Random Factors in ANOVA

The authors clearly explicate random-effectss analysis of variance (ANOVA) through several well-chosen real-life examples. . . . this is a neat little book. . . --Dayanand N. Naik in Technometrics "The authors offer a motivating discussion of research circumstances for which random factors may be particularly suitable, and they define random factors more broadly and pragmatically than the traditional definition does on the basis of pure statistical sampling. . . . Random Factors in ANOVA will also probably be particularly useful to students who are not terribly quantitative in orientation, because much of it strives to explain intuitively and verbally the relevant issues." --Journal of Marketing Research When and why are random factors other than subjects used? How do you decide whether a factor is fixed or random? Through the use of examples from management, education, political science, and psychology, Jackson and Brashers show the reader how to determine if a factor is random or fixed and how to deal in an analysis of variance (ANOVA) with random factors. In addition, they explore ways to incorporate random factors into an experimental design with other factors and discuss ways to adapt SAS and SPSSX for analyzing designs with random factors.

Dale E. Brashers, the head of the department of communication at the University of Illinois, died July 5 in his campus office. He was 50 years old.                                                 Brashers, whose research focused on how people manage and cope with illness, joined the U. of I. faculty in 1998. He served as the director of graduate studies in the department (then called speech communication) from 2002-2006, and then as associate head until January 2009, when he became head. Beginning in 2008, he also held a joint appointment as a professor of medicine.

Brashers earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1987 and 1988, respectively, from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, and earned his doctorate in 1994 from the University of Arizona. He began his academic career in 1993 at Ohio State University, moving to the U. of I. five years later.

Brashers’ health communication research focused on the role of communication in the management of health and illness for persons living with HIV or AIDS. Among the goals in his research were giving patients the means for dealing with and managing uncertainty, and for developing self-advocacy skills.

Since 2008, Brashers held a named position as the David Swanson Professorial Scholar, an honor of which he was extraordinarily proud, according to David Tewksbury, associate head of communication, since it was named after his late friend and former department head David Swanson.

Brashers was honored in 2004 as a University Scholar, a three-year research-support award for outstanding research, teaching and service. Also in 2004, he was awarded the Distinguished Article Award for the most outstanding article in the previous five years by the Health Communication Divisions of both the National Communication Association and the International Communication Association. In 2001, he received the Young Scholar Award for Outstanding Early Career Research from the ICA.

In addition to his national reputation as a researcher, Brashers also was a highly accomplished and popular teacher of undergraduate and graduate students, Tewksbury said. He was listed more than a dozen times on the List of Teachers Rated as Excellent for the Urbana campus, and in 2008 he received the Campus Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching.

Brashers is survived by his parents, James (Gene) and Lou Brashers; sister Brenda Brashers Robertson; and nieces Tasha and Marie Robertson.