigor in quantitative research methods for social, behavioral and health research in the College of Health and Human Development for more than a quarter of a century. Although the Center has sunset, the college’s commitment to advancing research methodology and for facilitating the integration of novel methods into applied research projects is unwavering.

Much of the methodological work from this landmark center has been archived or continues under a new umbrella. See below for details.

Methodological resources within the College of Health and Human Development

Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center (PRC)

The PRC is currently directed by Stephanie Lanza, formerly the scientific director of the Methodology Center. The PRC builds on the tradition of integrating innovative methods in applied work focused on informing and developing intervention programs that promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

Visit the PRC’s site.

Quantitative Developmental Systems Methodology Core (QuantDev)

With a focus on the measurement and modeling of intra-individual change and variability, the QuantDev is directed by Sy-Miin Chow.  QuantDev is a group of faculty in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) at Penn State who aim to stimulate, coordinate, support, and disseminate research and teaching about the use of quantitative methods in social science.

Researchers in QuantDev work to develop new methods for the study of human behavior and use them to study behavioral change. Additionally, QuantDev consults on and collaborates with a broad range of scientists in the social and behavioral sciences, physical sciences, engineering, computer science, and data sciences on research projects that span multiple time-scales and level of analysis with support from the HDFS department, the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), and the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS).

Learn more about QuantDev.

Methods Connector

In 2022, HHD will pilot a Methods Connector that will connect researchers from around the college with experts in relevant research methods. Look for more information in late fall editions of the HHD Digest.

Resources developed at The Methodology Center

• Download software developed at The Methodology Center from ScholarSphere.
• Access Methodology Center resources and website content using an archived version of the website created on May 24, 2021.

Current research from Methodology Center investigators

For the latest information about research methods that were studied and/or developed at The Methodology Center, please visit the appropriate site.

• To learn about optimizing interventions using the multiphase optimization strategy (MOST), visit Linda Collins’s website.
• To learn more about just-in-time adaptive interventions, visit Susan Murphy’s website.
• To learn about latent class modeling, visit Bethany Bray’s website.
• To learn about time-varying effect modeling, visit Stephanie Lanza’s website.
• To learn more about high-dimensional data analysis, visit Runze Li’s website.

This list was last updated in August 2021.