Some suggestions for the conduct of biographical research

Despite the strong and growing interest in biography, few psychologists engage in such studies themselves or feel competent to supervise them. Yet biography is a naturalistic form of empirical research and a rich source of ideas about the development of the individual across the life span. I offer a set of five suggestions for the conduct of biographical research and illustrate its use with examples drawn from archival and biographical interviewing studies. Three of the five suggestions concern the selection, presentation, and interpretation of data, areas where the psychologist's concern about investigator bias and reliability of interpretation has been greatest.     

Legal and ethical issues in conducting research on alcohol and drug use with children: a reaction to Havey and Dodd

Although research pertaining to alcohol and drug use by children clearly is very important for our field, it also presents a number of difficult ethical and legal challenges. In this article we react to Havey and Dodd's research (1995, this issue), commenting specifically on their use of a passive consent procedure. Problems with this aspect of their methodology are reviewed in relationship to best research practices, the U.S. Constitution, case law, federal statutes, and the ethical codes of the American Psychological Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the American Educational Research Association.     

Psychological science in the public arena: Three cases of dubious influence

Psychological science has a great deal to contribute to social welfare in all societies, because the world's most pressing social problems are behavioral in nature—violence, hunger, drug abuse, environmental pollution, low worker productivity, poor educational outcomes, and so forth. Thus, psychological research can inform public policies to improve approaches to these important social problems. The relationship of psychological science to public policy is often troubled, however, by misunderstandings about the role of science in the policy making process. Many scientists fear that their research results will be "misused" by others whose values differ from those of scientists. Thus, psychologists are reluctant to publish research results that can be used to support policies contrary to their own values and hesitate to ask research questions that can generate politically incorrect results. In this article, I argue that psychological science has a primary responsibility to ask dangerous questions and to report results honestly, without fear of their use; that research is not translated directly into public policies; and that psychological science should not be perverted either by fear of political consequences or by compromising truth in a quest for power. Three research examples are given to illustrate the different faces of temptation to pervert psychological science in a misguided hope that scientists' own values will be reflected in public policies.     

The role of work experience and individual beliefs in police officers' perceptions of date rape: An integration of quantitative and qualitative methods

Surveyed police officers from two police departments in the Midwest on their perceptions of date rape (N=91). The aim of this research was to examine the influence of officers' work experiences and general beliefs about women on their perceptions of date rape. Two approaches were utilized. First, using quantitative structural-equation modeling, a model that integrated work experiences and individual beliefs was evaluated using LISREL VII. Results suggest a direct path from the work experience variables to perceptions of date rape: Officers with more experience with rape cases held more sympathetic beliefs about data rape and date rape victims. Officers who found their training on rape to be very helpful, and those who reported that their work environment was sexualized and sexual harassment was a problem, were also less victim blaming. An indirect influence of these variables was also supported. Officers with more experience, those who perceived their training as helpful, and those with heightened awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace also held more favorable attitudes toward women, which, in turn, predicted less victim-blaming perceptions of date rape. Second, qualitative methods were used to have the police define and describe in their own words what has shaped their beliefs about date rape. These narratives were content analyzed by two raters. The qualitative results validated the quantitative findings as the officers were most likely to mention professional experience with rape cases and departmental trainings as important factors that changed their opinions. Work climate and personal experiences were also cited as influential. Implications for integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in research, and training interventions with police are discussed. The author thanks the Editor, Bill Davidson, Holly Angelique, Susan Englund, Doug Luke, Melody Scofield, and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper. I also acknowledge Camille Johnson and Jody Venable for their assistance collecting and coding the data. This research was supported by a grant from the George W. Fairweather Fund.     

Empowerment meets narrative: Listening to stories and creating settings

Comments on and summarizes some of the themes of a special issue on empowerment. Extends empowerment theory with the suggestion that both research and practice would benefit from a narrative approach that links process to practice and attends to the voices of the people of interest. Narrative theory and method tends to open the field to a more inclusive attitude as to what counts as data and to cross-disciplinary insights as well as citizen collaboration. Communal narratives are defined at various levels of analysis, including the community, the organizational, and the cultural. A definition of empowerment that includes a concern with resources calls attention to the fact that communal narratives and personal stories are resources. Implications for personal and social change are suggested.     

On the hazards of whistleblowers and on some problems of young biomedical scientists in our time

This paper examines two different, but closely related, classes of problems. The first part deals with whistleblowers, and the difficulties and dangers that they have often faced, although their actions, in the rare cases where they become necessary, are indispensable for the maintenance of honest science. The problems are illustrated by discussion of several specific cases from 1960 to 1990. The second part deals with problems that face many young scientists today, and the stresses to which they are exposed in an increasingly competitive atmosphere. There are powerful pressures for premature publication, and many gifted scientists are driven to spend an inordinate amount of time in writing grant applications that are turned down for lack of funds, while receiving high praise from reviewers. Correction of conditions is an important matter for science policy; it is also important, among other things, to relieve pressures that would tend to encourage deviations from the standards necessary for trustworthy science.     

THEOLOGICAL APPROPRIATION OF SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDINGS: RESPONSE TO HEFNER, WICKEN, EAVES, AND TIPLER

Abstract. Philip Hefner's focus on contingency and field as the guiding concepts in my thinking and his characterization of my theological enterprise as a Lakatosian research program are appropriate and helpful.
I welcome Jeffrey Wicken's holistic approach to the emergence of life. Theology can appropriate the language of self-organizing systems exploiting the thermodynamic flow of energy degradation for interpreting organic life as a creation of the Spirit of God.
However, I cannot sympathize with Lindon Eaves's equation of "hard science" with a reductionism which raises the double helix to the status of icon; the "meaning" of DNA derives from its place in the total phenomenon of life—not the reverse.
Frank Tipler's cosmology raises the prospect of a rapprochement between physics and theology in the area of eschatology. A Christian cosmology, however, would require at least three modifications: contingency in the history of creation; the uniqueness of Jesus' resurrection; and the relation of these to the problem of evil.     

一种新的统计方法和研究思路——结构方程建模述评

结构方程建模(SEM)是一种新的统计方法和研究思路,近年来在心理学和社会科学领域的应用日益增多。本文在非数学化的基础上,结合心理学研究实例介绍了SEM的渊源、发展、基本概念、分析过程以及相应的计算机统计软件LI-SREL。本文认为SEM有四大优点:①引进潜变量使研究更为深入,②遵循一般线性模式进行验证型分析,使研究更有意义,③妥善处理多变量间的复杂关系,④模型具有参数不变性。SEM应该引起国内心理学界的重视。     

Methodological issues in prevention research: An introduction to the special issue

In recent years increased attention has been directed to prevention research as a means of solving the multitude of complex social and health problems which confront individuals and their societies. Abuse of substances, behavioral dysfunctions, violence, emotional disorders, educational failures, unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases are but a few examples of these most difficult problems. As our recognition of the need for sound prevention strategies has grown, so has our sophistication in designing prevention research studies to evaluate the effectiveness of these new strategies. And that sophistication has brought new challenges, some of which are capable of stifling progress because of their complexity. This problem is certain to grow in importance as interventions with multiple components are used more frequently to meet the challenges of the complex social and health problems we face. This special issue evolved out of the recognition that prevention researchers are confronted by a myriad of difficult methodological issues which have inhibited progress in this area. The articles in the issue present innovative methodological solutions designed to overcome these problems so the field can move forward. Editor's Note: Dr. Edward Seidman edited Methodological Issues in Prevention Research while serving as Associate Editor for Methodology.     

Preventing problems in prevention research

The design, conduct, and analysis of prevention research efforts present formidable challenges, but as the papers in this volume illustrate, the problems of prevention research are probably not altogether intractable; they simply require the best of our thinking and the firmest of our commitments. The papers included in this issue represent some of the best thinking likely to be available, and, in aggregate, they give reason for some optimism about prevention research. Which is fortunate, because it is by now abundantly clear that treatment of all the assorted personal and social maladies that afflict us individually and as a society, is impossibly intrusive and expensive, even if we were certain we knew what to do, and we are not. Treatment research is only a step or two ahead of prevention research in nearly any field.