Who is a behavioral scientist

How to become a behavioral scientist is based not only on education, but on personal interest. Professor Julie Lucero has conducted extensive research concerning rural American Indians and their lack of acceptance of alcohol, drug and mental health treatment.

The study identified obstacles, outlined solutions and proposed policy changes. Another University of Nevada, Reno, professor recently concluded a study on addressing the opioid crisis with naloxone. Public health faculty member Karla Wagner worked with law enforcement officers LEOs on the front lines of the opioid crisis. Completing a Master of Public Health in Public Health Practice from the University of Nevada, Reno , can position you for future career success in the behavioral sciences.

Public Health Certificates. Please refer to www. Skip to main content. What Does a Behavioral Scientist Do? What Is a Behavioral Scientist? What technical skills should an in-house behavioral scientist have?

Running experiments, especially randomized controlled trials RCTs , is the fundamental value-add of an in-house behavioral researcher.

Why is this so important? Applied behavioral science is more process than theory. While the field has gained notice from popular books filled with noteworthy examples of human behavior, applying findings directly from these books may you leave you disappointed. Success comes by knowing how to identify a behavioral problem, assess potential solutions based on the literature and your experience, and rigorously test solutions.

What this looks like: An applied behavioral researcher must have experience running high-impact experiments. This includes experience running real world experiments either academic field experiments or in a business setting and a deep understanding of proper experimental design, such as randomization, statistical power, and variance reduction. While formal academic training is the most common route for acquiring these skills, more and more people are learning on-the-job, especially as companies increasingly experiment with growth marketing and conversion optimization.

A behavioral researcher must also be able to analyze the results of experiments and share the findings with a broader audience. This means having the theoretical and technical knowledge to perform statistical analysis, including sampling, T-tests, probability distributions, statistical significance, and confidence intervals. Successfully interpreting and sharing the findings requires strong communication skills.

They should be able to justify their experimental design and also explain them in a way that their less statistics-savvy coworkers will understand. An applied behavioral researcher should have deep knowledge of at least cognitive and social psychology. But a good practitioner goes well beyond the core books and frequently dives into academic papers to stay on the cutting edge. Katy Milkman takes insights from economics and psychology to change consequential behaviors for good, such as savings, exercise, vaccination take-up and discrimination prevention.

Dori Steinberg designs digital health interventions for dietary change, and chronic disease management among adults using principles from intuitive eating. Her digital health product designs make patients and their care teams more connected, help patients be more adherent to their treatment plans, know what to expect, and when to look out for warning signs. Cynthia Castro Sweet directs a program of research studies to validate the clinical and economic benefit of Omada Health's disease prevention and self-management programs.

She designs technology-enabled solutions that make integrated healthcare more feasible and accessible. Gina Merchant specializes in digital health product development, research and strategy. She is an expert on deriving actionable insights from real-world data across behavioral domains including physical activity, sleep, and therapy adherence. Merchant is a behavioral scientist working as a consultant to the health tech industry.

Neela Saldanha designs and tests behavioral interventions across the globe on challenging problems of poverty alleviation, public health, financial inclusion and charitable giving. Saldanha works as an independent consultant to a diverse array of organizations.

While many related professions skirt the edges of social science, behavioral scientists are the go-to authorities on this subject. These are the basics of behavioral science work today. What Does a Behavioral Scientist Do?

Places of Employment Due to the potential benefit posed by behavioral scientists and their work, there are a great number of organizations and industries with which they enjoy considerable demand.

Related Resource: Top 10 MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences Degrees Online Human behavior is immeasurably important, and this is especially true today as globalization and human interests across the world progress. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us.

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