Mindy Krakow

Spring: research, research, research

HCAT has lots of research in progress. We are writing IRBs, designing studies, collecting and analyzing data, and writing manuscripts. It’s great to have so much activity in the lab.  Recently, I started using post-it notes to keep track of all the studies in progress. It helps me to visually track the studies and it…

Death narrative research in Health Psychology

Mindy Krakow’s excellent dissertation research on death narratives was recently published in Health Psychology. This research is part of a larger program that seeks to systematically investigate and compare stories where characters live (survivor narratives) or die (death narratives). We start with the assumption that both nareative forms can exert influence; the question is when…

2016 HCAT Writing Retreat

HCAT lab held another writing retreat October 12th – 16th, 2016 in Park City, UT. The writing retreat was held at a 5 bedroom house located just above main street in old town (you can rent it here). Fourteen people attended the retreat, including folks from Texas, Illinois, and Maryland. We had two research groups at the retreat: a skin cancer research group and a psychological reactance group. Both groups wrote manuscripts, analyzed data, and designed future studies.

The 2016 retreat also saw two different trips to the emergency room. Jake was in the emergency room when one of his sons developed a nasty case of parainfluenza. Kevin John ended up in the emergency room with appendicitis!

Despite these obstacles, the retreat was a huge success. We wrote from the moment the house opened on the 12th until 2 am in the morning the night of the 15th. Lisa Guntzviller led a workshop on building tables in Excel, and Jake led a workshop on the Johnson-Neyman (JN) technique.

The tattoo sleeves made a second appearance too. As folks finished papers, they were rewarded with the awesome sleeves. Nick Carcioppolo and Rob Yale weren’t able to make it this year, so we made Nick and Rob paper cutouts – and enjoyed taking crazy photos with them.

It was another wonderful writing retreat!

 

 

img_4446 img_4456 img_4469 img_4470 img_4479 img_4482 img_4492 img_4497 img_4499 img_4502 img_4503 img_4505 img_4510 img_4514 img_4522 img_4535 img_4540 img_4543 img_4547

HCAT at BEA in Las Vegas

Mindy Krakow and I traveled to BEA this year to present research and receive a few awards. Mindy received an award for her dissertation (congrats Mindy!) and we won a top paper in the research division (congrats us!). We also enjoyed stopping by NAB and learning more about VR equipment. Nokia was there, so it was a great opportunity to chat with them about our new camera.

Plus we went to two great shows: La Reve and Ka.

8948 8949 8950 8952

 

 

HCAT lab wins Golden Monograph

The Golden Anniversary Monograph Awards were created to mark NCA’s 50th Anniversary in 1964. Originally, there were awards given to monographs and to books. The book award was deleted and later reinstated as the Diamond Anniversary Book Award. The Golden Anniversary Monograph Awards are presented to the most outstanding scholarly monograph(s) published during the previous calendar year.

My randomized controlled trial published in Social Science & Medicine was honored with the 2015 Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from NCA. You can read more about it here. You can see a list of past award winners here.

img950959.jpg

Chamber House Writing Retreat – Fall 2015

HCAT lab held another writing retreat October 8th – 15th, 2015 in Park City, UT. The writing retreat was held at a 5 bedroom house located just above main street in old town (you can rent it here). Courtney and I gave a workshop on writing NIH grants, and we also reviewed vitas and (for…

Dogfish Beer in Utah?

Woolrich – the flannel shirt maker – and dogfish head brewery recently formed a partnership. The Woolrich guys came out to salt lake city for the outdoor expo, and they also hosted a big sundance party in park city. For the party, dogfish head brewed a new beer called the Pennsylvania tuxedo, an IPA infused with spruce tips. After the party, 4 kegs were leftover. The Woolrich guys didn’t want to fly them back, so they gave them to the owner of the rental house.

That guy is my neighbor.

 

That’s how Mindy and I ended up with several kegs of Dogfish Head. The world needs to know.10968515_10104653968107420_6838496867614776779_n[1]

Writing Retreat at the Roundabout House

HCAT lab held another writing retreat October 16th – 19th, 2014 in Park City, UT. The writing retreat was held at a 5 bedroom cabin just off the old town roundabout (you can rent it here). Nick Carcioppolo led a workshop on Mplus, I led a workshop on validity in confirmatory factor analysis, and we worked on 15 manuscripts, 8 of which were completed by the end of the retreat. A pool table on the top floor of the house was our relaxation sport of choice. We also enjoyed trying to ride the house elevator, which was wonderfully inconsistent. Finally, we visited Olympic Park during this retreat, and that is quickly becoming a tradition.

You can see photos from the retreat here:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 34 35 38 39 40

HCAT goes Curling

HCAT wanted to go curling. But you have to take curling lessons before you can officially join the league. Oh, and you better bring your own stone. League stones are for chumps.

 

We had a few drinks before curling lessons. Everyone but KKJ. Only one person fell on the ice and seriously hurt his back. You guessed it: KKJ. 🙂

 

curling2 curling

Dallas Writing Retreat

HCAT held a writing retreat March 14th – 17th, 2014 in Dallas, TX. Twelve faculty and grads attended the retreat. Jake led a workshop on writing grants, and we also talked a lot about publishing strategies. Jake’s consumption of Mountain Dew during the retreat reached epic levels, I think I slept a total of 2 hours. An air hockey table provided us with quite a bit of fun. A pool also occupied our time.    The retreat was put on by HCAT members Rob Yale  (Assistant Professor, University of Dallas) and Andy King (Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University). A great time was had by all.

This was the first retreat to have it’s own logo:

Texas Two Story

Cooking FriendsareFamilyYouChoose GroupPhoto MountainDew Mugs NickandBrenda Pool RobWorking

 

Nordic House Writing Retreat in Park City

HCAT lab held another writing retreat October 11th – 14th, 2013 in Park City, UT. The writing retreat was held at a 5 bedroom cabin in Deer Valley that described itself as the Nordic House (you can rent it here). Eleven faculty and graduate students attended the retreat. I led a workshop on Lisrel and confirmatory factory analysis, Lisa Guntzviller led a workshop on bibliography software, and Rob Yale took us all out to dinner at the Blue Iguana (which would become a writing retreat tradition). We also discovered numerous quirks such as my love of high quality scrap paper and Kevin Coe’s need to have lots of gum on hand while writing. Finally, Rob Yale impressed everyone (as he tends to) with an amazing suitcase.

We worked on 12 manuscripts during the writing retreat, 7 of which were finished by end. We played an excessive amount of shuffleboard.

 

IMG_4409 1399424_10101325049946158_587402951_o IMG_4497 IMG_4482 IMG_4465IMG_4396 1398305_10101325574290368_1137803858_o