Yong Gao
Professor
Department of Kinesiology
Boise State University
United States of America
Biography
Yong Gao earned a PhD in Measurement & Evaluation from the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her dissertation, Differential Item Functioning Analysis of Physical Activity Disparities in the U.S., applied an advanced measurement and statistical approach to investigate if there are any potential-biased items in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) physical activity questionnaire and the impact of these items on current physical activity disparity conclusions. An effort was also made to identify subpopulation preferred physical activity among the diverse U.S. population.
Research Interest
Gao’s research interests are to explore the applications of modern measurement and statistical techniques to critical issues in physical activity and public health, e.g., physical activity disparities and obesity. Her research includes: (1) the evaluation of measurement issues in health and physical activity research, (2) the evaluation of existing tools and instruments using advanced measurement methods, and (3) the development of new, more culturally sensitive and accurate measures and methodologies to assess physical activity and health outcomes among minority groups.
Publications
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Sidman, C. L., Huberty, J. L., & Gao, Y. (2011). Observation of step count patterns of women participating in a healthy lifestyle book club intervention. Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, 20(2): 51-64.
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Reynolds, M., Ransdell, L. B., Lucas, S. Petlichkoff, L., & Gao, Y. (2012). An examination of current practices and gender differences in strength and conditioning in a sample of varsity high school athletic programs. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(1): 174-183.
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Huberty, J. L., Ehlers, D. K., Coleman, J. D., Gao, Y, & Elavsky, S. (Accepted, January 14, 2012). Women Bound to Be Active: Differences in long-term physical activity between completers and non-completers of a book club intervention. Journal of Physical Activity & Health.
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Haywood, S. D., Goode, T., Gao, Y., Smith, K., Bronheim, S., Flocke, S., & Zyzansky, S. (Accepted, January 25, 2012). Psychometric evaluation of a cultural competency assessment instrument for health professionals. Medical Care.
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Zhu, W., Nedovic-Budic, Z., Olshansky, R., Marti, J., Gao, Y., Park, Y., McAuley, E., & Chodzko-Zajko, W. (Accepted, February 3, 2012). Agent-based modeling of physical activity behavior and environmental correlations: An introduction and illustration. Journal of Physical Activity and Health.
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Grieser, J., Gao, Y*., Ransdell, L. B., & Simonson, S. (Accepted, February 7, 2012). Determining intensity levels for selected Wii Fit activities in college-aged individuals. Measurement in Physical Education and Exercise Science. (*: Corresponding Author)
