A Troubled Dance: Doing the Work of Research Ethics Review

The fast growing interest in the work of university ethics review boards is evident in the proliferation of research and literature in the area. This article focuses on a Research Ethics Board (REB) in the Canadian context. In-depth, open-ended interviews with REB members and findings from a qualitative study designed to examine the ethics review of school-based research are used to illustrate points raised in the paper. The author’s experiences as academic researcher, advisor to student researchers and a 3-year term as an REB member inform the discussion. Macro issues related to the general workings of the board (e.g., maintaining appropriate membership) and micro issues connected to individual REB members’ experiences of reviewing research applications are examined. The author’s goal is to contribute to a fastgrowing conversation related to the issues that influence university ethics review while drawing attention to the contribution that faculty members’ understandings of their work as REB members can make to that conversation.     

提高生命科学研究中的伦理审查质量的思考

我们曾经的生物医学研究中,有些研究者往往只注重自己研究的目的,违犯如《纽伦堡法典》,《赫尔辛基宣言》,《贝尔蒙报告:保护人体受试者伦理学原则及准则》等伦理原则。通过建立健全伦理评审系统,规范伦理审查程序,建立对伦理委员会的审查评估系统,期望使生物医学研究更加符合保护和促进人类健康的目的。     

哲学视野下的京房八宫易学

京房是汉代具有高度哲学原创性的杰出易学家,也是一位非凡术士。他准依董仲舒所重建起的儒家天人合一学说,创造性地诠释、转化了《易》,建构起表征其易学学术之自我的八宫易学,令阴阳五行学说,成为通贯易学整体天人宇宙学说的核心;五行学说,在其中得以首次全面彰显,并取得显赫中心地位;而三才之道,又衍展为天地人鬼之道;《易》之为书,也被明确定位为王者之书。后世之习京氏八宫易学者,下焉之士,仅知其筮占之用皮相之所是,而未得其易学本身神髓之所以是,其陋自不待言矣。     

What Are Degrees of Belief?

Probabilism is committed to two theses:

A Systematic Review of the Relationship between High School Dropout and Substance Use

A systematic review of peer-reviewed, empirical literature published between 1990 and 2006 was undertaken to determine whether existing research could provide evidence, and a deeper understanding of the relationship between dropping out of high school and the use of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, cannabis/marijuana and other illicit drugs. Forty-six articles were reviewed. The review describes the heterogeneity of theoretical frameworks employed, as well as the limited ability of any one to adequately explain the relationship between high school dropout and substance use. A refinement of the many confounding and mediating variables into coherent conceptual categories would aid more robust theory building and theory integration. In spite of differences in dropout definitions and diverse measures of substance use across studies, the main findings point to a largely consistent relationship between dropping out of high school and substance use. However, socially disadvantaged and poor persons, dropouts, and drug users are over-represented in some of the loss to follow-up groups in longitudinal studies surveyed. More rigorous mechanisms to retain participants in longitudinal studies should be employed. Suggestions for future research include comparisons between urban and rural populations, employing qualitative research methods, and research in developing countries, which have the least favourable school outcomes and a dearth of research on high school dropout.

Family Treatment of Child Anxiety: Outcomes,Limitations and Future Directions

Anxiety of childhood is a common and serious condition. The past decade has seen an increase in treatment-focussed research, with recent trials tending to give greater attention to parents in the treatment process. This review examines the efficacy of family-based cognitive behaviour therapy and attempts to delineate some of the factors that might have an impact on its efficacy. The choice and timing of outcome measure, age and gender of the child, level of parental anxiety, severity and type of child anxiety and treatment format and content are scrutinised. The main conclusions are necessarily tentative, but it seems likely that Family Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (FCBT) is superior to no treatment, and, for some outcome measures, also superior to Child Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CCBT). Where FCBT is successful, the results are consistently maintained at follow-up. It appears that where a parent is anxious, and this is not addressed, outcomes are less good. However, for children of anxious parents, FCBT is probably more effective than CCBT. What is most clear is that large, well-designed studies, examining these factors alone and in combination, are now needed.     

用公评审稿促进中国科技期刊的快速发展

学术论文评价目前普遍采用的同行评审系统,存在严重缺陷,在我国具体国情下,不易保证审稿过程的公正性,难以有效提高科研群体的审稿水平。作者提出一个“公评审稿”方案,包括实名的公开推荐和匿名的公开评审两个过程,使学术成果的发表和评价实现了清晰的功能分离,解决了发表注重快速及时、而评价注重慎重仔细这一根本矛盾。公评系统融合了中国传统的举贤制度和互联网新近发展的微博技术,其公开和共享理念,在保证学术公正的同时,能大幅度促进科研知识和经验在科研群体内的传播,迅速、有效地提高我国科技期刊的办刊质量。     

可修改答案的计算机化自适应测验的方法

与传统的纸笔测验(Paper And Pencil Based Test, P&P)相比计算机化自适应测验(Computerized Adaptive Testing, CAT)根据被试的作答反应自适应地选择题目, 它不仅缩短了测验长度, 还极大地提高了测验的准确性。然而, 目前绝大多数CAT不允许被试修改答案, 研究者主要担心修改答案会降低CAT的有效性。允许修改答案符合被试一贯的测验习惯, 修改之后的分数更能反映被试真实的水平, 从而能够进一步促进CAT在实际中的应用。现有的研究主要从三个方面提出了可修改答案CAT的控制方法：一是测验设计; 二是改进选题策略; 三是建构模型。未来的研究应进一步探讨这些方法之间的比较与结合, 以及对可修改答案认知诊断CAT (Cognitive Diagnostic CAT, CD-CAT)的研究。     

Research on face recognition: The Aberdeen influence

The review of ‘Recognizing faces’ by Hadyn Ellis, published in the British Journal of Psychology in 1975, marked the genesis of a distinct field of research. This seminal review sprang from a broader programme of research on face recognition conducted at the University of Aberdeen, whose influence continues to be felt in what has become an internationally important research area. We discuss the background to the Aberdeen research, summarize some of its achievements, and offer reasons why it proved so successful. These reasons include the synergy between theory and practice‐based studies, the value of combining different perspectives and sources of evidence, sound techniques that led to easily reproducible findings, and the emphasis on testing even the most ‘common sense’ assumptions.     

MEASUREMENT OF FATHER–CHILD ROUGH‐AND‐TUMBLE PLAY AND ITS RELATIONS TO CHILD BEHAVIOR

Although there is increasing evidence of paternal influence on child outcomes such as language and cognition, researchers are not yet clear on the features of father–child play that are most valuable in terms of child development. Physical play such as rough and tumble play (RTP) is a favored type of father–child play in Western societies that has been linked to children's socioemotional competence. It is important, therefore, to determine the implications of this play for child development. In this review and meta‐analysis, associations between father–child physical play and child behavior were examined. The review also focused on study methods. Sixteen studies are reviewed, N = 1,521 father–child dyads, 35% boys. Study characteristics such as definitions of physical play, play settings, play measures, and coding were examined. The meta‐analysis found weak to moderate population effects for links between father–child physical play and child aggression, social competence, emotional skills, and self‐regulation. Research investigating the effect of father–child physical play on children's development will be improved when definitions clearly identify the nature of play, settings facilitate boisterous play, and measures include frequency and quality of play interactions. This play shows promise as an enhancer of positive father–child relationships and a catalyst for child development.