Yasemin Kisbu - Sakarya  (CV)

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Supervision
As a faculty member of the graduate program in Psychology at KU, Dr. Kisbu-Sakarya would be especially interested in supervising graduate students wishing to work on the following topics:
- Evaluation methodology
- Interventions targeting child and youth outcomes
- Optimization of social-psychological and organizational            interventions to reduce gender gap
- Large scale secondary-data analysis (such as TIMSS and UNICEF MICS)  to improve the evidence base for policy making
- Quantitative methodology (particularly Monte Carlo simulations on mediation analysis,  integrative data analysis, and quasi-experimental methods such as propensity score and regression discontinuity design). 

I am a Quantitative Psychologist. My research focuses on research methodology, particularly as applied in intervention and policy evaluation. I completed my PhD in Research in Prevention Laboratory of David MacKinnon at ASU, where I focused on improving statistical mediation analysis to investigate causal mechanisms of health related programs. During my postdoctoral studies under the supervision of Tom Cook at Northwestern University, I worked on advancing causal inference methodology and quasi-experimental designs and evaluation of child and youth education-related programs. I am also a recipient of 2017 Young Scientist Award given by Science Academy in Turkey. I currently direct the Independent Evaluation laboratory (IEL), the first university-based impact evaluation lab in Turkey. 

Examples of projects I currently pursue are development of a new variant of regression discontinuity design as a quasi-experimental method; application of causal methods to non-randomized programs and large scale datasets; and evaluation design to promote evidence-based interventions. My applied work is focused on intervention effectiveness by causally testing which interventions work, answering key questions about for whom, how, and why they work. 


Contact:
E-mail : ykisbu at ku.edu.tr
Address: 
Koç Universitesi
Psikoloji Bolumu
Rumelifeneri Yolu, Sariyer
Istanbul 34450 Turkiye
Office: Social Sciences Building, Room Z13D
Office Phone Number: +90 212 338 (1114)