Oct. 20th, 2022, Arizona State University (ASU) Lecturer and researcher Dawn DeLay from the U.S. will be participating in the 11th International SOCIN Conference on Social Innovations that will be held at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU).
DeLay, who holds a PhD in Psychology, recently received a grant that is funding her visit to MRU and to also to take part in research at the MRU Applied Psychological LAB, headed by Prof. Rita Žukauskienė. Her presentation at SOCIN is titled, "Fostering Personal Well-Being Through the Power of Social Connection."
The SOCIN’22 conference will feature a multidisciplinary program including Keynote, Plenary sessions as well as oral presentations.
She said her research deals with social relationships, with a specific focus on how similarities and differences in individual identity affect relationship formation and maintenance. She is also interested in how processes of social influence and social change impact youth. A particular area of statistical expertise is in longitudinal social network analysis techniques.
Researcher DeLay agreed to answer a few questions about her visit to MRU.
- What brought you to Mykolas Romeris University?
In 2008, I attended statistical training in Örebro, Sweden. This is where I first met MRU Applied Psychological LAB Head Prof. Rita Žukauskienė . We have stayed in touch since and seen one another at international conferences. More recently (2021), I was invited to give a 3-day virtual training on Longitudinal Dyadic Data Analysis and Research Methods for Prof. Žukauskienė and her team at MRU. From this time, I have stayed in touch with her and the research team. I am very happy to have the opportunity to visit Mykolas Romeris University now to collaborate with data collected by the MRU team to assess how and why friendships end and the consequences for youth.
- What type of research will you conduct at Mykolas Romeris University?
I received a grant from Mykolas Romeris University that is funding my visit to the University and my collaboration with Prof. Žukauskienė and the MRU team. The goal of the grant will be to work on a social network analysis paper using the data collected by Prof. Rita Žukauskienė and her team to better understand why friendships end during childhood and adolescence. I will be applying my knowledge of longitudinal social network analysis to organize and assess the data to allow us to answer these research questions.
- What other international universities do you collaborate with?
I have visited the following universities outside of the United States to provide statistical trainings and/or work on collaborative research projects:
Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada,
Kings College London, London, United Kingdom,
Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands,
University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
I have also received statistical training in the Netherlands, Finland, Italy, and Sweden.
Dr. DeLay collaborates on interdisciplinary national and international research teams. Collaboration allows her research to expand across disciplinary, cultural and national contexts.