Carlene Brown is a doctoral student in the University of Northern Colorado's Applied Statistics and Research Methods program — the same program from which her eldest son, Austin, graduated. After 25 years at home, the mother of five enrolled at UNC, where she earned a bachelor's and master's degree.

"I had one child in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary. I wanted to do something productive and let myself know I could do hard things and take care of myself," Brown said.

In her dissertation research on childhood vaccine hesitancy and preventive health care, Brown discovered people distrust vaccines for a variety of reasons, including concerns about effectiveness, ingredients and vaccine schedules. It may take time for health care providers to tease out and alleviate patients' fears, but she said it could improve the effectiveness of their messages.

She's a mixed-methodologist, utilizing qualitative and quantitative approaches to her research.

"If I was holding up a book cover and you're looking at the title, and I'm looking at the information on the back, you're seeing one perspective and I'm seeing another. But by looking at both, we're getting a more complete picture. Quantitative measures let you see the breadth of the topic, and qualitative measures allow you to dig deep and understand underlying perspectives," she explained.

Brown is integrating artificial intelligence into her study to enhance the qualitative analysis. By leveraging the AI text chatbot ChatGPT, she aims to uncover more profound insights into behavioral lifestyle choices and holistic health. First, she'll conduct her own reflexive, thematic data analysis. Then, she'll feed two sets of structured prompts into ChatGPT to see if there's a difference in the results.

"Since ChatGPT is a prompt-based platform, it's important to be systematic about the prompts you put in, because it will likely influence what you get out. Many researchers are beginning to utilize it," she said.

As a graduate research assistant, Brown co-teaches, contributes to research projects, and co-authors works. Her studies, work and research are preparing her to make an impact in the public health field after she graduates in December 2024.

Chair and Assistant Professor Randy Larkins and Professor Maria Lahman, both in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences' Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods, first knew Brown as "Austin's mom." But she's since made a name for herself in the program. So much so that in spring 2024, she received the college's Honors Convocation Award, which recognizes students' outstanding academic achievements. Nominees noted her motivation, inquisitive mind and critical thinking skills.

"She's responsible, dynamic and she works easily with other researchers, whether we're using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods. Carlene is someone we want to continue working with after she graduates," Lahman said.

Lahman and Larkins said Brown is equally skilled in communicating her work to peers and non-researchers.

"Research communication is about half of what we do. She's good at distilling the essence," said Lahman.

"Carlene looks at the world holistically. She includes everybody — people who speak in numbers and people who speak in words. And she does a good job with both," Larkins said.

They said Brown's dissertation defense demonstrated how far she'd come as a presenter. Just a year earlier, Lahman said Brown had been noticeably nervous during a class presentation. Since then, she'd challenged herself to practice more and exude a calm demeanor.

"She talked so conversationally at her defense. It was a joy to see her present," Larkins said.

He said one of Brown's talking points was about smallpox, which was eradicated by vaccines. Juxtaposed with the vast number of lives saved by vaccines is the notion of people who may have been harmed by vaccines or fear they could be.

"This holistic thing, I think, is what makes her so warm and generous toward people with different perspectives. She gives reasons in such a way that it makes sense why people are vaccine hesitant," he said.

Brown believes the results of her study will help health care providers address patient's concerns and reduce vaccine hesitancy.