Kathryn Hoisington-Shaw, Ph.D., is 
an alumnus of The Ohio State University’s Quantitative Psychology graduate program. She completed her Ph.D. in 2023, advised by Dr. Jolynn Pek. Prior to joining OSU, she initially pursued a bachelor’s degree in psychology with the goal of working in the mental health field. Upon enrolling in the experimental psychology master’s program and California State University San Marcos, she discovered that what she thought she knew about statistics was not as straightforward as she assumed. She became interested in the use and (mis)interpretation of statistical power in psychological research and joined Dr. Pek’s lab as a graduate student in 2018. During her time at OSU, Kathryn also completed a master’s degree in applied statistics while working on her Ph.D.
Currently, Kathryn is an Analytic Scientist at Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in Columbus.
At Nationwide, Kathryn is a member of the Behavioral Analytics team within the Enterprise Analytics Office, an internal research and consulting department. Kathryn largely works on projects involved in the Innovation sector and is responsible for creating a large-scale research portfolio to evaluate interventions aimed at preventing hazards in the home. In this work, she utilizes experimentation and sampling methodology, causal inference techniques, statistical modeling, and data engineering. In addition, she has been able to supplement this work with scale creation and latent variable analysis to address research questions of her business partners.
Part of Kathryn’s work at Nationwide also includes providing education on statistical and research methodology to other departments. She is often involved in presentations to a wide range of audiences, from the broad topic of quantifying uncertainty to the specific, technical aspects of utilizing structural equation modeling. Her ability to communicate complex statistical concepts in an accessible manner is something that she uses daily in her work at Nationwide and can be attributed to her time at OSU.
About her training at the OSU quantitative psychology program, Kathryn states:
“Although I learned tangible statistical techniques and methodologies while at OSU, the most influential skillset I took away is more nuanced: the ability to think critically about a problem, question assumptions, and draw upon past experiences that (at face-value) appear unrelated to the problem at hand. My training at OSU provided me with the tools to become a resourceful, multifaceted scientist by participating in a large range of research projects including metascience, statistical simulation studies, and the creation of dynamic web graphics to teach statistical concepts. Anyone can learn statistics and modeling techniques out of a textbook, but what is really valuable is how to apply these techniques when faced with unique situations the textbooks don’t cover.”
Kathryn’s advice to prospective graduate students:
“be flexible when the path forward isn’t as clear as you expected, and to trust yourself to get through it.”
Prospective students can reach out to Kathryn with questions about her past or current work through her LinkedIn page.