PROF. B. COLLINS

Psychology research and writing consultant.
Psychology methods section.

Dr. Collins helps psychology graduate students choose relevant research topics, identify relevant theories, develop hypotheses and research designs, prepare IRB (Institutional Review board) submissions, Organize the research writing and methods sections, analyze the data, and interpret and present the results and conclusions.

Social Psychology Research Methods
Research Design Specialist

IRB Protocols

Social Science Research Methods
Psychology Data Analysis

Prof. Collins is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at UCLA. His numerous publications cover social psychology, applied social psychology, research methods, attitude change, persuasion, and social influence, Dissonance Theory, the design and evaluation of questionnaire measures, interviewing, health education, and community-based participatory research. These publications use a wide variety of statistical analyses. He served as Director of Research at Healthy African American Families II. He has taught at Yale and Stanford and was a Prof. of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin. He has written a textbooks on social psychology and research methods. He coauthored a book on Theories of Attitude Change. He has served and chair and vice chair of the human subjects protection committee (IRB). He has been an advisor for over a hundred undergraduate honors theses and MA and PhD theses. He has served as a social-psychology expert witness in court cases. His BS and MA were in communication at Northwestern University. He has focuses on one-on-one mentoring on activities ranging from: (a) the choice of a research topic that is relevant to the interests and skills of a particular student, (b) the identification of the most relevant theories, (c) the development of hypotheses, (d) research design, (e) the organization of research writing, (f) methods sections, (g) data analyses and the presentation results, and (h) the interpretation of results.

He has frequently served as a consulting editor for the major journals in social psychology, evaluating manuscrips for potential publication. Prof. Collins has experience with qualitative methodologies including structured and unstructured interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and computer-assisted qualitative analyses.

Email:
BCollins
AT
DissertationAdvisors.com

Services for psychology graduate students and researchers:

• Provide you with customized tutoring in all aspects of a research project that is tailored to your interests and skills.
• Help you select and formulate solid research questions (hypotheses).
• Help you learn to use literature searches and reference tools.
• Identify a strategy and keywords for your literature search.
• Help identify the most relevant theories.
• Provide theoretical guidance on content.
• Help identify the most relevant prior research.
• Assist with literature review searches.
• Assist and tutor students for the ATLAS.ti content analysis software program and with the CAT web-based content analysis software that is free to students.
• Provide recommendations regarding structure, organization, arguments, and ideas.
• Suggest research designs.
• Help with writing the methods section.
• Suggest specific statistical tests of your hypotheses.
• Tutor you in the use of statistical packages to conduct your statistical analyses.
• Conduct statistical analyses and help prepare tables and graphs.
• Tutor you in writing your conclusions in clear English (within ethical boundaries).
• Help with the interpretation of results.
• Revise for clarity, precision, and conciseness.
• Incorporate input from degree-granting institution’s advisors/mentors and committee members.
• Prepare you for your oral defense and/or comprehensive exams.

Research Interests

• Applied Social Psychology
• Close Relationships
• Communication
• Culture/Ethnicity
• Ethics/Morality
• Health
• Interpersonal Processes
• Person Perception
• Persuasion/Social Influence
• Prejudice/Stereotyping
• Research Methods/Assessment
• Self/Identity

"My laboratory research focused on the symbolic meanings (stereotypes, stigma) associated with specific, concrete behaviors (e.g., compliance in the Milgram paradigm, condom proposals, physical attractiveness, etc.) I have studied barriers to condom use, ADDH, and other health-related public policy issues. As an expert witness in the Ogborn vs. McDonald's strip search scam, I deconstructed the 3.5 hour telephone scam that led to sexual assault, and I identified how McDonald's management practices contributed to the success of the caller's social influence strategy. I have been a member/vice-chair/chair of the UCLA IRB (human subjects ethical issues) focusing on survey and behavioral research. I have served as the research director of Healthy African American Families II, a south Los Angeles community-based organization that focuses on community health and community/ university-based researcher collaborations."

Books:

• Brewer, M. B., & Collins, B. E. (Eds.). (1981). Scientific inquiry and the social sciences: A volume in honor of Donald T. Campbell. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
• Collins, B. E. (1970). Social psychology: Social influence, attitude change, small groups, and prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
• Kiesler, C., Collins, B. E., & Miller, N. (1969). Attitude change: A critical analysis of theoretical approaches. New York: Wiley.

Journal Articles:

• Carlsmith, J. M., Collins, B. E., & Helmreich, R. L. (1966). Studies in forced compliance: I. The effect of pressure for compliance on attitudes change produced by face-to-face role playing and anonymous essay writing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 1-13.
• Chung, B., Corbett, C. E., Boulet, B., Cummings, J. R., Paxton, K., McDaniel, S., Mercier, S. O., Franklin, C., Mercier, E., Jones, Collins, B. E., Koegel, P., Duan, Wells, K., & Glik, D. (2006). A description of a community-academic partnered project to engage an African-American community around depression through the use of poetry, film, and photography. Ethnicity and Disease,16(1), S1-67-S1-78.
• Collins, B. E., & Hoyt, M. F. (1972). Personal responsibility-for consequences: An integration and extension of the "forced compliance" literature. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 8, 558-593.
• Collins, B. E., & Reed, G. M. (1994). Ten principles proposed as policy guidelines for mental health intervention research and mental health services among persons living with HIV/AIDS. Social Rehabilitation, 17, 83-95.
• Helweg-Larsen, M., & Collins, B. E. (1994). The UCLA multidimensional condom attitudes scale: documenting the complex determinants of condom use in college students. Health Psychology, 13, 224-237.
• Miller, A. G., Collins, B. E., & Brief, D. E. (1995). Perspectives on obedience to authority: The legacy of the Milgram experiments. Journal of Social Issues, 51, 1-19.
• Mintz, L. I., & Collins, B. E. (1985). Qualitative influence on the perception movement: An experimental study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 13, 143-153.
• Savell, J. M., Woefel, J. C., Collins, B. E., & Bentler, P. M. (1979). A study of male and female soldiers' beliefs about the “appropriateness" of various jobs for women in the army. Sex Roles, 41-50.

Other Publications:

• Chung, B., Jones, L., Jones, L., Corbett C. E., Booker, T., Wells, K. B., & Collins, B. E. (2009). Using community arts events to enhance collective efficacy and community engagement to address depression in an african american community. American Journal of Public Health, 99, 237-244.
• Collins, B. E. (2004). What is beautiful is exciting and socially attractive. Poster presented at the American Psychological Society Annual Meetings May, 2004.
• Collins, B. E., Whalen, C. K., Henker, B. (1980). Ecological and pharmacological influences of behaviors in the classroom: The hyperkinetic syndrome. In J. Antrobus, S. Salziner, & J. Glick (Eds.), The eco-system of the "sick kid". New York: Academic Press.

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