RCMAR Analysis Core Conference Minutes – Draft
May 20, 2014 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. (Pacific)
Call in information is 888 921-8686 (3103120536#)
Pin code for moderator: 6769
I. Roll call, availability, and role assignments for next teleconference
Name
Hays, Ron (UCLA)
Kapteyn, Arie (USC)
Moore, Mignon (UCLA)
Mungas, Dan (UC Davis)
Schwartz, Steve (U Wash/U Colorado)
Stewart, Anita (UCSF)
Templin, Tom (WSU/U Mich)
Teresi, Jeanne (Columbia U)
Wallace, Steve (UCLA Coord Center)
Weech-Maldonado, Rob (Deep South)
Facilitator
Recorder
Present May 20
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Available June 17
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
No
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Tom Templin
Arie Kapteyn
Ron Hays
II. Review and approval of minutes from April call
The minutes from the April call were approved with a correction to a question raised by Tom
Templin. Final version will be forwarded to Steve W. for posting on the password restricted
area of the RMCAR web site (http://www.rcmar.ucla.edu/). Use rcmar, rcmar-II (capitol I’s).
III. Additional/deletions to agenda
None
IV. Announcements
Steve Wallace announced that Dr. Carl Hill the Director of Special Populations at NIA, will be
visiting RCMAR sites this summer and fall. In addition, the directors are working to get an
appointment to talk with new NIH Chief Officer for Scientific Workforce Diversity, Dr. Hannah
Valantine, just before the GSA meetings in November in order to increase the visibility of our
work.
Website: Annotated Bibliographies (suggested new titles: Methods Resources in Minority
Aging Research, Reference Lists, Analysis Resources), and Blog Idea
Anita wondered if we should emphasize our web sites, the ones developed in our departments or
centers, in addition to the Annotated Bibliographies. Steve W. pointed out the difficulty with
doing something like this because of the diversity in site development across RCMAR sites. Tom
noted that sites can be mentioned in the Annotated Bibliographies. A discussion ensued about
the appropriateness of our title, “Annotated Bibliographies” for what we wanted to do. Anita
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suggested Methods Resources in Minority Aging Research. The updated list in Appendix A, uses
the title References. Steve W. suggested Reference Lists or Analysis Resources.
Steve W. described a blog idea that the CC has in development. The idea is to write once and
publish it in many different locations. This could help to increase our visibility in a way
reference lists on one site don’t. For example, if a reference has just been completed, an
introduction to it could appear on the primary blog site for a limited time, say one month, and
after that time, moved to another searchable/web available location such as a core webpage
and/or the RCMAR site at the writer’s home institution. This has the advantage that the blog
would always be up to date and fresh. Introduction of this is targeted for fall of 2014.
Steve W. noticed several topic areas of the annotated bibliography that are still listed as
under-development (although originally anticipated as being completed by November 2013), but
we did not have the most current version of the Reference lists in the Appendix to look at. The
current version is attached.
V. Methods of Analysis of Longitudinal Datasets to Evaluate Determinants of Disparities
Tom continues to work on the Longitudinal Methods in Disparities research section of the
annotated bibliography and to incorporate feedback from the January 21 call. Tom announced
that we was thinking about changing the topic to focus more on methodological issues in
disparities research. The new title would be Methods to Evaluate Determinants of Disparities:
Race/ethnicity in Moderator and Mediator Analysis.
VI. RCMAR Preconference Workshop – 2015 – Use of Well-Being Measures in Minority Aging
Research
We had a wide ranging discussion. Steve W noted that this is an NIA priority area and one
objective was to get some cross disciplinary perspective, bringing attention to the issue to
RCMAR scholars and faculty as well as heightening awareness of minority aging issues to
leaders in the well-being field. Getting a draft agenda in place, however tentative, helps with
getting speakers on board. Several issues in self-report data were discussed. Anita
mentioned question wording effects on the elicited response, for example, the loading of
positively worded items on positive emotions and negatively worded items with negative
emotions. Arie noted how positive and negative emotions are not ends of the same dimension
but separate factors. Tom brought up the question of method variance, for example social
desirability. What other sources self-report bias might be measured? Are psychometric
methods for dealing with unmeasured sources of method variance applicable to survey data?
Rob suggested we invite Arthur Stone for discussion of the workshop agenda; he is already
confirmed as the keynote speaker. Arie mentioned the important area of data collection
methods in a recent report that we would send to us—The AAPOR task force report on
emerging technologies (Mobile Technologies for Conducting, Augmenting and Potentially
Replacing Surveys, American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Report, 2014
http://www.aapor.org/Mobile_Technologies_Task_Force_Report.htm ).
VII. Post Call Details
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2014 RCMAR Measurement and Methods Conference Call Assignments
Recorder
Month
January 21
February 18
March 18
April 15
May 20
June 17
July 15
August 19
September 16
October 21
November 18
December 16
Anita Stewart
Dan Mungas
No March Call
Steve Schwartz
Tom Templin
Ron Hays
Facilitator
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Anita Stewart
No March Call
Dan Mungas
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Arie Kapteyn
Summary of 2014 completed conference call participation
Name
Ron D. Hays
Arie Kapteyn
Mignon Moore
Dan Mungas
Steve Schwartz
Anita Stewart
Tom Templin
Rob Weech-Maldonado
# Recorder
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
# Facilitator
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
1
Total count
0
0
0
2
1
2
1
2
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Email Addresses
Ron D. Hays
Arie Kapteyn
Mignon Moore
Dan Mungas
Steve Schwartz
Anita Stewart
Tom Templin
Jeanne Teresi
Steven P. Wallace
Rob Weech-Maldonado
drhays@ucla.edu
kapteyn@usc.edu
moore@soc.ucla.edu
dmmungas@ucdavis.edu
stevesch@u.washington.edu
anita.stewart@ucsf.edu
ac0410@wayne.edu
teresimeas@aol.com
swallace@ucla.edu
rweech@uab.edu
Agenda for Next RCMAR Analysis Core Conference Call
May 20, 2014 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. (Eastern)
Call in information is 888 921-8686 (3103120536#)
Pin code for moderator: 6769
I. Roll call, availability, and role assignments for next teleconference
II. Review and approval of minutes from last call
III. Additions/deletions to agenda
IV. Announcements
V. Annotated bibliographies
VI. Methods of Analysis of Longitudinal Datasets to Evaluate Determinants of Disparities
VII. 2015 Preconference: Use of Well-Being Measures in Minority Aging Research.
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References
Methods for Developing, Adapting, and Testing Measures for Minority
Populations





Overviews of Measurement Issues
Using Focus Groups in the Development of Structured Surveys (UCSF)
Using Cognitive Interviews to Develop Structured Surveys (UCSF - updated June 2010)
IRT & DIF Readings (UCLA - updated July 2010)
Guidelines for Translating Surveys in Cross-Cultural Research (UCSF - updated May 2010)
Qualitative methods in minority aging research (Under development by UCLA)

Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences - NIH Office of Behavioral
and Social Sciences Research
Quantitative Analytic Methods



Strengthening Causal Inference in Nonrandomized Health Disparity Designs
Moderator and Mediator Analyses for Investigating Determinants of Health Disparities (Under
development by MCUAAR)
Best Practices for Mixed Methods Research in the Health Sciences - NIH Office of Behavioral
and Social Sciences Research
Concepts and Measures of Race/Ethnicity and Ethnic Identity




Ethnic Identity References
Race/Ethnicity - Conceptualization
Race/Ethnicity - Data Quality
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination Measurement
Specific Measures in Minority Populations





SF-36 in Older Minority Populations
Measuring and Modeling Cognitive Function
Issues in Measuring Cognition in Alzheimer's Disease (coming soon)
Measuring Depression
Measuring Health Literacy
Methods for Collecting Data

Online Panels, American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Report, 2010

Online panels issues (Under development by USC & UCLA)
Available Datasets

Secondary Datasets on Minority Aging Issues (Under development by UAB)
Methodological Issues Conducting Interventions to Reduce Disparities

Methodological Resources for Translating Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions (EBI) to
Reach Disparity Populations in Ethnically Diverse Communities (UCSF)
Depression (development TBA)
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Cognition/Alzheimers (development TBA)
APPENDIX II: 2015 PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOP
Use of Well-Being Measures in Minority Aging Research
January 21, 2014 Updates
Funding has been received for this workshop based on the following abstract:
2015: Use of Well-being Measures in Minority Aging Research. As the interest in healthy
aging has grown, measuring subjective well-being has become part of identifying trends in aging
and evaluating the impacts of policy on health. A NIA/Brookings 2011 workshop concluded that
subjective well-being measures could be useful and appropriate for targeted populations and
policies, although the usefulness for the general population was uncertain. Key issues included
variations in how behavior is influenced by well-being in different groups, how to account for
adaptation to objectively bad circumstances, how different groups interpret survey questions on
well-being, and how to include equity considerations. The goals of this conference are to
introduce minority aging researchers to the usefulness and impact of research on well-being, to
connect leading researchers in the measuring well-being to scholars in minority aging, to
stimulate new research using state of the art measures on well-being relevant to minority
elderly populations, and improve the utility of research on well-being among elders of color in
policy and practice. The objectives are for participants to improve their understanding of wellbeing theory, methods, and application so that they are better able to incorporate well-being in
their research questions, analysis, and dissemination. The morning will be devoted to
presentations from leaders in the field of well-being measures reviewing key domains in wellbeing as they apply to minority aging. The afternoon will focus on practice skills and include a
small group breakout session led by the speakers to discuss to incorporate well-being measures
into their own minority aging research agendas.
Additional topics raised on January call: Are they differences in the meaning of SWB by
race/ethnic group?
The only confirmed speaker is Arthur Stone. We need to discuss the draft content and
speakers.
Topics
Speaker
Keynote: State of the Art in
Measuring Subjective Wellbeing
Economic Approaches
Arthur Stone, PhD,
CONFIRMED
Psychological Approaches
Carol Ryff, PhD
Arie Kapteyn, PhD
Affiliation
Distinguished Professor, Stony Brook
University.; Chair, NAS panel on Measuring
subjective well-being
Prof., Econ.; Assoc. Dir. USC RCMAR; Former
Dir., Roybal Center, Financial Decision-making,
RAND
Professor, Psychology, Univ. of Wis.-Madison
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Topics
Cross national/cross cultural
perspectives
Integrating minority aging
issues, Discussion by RCMAR
directors
Testing measurement
equivalence
Subjective well-being vs.
health-related quality of life
Measurement of well-being in
national datasets
Speaker
Carol Graham, PhD
James S. Jackson, PhD
Spero Manson, PhD
Eliseo Pérez-Stable,MD
Ron Hays, PhD
Anita Stewart, PhD
Jacqui Smith, PhD
Affiliation
College Park Professor, Univ. of Maryland
School of Public Policy
Professor, Univ. of Michigan & RCMAR
Distinguished Prof., U Colorado-Denver &
RCMAR
Professor, UC-San Francisco & RCMAR
Professor, GIM/HSR, UC-Los Angeles &
RCMAR
Professor, Institute on Health & Aging, UCSan Francisco & RCMAR
Professor, Psychology; Co-I, Health &
Retirement Study, Univ. of Michigan & RCMAR
In December, Arie Kapteyn circulated by email a copy of “Subjective Well-Being: Measuring
Happiness, suffering, and other dimensions of experience” (authored by Kapteyn, Lee, Tassot,
Vonkova, and Zamarrow) and a National Research Council of the National Academies report,
“Panel on measuring subjective well-being in a policy-relevant framework” (edited by Arthur A.
Stone and Christopher Mackie). Arie also noted that Arthur Stone is moving to USC from Stony
Brook.
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