Bruce Austin

Bruce Austin holds two master’s degrees, one in Educational Psychology, and one in Statistics.  He is a Research Associate Professor (retired) working with the College of Education’s Learning and Performance Research Center (LPRC). Retired in June of 2024, Mr. Austin continues to support grants and projects on an as-needed basis including co-authorship of journal articles and conference presentations.

Research Interests

My research interest is in the development of statistical techniques that address issues and standards of fairness and equity in assessment data. Specific areas include measurement invariance, response styles, psychometric methods, and methods for identifying and correcting sources of non-invariance in predictive equations that produce test bias or differential prediction. I have developed correction factors to improve predictive validity caused by slope and intercept bias across groups. An additional line of research includes examining the use of measures of variability as predictor variables.

He has experience using a wide variety of statistical methods including structural equation models, latent class analysis, Bayesian methods, item response models, multilevel modeling, mixture modeling, imputation of missing data, sampling, weighting, and various data simulation methods.  He is continually funded on various projects as a Research Associate at WSU.

Outreach

One of Mr. Austin’s most satisfying projects to work on as been the Washington Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Students (WARNS). WARNS helps provide direct support to truant youth in Washington State and across the nation including under-served populations.  Mandated by the legislature for use by high schools in Washington State, the WARNS is an online assessment tool for truant youth that is designed to assess the needs of students at risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system.

Teaching

Mr. Austin also enjoyed the privilege of teaching Educational Statistics (Ed Psych 508) in the Educational Psychology department.

Selected Publications and Presentations

Austin, E. W., O’Donnell, N., Rose, P., Edwards, Z., Sheftel, A., Domgaard, S., Mu, D., Bolls, P.,  Austin, B. W., & Sutherland, A.D. (2024). Integrating science media literacy, motivational interviewing, and neuromarketing science to increase vaccine education confidence among U.S. extension professionals. Vaccines, 12(8), 869. doi: 10.3390/vaccines12080869

Vo, T., Demir, C., French, B. F., Austin, B. W., Strand, P. S. (2023). Latent Profile Similarity of Middle and High School Youth Risk and Needs. Journal of School Psychology. 99, 101216

Austin, E. W., Borah, P., Austin, B. W., Smith, C. L., Amram, O., Domgaard, S., McPherson, S. M., Willoughby, J. F., (2023). Media Literacy’s Role in the Mitigation of Disinformation Effects on Substance Misuse. Journal of Substance Use.

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., Power, T. G., Parker, L., Kaiser, K., & Edwards, Z., (2022). Youth Perspectives on the Effects of a Family-Centered Media Literacy Intervention to Encourage Healthier Eating. Health Communication. 1-14.

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., Borah, P., Domgaard, S., McPherson, S., (2022). How Media Literacy, Trust of Experts and Flu Vaccine Behaviors Associated with COVID-19 Vaccine Intentions. American Journal of Health Promotion. doi:10.1177/08901171221132750

Zhang, X., Austin, B. W., & Ardasheva, Y. (2022). New Directions in L2 Self-Efficacy Research: Comparing Bifactor and Second-Order Models in the English Public Speaking Domain. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. doi:10.1007/s10936-022-09910-7

Strand, P. S., French, B. F., & Austin. B. W., (2021). Assessment of the Risks and Needs of Middle School Students: Invariance Properties Related to Gender and Ethnicity. Assessment. DOI: 10.1177/10731911211062505

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., Willoughby, J. F., Amram, O., & Domgaard, S., (2021). How media literacy and science information literacy predicted the adoption of protective behaviors amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Health Communication. 26(4), 239-252. DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2021.1899345

Austin, B. W., & French, B. F. (2020). Adjusting Group Intercept and Slope Bias in Predictive Equations. Methodology, 16(3), 241-257. https://doi.org/10.5964/meth.4001

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., Kaiser, K., Edwards, Z., Parker, L., Power, T. G., (2020). A media literacy-based nutrition program fosters parent-child food marketing discussions, improves home food environment and youth consumption of fruits and vegetables. Invited manuscript in a special issue of Journal of Childhood Obesity.

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., Kaiser, K. (2020). Effects of Family-Centered Media Literacy Training on Family Nutrition Outcomes. Prevention Science, 1-11.

Cox, A. E., Ullrich-French, S., Austin, B. W. (2020). Testing the Roles of Trait and State Mindfulness in Facilitating Autonomous Physical Activity Motivation. Mindfulness. 11(4), 1018-1027. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-020-01311-y

Strong, Z. H., Carbonneau, K. J., & Austin, B. W. (2018). “I Plan to Attend College”: Gender, Parent Education, and Academic Support Differences in American Indian and Alaska Native Educational Aspirations. Journal of American Indian Education, 57(2), 35-57.

Austin, E. W., Austin, B. W., French, B. F., & Cohen, M. (2018). The effects of a nutrition media literacy intervention on parents’ and youths’ communication about food. Journal of Health Communication, 23(2), 190-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2018.1423649

Austin, B., French, B., Adesope, O., & Gotch, C. (2017). Use of Standard Deviations as Predictors in Models Using Large-Scale International Data Sets. The Journal of Experimental Education, 85(4), 559-573.

Austin, B., Adesope, O. O., French, B., & Gotch, C.; Bélanger, J.; Kubacka, K. (2015), Examining school context and its influence on teachers: linking Talis 2013 with PISA 2012 student data. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 115, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5js3f5fgkns4-en

Previous Experience

Bruce has worked for the Social & Economic Sciences Research Center at WSU as a project manager, data analyst, and statistical consultant.