Sharon Christ

Joint Appointment

Department of Statistics, College of Science

Courtesy Appointments

Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences

Areas of Expertise

• statistics, statistical modeling, adolescent development, aging

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

• Developmental Health and Wellness
• Healthy Lifestyles and Vital Longevity

Department of Human Development and Family Science Research Area(s)

• Health and Well-Being
• Interpersonal Relations
• Military Families

Biography

My research includes applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences, especially statistical models applicable to human health and development processes. My primary tools are structural equation modeling (SEM) with latent variables, multilevel (mixed effects) models, longitudinal modeling, and analysis of complex sample data using a design based (marginal, population average) modeling approach. I teach graduate level statistics courses in all of these areas. Measurement of social constructs, missing data, and selection problems are also foci of my work. Most of my work involves analysis of existing large nationally representative data sets but also data collected using observation and experimental designs. As a methodologist, I collaborate widely on studies where I employ complex modeling and estimation techniques to address important questions about human health and development.

I and my graduate students are currently working on a project to evaluate the impacts of child maltreatment experiences in adolescence on well-being outcomes, including academic achievement, aggressive behaviors, and mental health. We are using large cohort studies of children in contact with Child Protective Services in the U.S. as well as a cohort of the general population of adolescents.

Accepting graduate student applications for the December 1, 2024 deadline.

Education

• PhD, Sociology, 2008, University of North Carolina
• MS, Statistics, 2004, University of North Carolina
• MA, Sociology, 2002, University of North Carolina
• BA, Sociology & Political Science, 1994, University of Minnesota

Websites

• Center for Families
• The Military Family Research Institute
• Advanced Methodologies at Purdue
• Center on Aging and the Life Course

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• SAFE ZONE Training, LGBTQ Center, Purdue
• Faculty Search Committee Workshop, ADVANCE-Purdue

Current Courses

• HDFS 613 - QUANTITATIVE METHODS I: Inferential Statistics and ANOVA
• HDFS 628 - STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING
• STAT 522 - SAMPLING AND SURVEY TECHNIQUES

Selected Honors/Awards

• Christine M. Ladisch Faculty Leadership Award, Purdue University - 2022
• Faculty Leadership Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (FLAIR) Fellow, Purdue University - 2020
• Honorable Mention for Disruption Paper Competition, the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect - 2019
• College of Science Team Award for Statistics Living Learning Community, Purdue University - 2015
• Center for Aging and the Life Course Outstanding Professor Award for Exceptional Teaching and Mentoring of Emerging Scholars in Aging, Purdue University - 2014

Selected Grants

• Co-Investigator, Lexico-Semantic Abilities in Early Language Growth and Delay, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R01 DC018593). Borovsky (PI). Period: 2021 – 2026. Total: $3,588,441.
• Co-Investigator, Retrieval-Based Word Learning In Developmental Language Disorder, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R01 DC014708). Leonard (PI). Period: 2021 – 2026. Total: $3,007,610.
• Co-Investigator, Audiovisual Processing in Children with Developmental Language Disorders, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R01 DC017017). Kaganovich (PI). Period: 2019 – 2024. Total: $2,034,460.
• Principal Investigator, Developmental Trajectories to Stuttering Persistence and Recovery, Subcontract Michigan State University, National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (R01 DC018000). Walsh (PI). Period: 2020 – 2025. Subcontract Total: $110,395.
• Co-Investigator, Effects During Adolescence of Early Childhood Exposure to Parental Wartime Deployment, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01 HD091373). MacDermid Wadsworth (PI). Period: 2018 – 2023. Total: $3,565,213.