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.     

关于地区机构伦理委员会的调研与思考

通过对辽宁地区29家机构伦理委员会的机构设置情况、工作内容、伦理审查工作的管理等状况的调研,为了解我国医学伦理委员会的发展现状,存在的问题及发展方向提供局部的现实依据,为进一步完善我国医学伦理委员会建设提出建议。     

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。     

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.     

我国近十年来汉语阅读障碍研究回顾与展望

发展性阅读障碍（developmentaldyslexia,DD）是一种严重的学习障碍。文章回顾了l996~2006年间中国内地作者发表的有关汉语DD的实证性文章,发现我国学者近十年来对汉语DD的研究主要包括DD的诊断筛选、亚型分析、认知特点和认知神经机制研究、教育干预等几个方面。文章同时探讨了现有研究中存在的不足,如诊断标准不统一;研究领域比较狭窄;缺乏有效的干预模式和实证研究等,最后提出了研究的发展趋势和未来研究方向     

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.     

A systematic review and meta‐analysis of tertiary interventions in clinical burnout

Clinical burnout is one of the leading causes of work absenteeism in high‐ and middle‐income countries. There is hence a great need for the identification of effective intervention strategies to increase return‐to‐work (RTW) in this population. This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of tertiary interventions for individuals with clinically significant burnout on RTW and psychological symptoms of exhaustion, depression and anxiety. Four electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, PsychINFO, PubMed and CINAHL Plus) were searched in April 2016 for randomized and non‐randomized controlled trials of tertiary interventions in clinical burnout. Article screening and data extraction were conducted independently by two reviewers. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated with random‐effects meta‐analyses. Eight articles met the inclusion criteria. There was some evidence of publication bias. Included trials were of variable methodological quality. A significant effect of tertiary interventions compared with treatment as usual or wait‐list controls on time until RTW was found, HR = 4.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.15–9.45; however, considerable heterogeneity was detected. The effect of tertiary interventions on full RTW was not significant, OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 0.59–2.98. No significant effects on psychological symptoms of exhaustion, depression or anxiety were observed. In conclusion, tertiary interventions for individuals with clinically significant burnout may be effective in facilitating RTW. Successful interventions incorporated advice from labor experts and enabled patients to initiate a workplace dialogue with their employers.