Discussant: Brandon McDaniel

Leaders: Matthew Vowels, Laura Vowels, Nathan D. Wood, Kristen P. Mark

Many research questions family researchers are interested in, such as sexual desire or relational satisfaction, have periodic features. The fields of mathematics and engineering have a wealth of techniques (e.g., spectral analysis) to work with periodic data that can be applied at the individual as well as dyadic levels of analysis. This workshop will 1) address background and analytic assumptions for spectral analysis, 2) illustrate data preparation and structure, 3) demonstrate analytic procedures, and 4) interpretation of results. Data used in the workshop will explore the fluctuations of sexual desire for individuals and couples collected daily for a month.