RCMAR Analysis Core Conference Minutes
November 18, 2014 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. (Pacific)
Call in information is 888 921-8686 (3103120536#)
Roll call, availability, and role assignments for next teleconference
Name
Present November 18
Available December 16
Hays, Ron (UCLA)
Yes
Yes
Kapteyn, Arie (USC)
Yes
Yes
Moore, Mignon (UCLA)
Yes
No
Mungas, Dan (UC Davis)
Yes
Yes
Schwartz, Steve (U Wash/U Colorado)
Yes
Yes
Stewart, Anita (UCSF)
Yes
Yes
Templin, Tom (WSU/U Mich)
Yes
Yes
Teresi, Jeanne (Columbia U)
Yes
No
Wallace, Steve (UCLA Coord Center)
Yes
Yes
Weech-Maldonado, Rob (Deep South)
Yes
Yes
Facilitator
Recorder
Ron Hays
Steve Schwartz
Ron Hays
Steve Schwartz
I. Review and approval of minutes from October 2014 call
The minutes from the October call were approved, with no other changes. They will be
forwarded for posting on the password restricted area of the RMCAR web site
(http://www.rcmar.ucla.edu/). Use rcmar, rcmar-II (capitol I’s).
II. Additional/deletions to agenda
None.
III. Announcements
Steve Wallace reported that the GSA preconference session had ~70 participants and went
very well. The presentations and poster session were very good and had lots of engagement. He
emphasized the importance of marketing the session to get lots of good participants.
IV. Annotated Reference Lists
We checked in to see whether there are updates.
Tom says he has no updates but he wants to contribute to the reference list for the workshop.
Arie and Ron have not updated the written part for on-line panels but are about to give a
presentation on this topic that will help lead to an written update.
Regarding the topic of secondary datasets, Rob reported that there is a soon-to-be published
paper that seems to have all of the information that would need to be in our reference list, so
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to what extent can we use this? Perhaps we would include in our list the abstract, a brief
overview that we write, and a link to the paper.
Dan proposed an idea for reorganization of the cognition section of the bibliography, and asked
for input by next month’s call:
Measuring and Modeling Cognition in Diverse Older Populations (53 references in total)
I.
Issues/Guidelines for Cognitive Assessment in Racially/Ethnically and
Linguistically Diverse Older Persons
II.
Psychometric Properties of Cognitive Tests in Diverse Racial/Ethnic/Linguistic
Groups
III.
Measurement Invariance in Diverse Racial/Ethnic/Linguistic Groups
a. Differential Item Function (20 of 53 references)
b. Factorial Invariance
IV.
Measuring Longitudinal Change in Cognition
a. Incident Cognitive Impairment in Diverse Racial/Ethnic/Linguistic Groups
b. Continuous Cognitive Decline in Diverse Racial/Ethnic/Linguistic Groups
V.
Special Applications and Special Populations for Cognitive Assessment
a. Dementia Screening
b. Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
c.
Special Care Units
d. Measuring Cognitive Reserve
V. RCMAR Preconference Workshop – 2015 – Use of Well-Being Measures in Minority Aging
Research
Arthur Stone was a guest on the call to discuss the program for this event (November 18, 2015).
Ron outlined the ideas that have been previously discussed for the program, Steve W. provided
some of the deeper background on the rationale for the broader topic area. Arthur (the only
confirmed speaker thus far) was then asked to offer any views as to different topics and/or
speakers. He says that life satisfaction (evaluative well-being), experiential (hedonic – how you
feel throughout the day), and eudaimonic (meaning and purpose in life) are the major types of
measures. An issue is whether the newer hedonic approach should be adopted in U.S. surveys.
Arthur indicated that what he says will depend on who the other speakers are and what their
foci would be. He says that the questions are: 1) Are we capturing the right concepts/language
when we try to measure well-being in minorities (similar to what would be done when doing
assessments across countries)?; and 2) How do our measurement techniques influence our ability
to come up with equivalence across countries/cultures/age groups? Arie used the example of
using anchoring vignettes to understand differences in self-reported well-being between men
and women across multiple countries.(e.g., Grol-Prokopczyk et al., Using anchor vignettes to
assess group differences in general self-rated health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior,
52 (2), 246-261, 2011.)
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Arthur suggested an idea for his keynote and structure for the workshop: start out by
presenting some new analyses from U.S. hedonic surveys, and he would point out several issues in
the interpretation. Then, each of the other speakers would cover one of the issues. Ron gave as
an example of an issue the content overlap between HRQOL and subjective well-being, yet the
two groups of scholars don’t interact much.
Arie suggested that Dan Benjamin (USC) might be a good person to invite as a speaker. Arthur
recommended Ed Diener as a possible speaker (but he might not be traveling much). Also
Diener’s student Rich Lucas has picked up the mantle of the evaluative well being field and might
be an alternative speaker. “OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being” from Conal
Smith might be a good resource (www.oecd.org) and he might be a good speaker. Tom indicated
that the topic of suffering should be addressed, since it is likely to be particularly important in
aging and minority populations. The NAS report did include this topic. Is there a speaker who
could cover this?
We discussed the logistics of the program. Start at 8:30 am, Arthur gives a 1 hour keynote,
followed by the other speakers.
We had further discussion about how to organize the minutes, and what material should be in
the appendix. Rob suggested that we move the well-being references to a separate appendix
(i.e., an appendix to the pre-conference appendix).
Anita says we should find someone(s) to pull all of the pre-conference workshop ideas into a
separate document and working group, developing a preliminary agenda. She volunteered to help
on this. In the days post-call, a draft of the workshop was developed and commented upon by
Anita, Tom, and Steve W. This will form the basis for further discussion during the December
call.
It was also agreed that we needed a more engaging title for the pre-conference session!
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Post Call Details
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
Mignon Moore
Arie Kapteyn
Tom Templin
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Steve Schwartz
Steve Schwartz
Facilitator
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Anita Stewart
No March Call
Dan Mungas
Rob Weech-Maldonado
Arie Kapteyn
Ron Hays
Mignon Moore
Dan Mungas
Anita Stewart
Ron Hays
Ron Hays
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
1
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
# Facilitator
2
1
1
2
0
2
0
2
Total count
3
2
2
3
2
3
2
3
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Agenda for Next RCMAR Analysis Core Conference Call
December 16, 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. 2015 Pre-Conference Workshop on Measurement of Well-Being
V. Annotated reference lists
VI. Announcements
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Annotated Reference Lists
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 (also relevant to the next topic listed directly below)
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)
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 (Under development by UC Davis)
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 Deep South RCMAR)
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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