Alette Coble, PsyD, works four jobs--not because she needs the money, but because she likes the variety and believes "practical experience is really important."

She has a private sports psychology practice, Athletic Performance Enhancement Counseling.  She teaches classes for caregivers for people with disabilities.  She's a consultant for Full Circle of Choices, an agency that serves adults who have developmental or emotional disabilities.  And she's a clinical coordinator for Circle of Care-STRIVE, a day treatment program for adolescent girls who are on probation or who have difficulty in school.

Coble spends a good portion of her 60-hour workweek consulting with Full Circle of Choices and doing "attendant care training"-teaching caregivers how to communicate effectively with people who have disabilities.

"Many times disabled persons cant communicate easily," says Coble.  "So attendants will assume what the disabled person wants rather than actually figuring it out."

 "Not many psychologists do this type of attendant/client communication work within the disability community," she adds.  "It's a really undeserved population."
In her role as consultant to Full Circle of Choices she also works with care attendants and facilitators, conducting conflict resolution.  "A person with a disability may have eight to 10 different people helping them in the course of a week.  This can lead to a lot of frustration for the disabled people and even for the care attendants."

She compares attendant/client training to couples therapy.  "I focus on communication skills and the dynamics of relationships.  We're doing very personal stuff.  There's a high level of trust and intimacy that must develop between an attendant and a person with a disability."

Coble's intense interest in helping people with disabilities stems from her own personal experience: She is permanently disabled with cerebral palsy.  Bolstering her psychology training is her experience of living with the condition.
While in graduate school at John E Kennedy University, she did her internship in a psychiatric emergency unit at a county hospital.  "Because of my disability, I took many of the cases involving disabled clients who came to the unit," she says.
Her work didn't go unnoticed.  About three months after she graduated, supervisors from her internship called to say that the director of Full Circle of Choices was looking for her.  "She tracked me down because she liked the work I did with some of their clients, she says.

 Coble rounds off her week spending Saturdays in her private sports psychology practice in Walnut Creek, Calif., and working during the week at the day treatment center for adolescent girls.

"One minute I'm working with an adolescent girl in trouble, the next I'm working with an athlete who wants to improve his or her performance.  The approach is totally different," she says.  "Sometimes I feel like Jekyll and Hyde."

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Senior Human Performance Investigator, NTSB

Evan Byrne, PhD, is the kind of guy who looks up whenever an airplane passes overhead-even if it means he's constantly tripping over his own feet.

Now he's putting that interest to work in the Office of Aviation Safety at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington, D.C. There he and colleague Bart Elias, PhD, investigate the human factors involved in aviation accidents.  Byrne received his doctorate from the University of Maryland in 1993; Elias received his from Georgia Tech the following year.

When accidents involving pilots, air- traffic controllers, airplane mechanics or cargo loaders occur, Byrne and Elias are "launched" to an accident site maintenance shop or airport.

As human factors psychologists, they investigate the people involved in an accident, the task they were performing, the equipment they were using and the environment they were working in.  Their data-collection effort might entail gathering records, consulting with experts or interviewing survivors, supervisors, mechanics, next of kin or anyone else with potential insights.

Back at the office, the data analysis stage begins.  "If you have a cockpit voice recorder, you know what actions took place," says Byrne, a senior human performance investigator who has been at the board for almost five years.  "Other times you have to work out some possible scenarios."

Take John E Kennedy Jr.'s fatal crash, one of Elias' first cases.  Since the accident occurred before he joined the board in 1999, Elias analyzed data collected by field investigators.  He examined weather reports and transcripts of interviews with Kennedy’s flying instructors and then reviewed the psychological literature on spatial disorientation.  The board concluded that the accident's probable cause was disorientation caused by haze and a dark night.

"Anyone who's flown long enough has experienced disorientation," says Elias, a human performance investigator with a private pilot's license of his own.  "It's important to bring your own personal experiences to bear."

As the number of passengers soars, the aviation field will need more human factors psychologists to help ensure safety in crowded skies.  Opportunities for accident investigators include jobs in airline safety offices or management positions within the NTSB or the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
A background in aviation helps.  Byrne spent three years conducting research on human/machine interfaces for the FAA and other federal agencies at a research lab.  Elias put in six years conducting research on cockpit displays and related issues in an Air Force lab.  Once at the NTSB,, they underwent special in-house training for investigators.

"Flying doesn't always mean accidents," says Byrne, a flying club member who takes frequent sightseeing flights over Maryland.  "It can be fun as well."

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Founder, Research DatStat.com

Over coffee one day in 1996,  Elizabeth T. Miller, PhD, and a friend were discussing the latest study Miller was doing in her clinical psychology doctoral program at the University of Washington.

"I had minimal time and resources," remembers Miller.

Her friend suggested using the Web.  And so began a chain of events that would influence Miller's future.  Her partner, George Dittmeier-a software architect and engineer-"was willing to develop the technology," she says.  The research project was the first ever in the social science field to use a Web-based survey.

Miller's Web survey sparked interest in the research community, and she and Dittmeier began consulting.  Soon after, DatStat.com was born.  "We decided to start a company when we realized there was such interest in using the Web to do research," Miller says.

DatStat.com provides integrated data collection and data management services via the Web.  "Generally speaking, high-caliber researchers are expert researchers, not expert technologists.  They shy away from technological solutions not easily integrated into their work," she notes.

DatStat.com services include running and administering secure Web servers; developing Web-based data collection forms; providing a secure, customized online data management environment; trouble-shooting software and hardware obstacles; interacting with institutional review boards and offering staff and user support, all to enable researchers to save time and money while increasing data accuracy and accessibility.

"The Web isn't appropriate for all research," admits Miller, "but for multi-site studies or those with certain populations, there are numerous advantages to having easily accessible and centralized survey forms and data."

As the founder and director of research for DatStat.com, Miller's days are varied and always busy.  "Sometimes I'm sitting in front of the computer working on contracts or the Web site or marketing materials.  Other times I'm out talking to clients and potential clients." She's also taking business classes and is very involved with the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs in Seattle.

Her psychology background has helped her launch and run her business by equipping her with critical-thinking skills.  "As psychologists, we learn to think outside the box, " she says, "so many clients have said 'You helped us do better research than we've ever done because you ask the right questions ahead of time."'
Currently, DatStat.com has three full-time employees, 12 consultants and four board advisers working on 12 contracts.

"We're really growing and changing all the time," she says.

As for her own professional growth, Miller says she'll continue to nourish her entrepreneurial spirit.  "I hope I'll continue to bridge psychology and industry in other forms." She's flexible and innovative, she says, which is probably why she started her own business rather than choosing a more traditional psychology path.  DatStat.com "taps into my strengths and challenges me," she says.

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