Diversity and Health Data Science Across the Lifespan
The Diversity and Health Data Science Across the Lifespan concentration is focused on understanding the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual bases of human development, health, and well-being within the contexts of cultural and linguistic systems, educational and social systems (e.g., health care, criminal legal system), public health policy, and data-informed approaches to improving health equity. This area adopts a multidisciplinary lens to frame research questions at the intersection of human development, health, and sociocultural diversity. Students are prepared to conduct rigorous multidisciplinary research through course work in theoretical and methodological areas of diversity science, developmental science, health psychology, and qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as participation in a vibrant community of scholars and active engagement in faculty research. Students think critically about past and current research paradigms to determine their generalizability or adaptability with other worldviews as appropriate to the cultural group or context.
Core area research themes include the following:
- Cognitive and socioemotional development across the lifespan
- Cultural factors in cognitive assessment and health equity
- Cultural centering of interventions and community-based participatory research
- Implementation science to improve the healthcare system and increase health equity
- Educational systems and family influences on development and adaptive functioning
- Phenomenological and micro-phenomenological analyses of pre-reflective experience
- Methodology to study complex psychological, educational, and health phenomenon
- Integration of other worldviews (e.g., Indigenous science) to complement Western scientific frameworks and approaches
- Culturally appropriate assessments including measures of social determinants of health
Students are prepared to conduct rigorous multidisciplinary research through course work in theoretical and methodological areas of diversity science, developmental science, health psychology, and qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as participation in a vibrant community of scholars and active engagement in faculty research. Students learn to span disciplinary and methodological boundaries by conducting research that crosses academic disciplines, engages community stakeholders, and combines diverse research approaches. Students learn how to design research that links sociocultural diversity, health, and policy across the lifespan. Students think critically about past and current research paradigms to determine their generalizability or adaptability with other worldviews as appropriate to the cultural group or context.
Program Requirements for PhD in Diversity and Health Data Science Across the Lifespan
All area students are required to complete the following four core courses in the Diversity and Health Data Science Across the Lifespan area (3 credits each), a Seminar in Diversity and Health Data Science Across the Lifespan when offered (2 credits), and at least one course in both qualitative methods and quantitative methods (3 credits each).
PSY 508--Research with Diverse Populations
PSY 510--Advanced Health Psychology
PSY 516--Health Disparities
PSY 629--Culture and Human Development
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Courses (must take at least one from each category):
Qualitative Courses:
ANTH 541 Problems and Practice in Ethnography
CJ 605 Qualitative Research Design and Analysis
EDPY 645 Qualitative Research in the Psychological Sciences
LLSS 605 Advanced Qualitative Research Methods
NATV 560 Research Method and Practice in Indigenous Scholarship
PH 556 Community Participatory Based Research
SOC 580 Methods of Social Research
SOC 585 Qualitative Research Methods
Quantitative Courses:
EDPY 593 Multi-Level Modeling
EDPY 607 Structural Equation Modeling
PH 502 Epidemiologic and Biostatistics I
PSY 601 Multivariate Statistics
PSY 604 Latent Variable Modeling
PSY 605 Advanced Latent Variable Modeling
PSY 650 ST: Analysis of Data
STAT 574 Biostatistical Methods: Survival Analysis and Logistic Regression
All students are required to select at least one additional elective course (3 credits) from the area to satisfy a total credit requirement (including core courses, but not including the seminar) of 18 units. The choice of electives and substitution of any alternative elective courses must be approved by the core faculty.
Elective Courses (must take at least one):
PH 501 Determinants and Equity in Public Health
PH 507 Health Care Systems
PH 552 Interventions for Health Equity
PH 554 Health Policy, Politics, and Social Equity
PH 564 Public Health and Health Care Communication
PSY 523 Socioemotional Development
PSY 528 Cognitive Development
PSY 623 Human Emotions
PSY 650 ST: Development and Evolution
PSY 650 ST: Effective Altruism
PSY 450/650 ST: Alternative Relationships
SOC 540 Medical Sociology and Health Policy
SOC 595 Health Inequities
Additional courses related to Diversity/Multiculturalism, Research Methods, Health Policy, and Health Equity are also provided in other UNM departments, such as the College of Population Health, Mathematics & Statistics, Computer Science, Engineering, Economics, the Institute for the Study of Race and Social Justice, and the Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies, which may serve as elective courses. Students are encouraged to take courses in other academic disciplines based on their interests and research areas.
Faculty in the Diversity & Health Data Science Across the Lifespan Area
Primary Faculty
Davood Tofighi
Steven Verney
David Witherington
Secondary Faculty
Ben Clark
Sarah Erickson
Jeremy Hogeveen
Margo Hurlocker
Nathan Pentkowski
Bruce Smith
Kamilla Venner
