Methods of materiality: participant observation and qualitative research in psychology

This article challenges the hegemonic status of “language” as the primary substance of qualitative research in psychology, whether through interviews or recordings of naturally occurring talk. It thereby questions the overt focus on analyzing linguistic “meaning.” Instead, it is suggested that researchers should start paying attention to the material world (consisting of both human bodies and material objects) and what it means for how people live their lives. It is argued that this can be done by incorporating the concept of material presence to capture embodied and material layers of existence, and the method of participant observation is suggested as a viable approach to achieve this end. An empirical example of how authority is produced in a parent-teacher conference, not only through language but also through material objects and embodied being, is then presented. The article concludes by suggesting practical guidelines for incorporating attention to materiality in qualitative research.     

New models in research and design: New concepts of unity in planning and policy-making

Van Lohuizen’s ideal of unity, must above all be seen as a challenge to attain the necessary integration of planning, research, and design to meet the requirements of a changing society. Though Van Lohuizen's ideas were influenced strongly by the rational and technical principles of the CIAM, he saw technology as a means to an end in an approach that is primarily based on humans and culture. In the ideas of Van Lohuizen, different dimensions can be traced. New developments in these dimensions are discussed in the article. There is no lack of innovative ideas and methods. Nearly all the ideas and methods discussed were developed in the forties, fifties, or sixties. On the basis of the incubation period required for introduction on a wider scale, it is now time for them to find greater favor with society. Following the years of a no-nonsense policy, it seems that in many fields there is a new need for a wider, more qualitative approach. Ron van Eck studied architecture and management research at the University of Technology of Delft. He is working at the RIW—Research Institute of the Department of Architecture at the University of Technology of Delft, and at the Network for Spatial Organisation in Amsterdam.     

Millennial research on fleek: Suggestions for improving generational research design

ABSTRACT

This special issue will examine and embrace the uniqueness of millennials. We look at a number of issues related to this generational cohort, examining what makes them unique, challenging and even assets to those they come into contact with in their lives. In our opening article we discuss the unique attributes of millennials, provide researchers a framework for generational research best practices, and provide an overview of the articles featured in this special issue.     

Counseling for Dropout Prevention: Applications From Multicultural Counseling

Although high school dropout rates have declined over the past several years, rates remain high for many segments of our population. Most of the attention devoted to dropout prevention counseling has focused on group counseling or programmatic issues, whereas individual counseling has largely been ignored. This article draws on commonalities between multicultural counseling and dropout prevention to produce a general framework for individual counseling with students who have potential to drop out of high school.     

The underachieving advance directive: recommendations for increasing advance directive completion

Advance directives have failed to achieve a substantial completion rate nationwide despite prior efforts. We hypothesize that the continued low completion rate itself inhibits their utility and application. In this commentary we recommend linking the completion of advance directives to the time when health insurance is initiated or renewed by amending the Patient Self Determination Act. This would relocate the time and locus of their completion from the emotional turmoil of hospital admission and acute illness to a more equanimous time when family and others can be consulted and involved. Moreover actuating increased utilization may require non-coercive incentives as well as education. Amending the Patient Self Determination Act to require providing advance directive forms at the initiation of healthcare insurance in conjunction with educational and/or incentives could be more effective than the current arrangements.     

Notes on psychoanalysis by a participant observer: a personal chronicle

Experience has shown how difficult it may be to decide which ideas are of passing interest and relatively little value and which are more important and fruitful. Examples of each are given in the form of a personal memoir. Some thoughts are added about the present and the future from the same vantage point.     

Contending coalitions in agricultural research and development: Challenges for planning and management

There is a gap between the methods and techniques discussed in planning and management literature, and practitioners’ experiences of agricultural research and extension. This gap is attributable to the fact that outcomes of research and extension (R&E) initiatives are shaped by the interactions of contending coalitions that form around issues or approaches and promote or oppose them. This framework is used to elucidate the development of technologies and methodologies in the past. Implications are drawn for future planning and management, based on seeing the use of methods and techniques in terms of the broader social and political contexts of research and development. This article was prepared for the international evaluation conference:Evaluation for a New Century: A Global Perspective. 1–5 November, 1995, Vancouver, Canada. Sponsored by the Canadian Evaluation Association and the American Evaluation Association.     

Risky assessments: participant suicidality and distress associated with research assessments in a treatment study of suicidal behavior

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of self-reported suicidality and distress during research assessments in a sample of 63 women meeting criteria for borderline personality disorder and current and chronic suicidality. The risk management protocol we used during the two-year study period (University of Washington Risk Assessment Protocol; UWRAP) is described. Results indicated that changes in suicidality following assessments were small and relatively infrequent, and were just as likely to reflect decreases in suicidality as increases (17.5% versus 16.4% of sessions, respectively). Further, longitudinal analyses indicated that changes in suicidality became increasingly rare over the course of the 2-year study. Ratings of distress were more changeable than suicidality, underscoring the need for separate measurement of these constructs when assessing risk. With the aid of the UWRAP, our assessors judged 15 participants as high-risk status in 28 assessment sessions (3.7% of all sessions). In comparison to the rest of the sample, these individuals were of significantly greater clinical severity as measured by the HRSD 17-item, GAF scores, number and severity of previous suicide attempts, and number of previous psychiatric hospitalizations. Low-intensity risk intervention strategies (e.g., validating participant's feelings) were typically sufficient to reduce risk in these participants. Overall, our findings indicate that research with highly suicidal individuals can be done safely with the use of well-trained assessors and an appropriate crisis management protocol.     

Language phenotypes and intervention planning: bridging research and practice

This paper focuses on the communication and language phenotypes associated with three genetic disorders: Down syndrome, Williams syndrome, and fragile X syndrome. It is argued that there is empirical evidence that these disorders predispose children to specific profiles of strength and weakness in some areas of speech, language, and communication, and that intervention planning for children with each syndrome may take an approach informed by these profiles. Issues related to within-group variability, shared outcomes among syndromes, and the need for empirical validation for syndrome-specific recommendations are discussed.     

Use of cognitive question testing methodologies in participant action research: implementing the Three-Step Test-Interview Method in Indian county

This study describes the use of cognitive question testing methods to pretest a Web-based questionnaire designed to gather information from American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth between the ages of 18 and 25. The questionnaire included items related to risk and resiliency factors as well as potentially sensitive topics of victimization and delinquency. Question testing was completed with a sample of 15 youth living in three different regions of the United States. The Three Step Test Interview Method was modified to collect information related to interface usability, cognitive response, and cultural interpretation of survey items. Data collected from the question testing process resulted in questionnaire changes that included query wording, the inclusion and exclusion of survey items based on cultural input, the reordering and rendering of survey items, and improvements in interface usability. Implications for survey research with the AI/AN youth population are discussed.     

Fractional Design Wizard: A computer program for cost-effective experimental research design

The computer program Fractional Design Wizard creates fractional factorial designs that are cost-effective and especially useful for discarding irrelevant factors from a large number of possible candidates. The program is intended for researchers who are relativelynew to the field of fractional design and who want to acquaint themselves with the use of fractions for the reduction of large experimental designs. Fractional designs allow estimation of main effects, and sometimes two-way interactions, without one’s having to examine all treatment conditions. The program needs Microsoft Windows 95 or better and 32 MB of memory. In a step-by-step fashion, the user can specify the required properties of the fractional design. When there are more valid designs, the user can generate these successively If necessary the user can go back to diminish the requirements. The output can be copied, printed, and saved. The program generates all the information that is needed for the use and interpretation of fractional designs. A help file explains the use of the program and also the purpose, the analysis, and the interpretation of fractional designs. The program, which is written in Object Pascal, is available as freeware on www.fss.uu.nl/ms/hl/fracdes.htm.     

Where to look for information when planning scientific research in Psychology: Sources and channels

It is imperative that researchers invest time in the planning of their research, and it is certainly essential to stop and seek information before making any kind of decision. The present work sets out to guide psychologists in this crucial task. To this end we begin by suggesting a visit to the APA website, where a great deal of relevant information on most topics can be found, whether it pertains to new and controversial issues or to those on which there is greater consensus. In this regard we shall consider at length the meanings of the expressions “evidence-based practice” and “scientific evidence” and their inherent methodological aspects, from “scientific evidence” contributed by systematic reviews to the way it can be obtained using handbooks and guidelines of inestimable value for the successful completion of our research. All such resources will help researchers to set out their hypotheses correctly, to test them adequately and to analyze the data in the most appropriate and rigorous fashion. In this way, the quality of the research will undoubtedly improve.     

S&T indicators for strategic planning and assessment of public research institutions

This article presents an approach we have developed for the assessment of public research institutions in the natural sciences and engineering. The method consists in the exploitation of available S&T databases and indicators, including bibliometrics (databases of scientific as well as technical literature), patents, and internal data. Results are therefore derived through multiple databases. The objective is to profile a specific national R&D community in order to assess the positioning of a public institution or program within the community to which it belongs. It involves obtaining the profile of the evolution of an R&D area, the R&D performers, the financing and support institutions, the users of R&D results, and the interactions between all these actors. A case-study of Canadian research in polymers is presented. Part of this research was financed by the National Research Council of Canada, and by a strategic grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. The research benefited from the expertise of Robert Letellier, Robert H. Marchessault, Jacques Martel, and Marielle Piché, and from the technical assistance of Maryse Prud’homme, Marcel Parent, and Benoit Longpré.     

Mixed methods research design for pragmatic psychoanalytic studies

Calls for more rigorous psychoanalytic studies have increased over the past decade. The field has been divided by those who assert that psychoanalysis is properly a hermeneutic endeavor and those who see it as a science. A comparable debate is found in research methodology, where qualitative and quantitative methods have often been seen as occupying orthogonal positions. Recently, Mixed Methods Research (MMR) has emerged as a viable "third community" of research, pursuing a pragmatic approach to research endeavors through integrating qualitative and quantitative procedures in a single study design. Mixed Methods Research designs and the terminology associated with this emerging approach are explained, after which the methodology is explored as a potential integrative approach to a psychoanalytic human science. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are reviewed, as well as how they may be used in Mixed Methods Research to study complex human phenomena.     

LABSIM: A data-driven simulation program for instruction in research design and statistics

LABSIM is a general-purpose FORTRAN program that simulates the collection of data from laboratory experiments. Student-specified parameters are employed in a multiple-regression model that allows manipulation or control of up to 10 potential independent variables. Variables may be discrete (up to eight levels), continuous, or range (e.g., IQ). Raw scores may be generated for up to six groups, optionally accompanied by statistical analyses for simple between- or within-subjects designs or for factorial designs, including mixed factorial designs. Seventeen models (content areas) are currently available. As contrasted with other simulation programs, LABSIM models are exceptionally easy to design and implement; no computer expertise is required. Summary data automatically collected by LABSIM indicate a high success rate and extensive use of the program beyond course requirements. The current version of LABSIM is available in either batch or interactive form. A newer version that allows the simultaneous manipulation of up to three independent variables will be available soon.     

Videodisc instruction in science and mathematics: Implications for media research and instructional design

This article summarizes research conducted over the last seven years on videodisc instruction in science and mathematics. Research findings, as well as the instructional design principles used to create programs, have direct implications for the general debate over media and its effects on learning. The array of studies conducted with the videodisc programs indicates that the medium is very cost effective. High quality instruction can be presented reliably and with much less human effort than traditional methods of instruction. By using videodiscs, developers are also able to exploit the strong graphic features of the medium, thus allowing carefully-designed visual images to play a key role in the instruction. Empirical support for non-text presentations along with examples of the graphics used in the science and mathematics programs are discussed.