Professor's Text Wins Book of the Year Honors
A panel of judges convened by the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) named the latest book by a professor at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, “one of the most valuable texts of 2007.”
AJN gave its annual Book of the Year honors to Using and Interpreting Statistics: A Practical Text for the Health, Behavioral, and Social Sciences by Eric W. Corty, associate professor of clinical psychology. The book was published by Mosby, the country’s premier medical publishing house.
Corty’s book uses an engaging writing style, colorful graphics, and mnemonic devices to make introductory statistics less intimidating. “My book focuses on the human side of statistics, the part that involves decision-making by people, not calculations by computers,” Corty said. “I think the AJN judges appreciated that the book is intended for a broad audience of not only students in nursing and health sciences, but also in the social and behavioral sciences.”
AJN is the oldest nursing journal, and has the largest circulation. It seeks to promote excellence in health care through dissemination of evidence-based, peer-reviewed clinical information and research, discussion of relevant and controversial professional issues, and adherence to standards of journalistic integrity.
A graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Eric W. Corty earned his doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Indiana University. He joined the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend in 1993 after holding clinical and research positions at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. He teaches courses in statistics, abnormal psychology, human sexuality, and personality.
Corty is the recipient of Penn State’s 2001 Alumni Association and Student Award for Teaching Excellence and Penn State Behrend’s Council of Fellows 1997 Excellence in Teaching Award. His most current research interest involves personality factors related to rapid ejaculation and a survey of sex therapists to determine what they consider normal ejaculatory latencies.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Behrend offers one associate and eight baccalaureate degree programs, a pre-law curriculum, a fifth-year teaching certification, seven minors and a study abroad program in cooperation with Northampton University in England. Students within the school often collaborate with faculty on research and outreach programs, have access to technology-enhanced classrooms and laboratories, and publish Lake Effect, a nationally recognized literary magazine edited by students.