Osvaldo F. Morera, Ph.D.
I am formally trained as a quantitative psychologist and have the expertise and training to conduct the proposed analyses. At my university, I have taught courses in regression, experimental design, test theory, multivariate statistics, multilevel modeling and latent variable modeling and I am my department’s primary methodologist. I have published manuscripts using multilevel modeling, item response theory, latent variable models and regression techniques. Below is a sampling of some of my more methodological publications.
- Morera, O.F. & Stokes, S.M. (2016). Coefficient α as a Measure of Test Score Reliability: Review of 3 Popular Misconceptions. American Journal of Public Health, 106, 458-461.
- Morera, O.F. & Castro, F. G (2013). Important Considerations in Conducting Statistical Mediation Analyses. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 394-396.
- Maydeu-Olivares, A., Morera, O. F. & D'Zurilla, T. J. (1999). Using Graphical Methods in Assessing Measurement Invariance in Inventory Data. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 34, 397-420.
- Morera, O. F., Johnson, T. J., Freels, S., Parsons, J., Crittenden, K.S., Flay, B. R. & Warnecke, R. B. (1998). The Measure of Stage of Readiness to Change: Some Psychometric Considerations. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 182-186
Early in my career, I studied multi-criteria decision making and was recognized for this work (see above). Research for the last 60 years has shown that statistical (or actuarial decision making) outperforms judgments of expert judges. Along those lines, I am interested in assessing whether multi-criteria decisions need to be disaggregated into smaller parts, much like an actuarial decision. I am extending this interest in developing decision aids, based on the principle of decision disaggregation, to help patients make informed decisions about their health care.
- Morera, O.F. & Dawes, R.M. (2006). Clinical and Statistical Prediction after Fifty Years: A Dedication to Paul Meehl. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 19, 409-412.
- Morera, O.F., Kim, L.K., Fernandez, N.P., Urquidi, U., Gomez, Y., de la Torre, M. & Dolan, J.G. (2005, October). Decision Aids and Colorectal Cancer Screening Interest Decisions among Hispanic Patients. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making. San Francisco, CA.
- Morera, O.F. & Budescu, D.V. (2001). Random Error Reduction in Analytic Hierarchies: A Comparison of Holistic and Decompositional Decision Strategies. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 14, 223-242.
- Morera, O. F. & Budescu, D. V. (1998). A Psychometric Analysis of the “Divide and Conquer” Principle in Multi-Criteria Decision Making. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 75(3), 187-206.
I also identify myself as an applied psychometrician with interests in measurement invariance, test validation and methodology. I am primarily interested in ensuring that measures operate or function similarly across groups of individuals. The research articles I have published involve minority-related research, especially with Hispanic populations and the journals where these findings are published are relevant to their audiences.
- Frankowski, S.D., Lupo, A.K., Smith, B.A, Dane'el, Ramos, C & Morera, O.F. (2016). Developing and Testing a Scale to Measure Need for Drama. Personality and Individual Differences, 89, 192-201.
- Culhane, S.E., Morera, O.F., Watson, P.J., & Millsap, R. E. (2011). The Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire: A measurement invariance examination among US Anglos and US Hispanics. Assessment, 18, 88-94.
- De la Torre, M. T., Morera. O.F. & Wood, J. (2010). Measuring social problem solving in Spanish-dominant Hispanics using the Social Problem Solving Inventory-Revised. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 16, 501-506.
- Stoever, C.J., & Morera, O.F. (2007). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) Measure. Journal of Homosexuality, 52, 189-209.
- Morera, O. F., Culhane, S.E., Watson, P.J. & Skewes, M.C. (2005). Assessing the Reliability and Validity of the Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire Among U.S. Anglo and U.S. Hispanic Samples. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 58, 289-298.
I also use my quantitative training to evaluate interventions. Earlier in my career, I helped evaluate a smoking cessation intervention program that was focused on assisting women with a high school education or less quit smoking. We also developed an after school exercise program geared toward Mexican American children in El Paso that promoted both physical activity and learning how to identify healthy foods. The program was culturally adapted and several papers resulted from this intervention. We also conducted a survey of 1002 Hispanic households in El Paso to identify how health care is utilized in a border city.
- De Heer, H., Koehly, L., Pederson, R., & Morera, O.F. (2011). Everyone gets healthier: An Afterschool Health Promotion Program for Hispanic Elementary School Children. American Journal of Public Health, 101, 1907-1913.
- Lapeyrouse, L.M., Morera, O.F, Heyman, J. M., Amaya, M.A., Pingitore, N.E., & Balcazar, H. (2012). A Profile of Border Mobility among a Stratified Random Sample of Hispanics Living in the El Paso-Juarez Area. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 14, 264-271.
- Warnecke, R.B., Morera, O.F., Turner, L., Johnson, T.P., Freels, S., Parsons, J., Crittenden, K.S. Mermelstein, R., & Flay, B. (2001). Changes in Self-Efficacy and Readiness for Smoking Cessation among Women with High School Education or Less. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 42, 97-110.
- Turner, L., Morera, O. F., Johnson, T. J., Freels, S., Parsons, J., Warnecke, R. B., Crittenden, K.S. & Flay, B. (2001). Examining the Effectiveness of a Community-Based Self-Help Program to Increase Women’s Readiness for Smoking Cessation. American Journal of Community Psychology, 29, 465-491