The Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences welcomes Dongwei Wang in the position of Data Manager for the Rudd Adoption Research Program. Dongwei will be handling data analysis for the program and helping the Center for Research on Families performing methodology consultation. Working with Harold Grotevant, Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology and Jennifer Dolan, Program Manager, she will contribute her expertise in data organization and statistical methods to several ongoing research projects. We are sure Dongwei will quickly become a valuable resource to both her team and outside reviewers, providing for them information and clarification on the program’s various publications.
For her undergraduate education, she studied clinical psychology and medicine at the Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China. Although finding some aspects of real-life clinical work challenging, she enjoyed learning about psychology and began looking for a new academic track. A colleague pointed her in the direction of learning quantitative methodology used in research. She ultimately found a new focus, enrolling in a master’s program at the University at Buffalo in Educational Psychology and Quantitative Method.
Dongwei developed an interest in adoption through her friendships with many adopted people, listening to their adoption stories, their origins, and journey to their current point in life. Getting involved with the Rudd Adoption Research Program was intriguing to Dongwei. She is excited to have the opportunity to learn how adoption research is undertaken and feels this position is a great opportunity to help others by providing insights into adoption, and possibly improving adoption policies in the future.
Aside from her professional life, Dongwei has enjoyed living in several cities including New York City, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. She likes experiencing the lifestyle of new places and meeting local people. As an avid hiker and exercise enthusiast, she is looking forward to living in Western Massachusetts, with many opportunities to get outdoors in nature.
Future goals for Dongwei include learning more about psychometric theory and possibly earning her PhD. She endeavors to expand her skill-set, learning new software and techniques related to data analysis. She also hopes to contribute to the projects being undertaken by the Rudd Adoption Research Program and become a co-author on future publications.
