Biography
I am Elizabeth, a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. Broadly, I am interested in well-being research in relation to current social, political, and economic affairs. What are the factors contributing to well-being, and how does well-being affect various outcomes? I have assisted with studies examining U.S. elections, anti-Asian racism during COVID-19, and vaccinations. Currently, I am testing whether spending time in different domains (i.e., time use) impacts well-being. I use large, nationally representative data and employ advanced statistical methods (e.g., multilevel modeling).
I aspire to become a well-being researcher, with the aim of enhancing the quality of people’s lives. In doing so, I adopt an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on disciplines of economics, sociology, and organizational behaviour, and strive for more transparency and openness in the research process. This research has broad implications for informing policy decisions made by societies, governments, and organizations.
See my CV for more information.
- Time use
- Subjective well-being
- Technology
- Health
- Prosocial behavior
- Current social, political, and economic affairs
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HBSc in Psychology, 2022 (Expected)
University of Toronto
Experience
Data Management
- Oversaw data management for twelve projects for an Individual Differences Lab course
- Cleaned and prepared datasets in R for five projects on topics related to subjective well-being
U.S. Elections & SWB
- Conducted multilevel modeling for a pre-registered confirmatory study to examine whether changes in well-being predict changes in U.S. election outcomes
- Cleaned and analyzed data in R from the Gallup Sharecare Well-being Index and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, totaling over 4.7 million participants
- Implemented statistical techniques such as mean-centering and multiple imputation
- Mentored a research assistant, including reviewing written materials, teaching the basics of R programming, and meeting regularly
- Delivered a Data Blitz Talk at the 2021 Association for Research in Personality Conference and a talk at the multidisciplinary Victoria College Research Day event
- Ensured transparency and openness by pre-registering the study, making coding scripts publicly available, and sharing supplementary materials in the Open Science Framework
- Will present this research as part of a symposium at the 2022 Society for Personality and Social Psychology Convention
Ongoing Projects
- Examining whether changes in Asian-Americans’ experiences of discrimination during COVID-19 predict their mental health outcomes and will deliver a Data Blitz Talk at the 2022 Society for Personality & Social Psychology Happiness & Well-being Preconference (project co-supervised by Dr. Rebecca Neel)
- Completing a thesis project testing whether time use predicts well-being
- Contributed to a first co-authored book chapter on reproducibility in clinical psychological science that was accepted
Talks
Chan, E. W., Cheung, F., & Neel, R. (2022, February). The impact of experiences of discrimination on the health and well-being of Asian-Americans during COVID-19. Data blitz talk to be presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Happiness & Well-being Preconference, San Francisco, CA, USA. [Virtual]
Chan, E. W., Solomon, A., & Cheung, F. (2022, February). Subjective well-being shapes U.S. presidential, Senate, and House of Representative election outcomes. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA, USA. [Virtual]
Chan, M., Cheung, F., Hon, C., Lo, L., Chan, E. W., Ma, T. F., & Shek, P. (2022, February). COVID-19 vaccines and mental distress: A new utility for vaccinations. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Francisco, CA, USA. [Virtual]
Chan, E. W. & Cheung, F. (2022, February). Subjective well-being shapes U.S. presidential, Senate, and House of Representative election outcomes. Poster to be presented at the University of Toronto Arts and Science Student Union Conference. [Virtual]
Chan, E. W., Cheung, F., & Neel, R. (2022, January). Asian-Americans’ experiences of discrimination, health, and well-being during COVID-19. Talk presented at the University of Toronto Psychology Graduate Students’ Association Symposium. [Virtual]
Solomon, A., Chan, E. W., & Cheung, F. (2022, January). The subjective well-being of moderates and U.S. presidential election outcomes. Talk presented at the University of Toronto Psychology Graduate Students’ Association Symposium. [Virtual]
Chan, E. W. & Cheung, F. (2021, November). Subjective well-being shapes U.S. presidential, Senate, and House of Representative election outcomes. Poster to be presented at the Harvard Women in Psychology Trends in Psychology Summit. [Virtual]
Chan, E. W., & Cheung, F. (2021, July). Subjective well-being shapes U.S. presidential and Senate election outcomes. Data blitz presented at the 2021 Biennial Association for Research in Personality Conference. [Virtual]
Service
- Liaison between the Psychology Department and undergraduate psychology student body
- Chair the monthly executive team meetings, mid-semester check-in meetings with individual committees, and general meetings held each term to introduce the PSA
- Oversee a team of 15 executive members in the successful planning and execution of academic events, seminars, socials, an annual conference, and volunteer opportunities
- Plan and host “Career Day: Non-Traditional Paths With a Psychology Degree” in which University of Toronto psychology alumni discuss how their psychology degrees prepared them for entry into fields, such as marketing, law, occupational therapy, consulting, human resources, and more
- Manage co-curricular validation for executive team positions by meeting regularly with the Undergraduate Administrator and organizing relevant documents
- Offer resources and advice to incoming psychology students at the Psychology Department’s recruitment events
- Helped develop a demographics survey for undergraduate psychology students to share their research experiences
- Created and distributed a slidedeck detailing lab structures and research tasks
- Assisted with the inaugural Summer Psychology Research Initiative at the University of Toronto, an intensive two-week bootcamp for high school students who are interested in psychology by reviewing applications, securing library access, and recording lectures