National Scientific Misconduct Policies in Argentina: Two Definitions of Research Misconduct

ABSTRACT

In “An International Study of Research Misconduct Policies”, Resnik et al. count Argentina in the list of countries without national research misconduct policies. In this paper, we clarify that Argentina has national policies of research misconduct and present the research misconduct definitions of two official science organisms: the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the Ethics Committee of the Argentine Ministry of Science (MINCyT).     

Promoting Responsible Conduct of Research: A Canadian Perspective

This article compares the current Canadian and American approaches to governing the responsible conduct of research. The Canadian Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research acts on behalf of Canada's three federal research agencies to implement their Framework on Responsible Conduct of Research. It operates not on the basis of regulatory authority, like its U.S. counterpart, the Office of Research Integrity, but rather on the basis of making compliance a condition of eligibility for funding. Both offices are dedicated to promoting good research practices and to enforcing good standards of research practice.     

The Canadian Agency for the Oversight of Research Involving Humans: A Reform Proposal

In this paper, I propose the creation of a Canadian agency for the oversight of research involving humans. I describe first a series of significant problems with Canada’s current system of oversight. I then argue for the creation of a national-level agency, covering all research involving humans, with three branches (policy and standards, education, and compliance). Of particular note, the proposed compliance branch consists of a number of independent national and regional Research Ethics Boards (i.e., REBs no longer reside within institutions). There is also an Audit Committee and a Non-compliance Committee (with supporting staff of auditors and compliance officers) to ensure compliance with the policies and standards set by the Policy and Standards Branch. Finally, I answer a series of “frequently asked questions” about the proposed agency design such as “What about ‘local context’?” and “Why not have a system of accreditation of institutional REBs instead?” In sum, radical reform is needed and, in this paper, I present a proposal for such reform.     

Neurobiological research involving human subjects: Perspectives from the office for protection from research risks

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulations at 45 CFR 46 require that all human subjects research supported by HHS be reviewed and approved by a local Institutional Review Board (IRB). Investigators may not involve human subjects in research without their informed consent, and additional safeguards are required when subjects are likely to be vulnerable to coercion or undue influence. Application of the regulations to neurobiological research is discussed.     

Public Service Quality Improvements: A Case for Exemption from IRB Review of Public Administration Research

Should the exemption from Institutional Review Board (IRB) evaluations currently in place for quality improvements research be extended to public administration research that addresses questions of improving the quality of public service delivery? As a means to both reduce the level of disdain held by a group of social science researchers for IRBs and to reduce the cost of review for minimal risk studies, I argue here that much of the current public administration research should also be exempted from normal processes of review by IRBs on the basis of their similarity to Quality Improvements (QI) research, a category of studies already granted exemption. This argument dovetails provisions currently in place for studies of public service and public benefit, but reframes these exemptions in the language of “quality improvements,” which may be a more comfortable language for IRBs concerned to demonstrate compliance for review of all fields. To expedite this argument into the practices of IRBs, I included a checklist that researchers could use to self-identify their studies as QI, not research as such.     

Meta-Analysis as a Research Synthesis Methodology: Cause for Concern

ABSTRACT

The use of meta-analysis is growing in popularity. It is based on the fundamental notion of the effect size, and a critical assumption is that effect sizes based on different measures are directly comparable. In this article it is argued that the direct comparability of effect sizes across measures implies the invariance of the effect sizes across these measures. A model of standardized mean difference (SMD) effect size invariance is developed, based on multifacet generalizability theory, which shows that SMD effect size invariance requires certain validity invariance conditions to hold. One implication of these findings is that the direct comparability of SMD effect sizes based on different measurement procedures is an empirical matter requiring testing prior to conducting a meta-analysis. Findings are also discussed suggesting that violations of one of these conditions—universe score validity invariance—can bring about substantial differences across SMD effect sizes as a function of measurement procedure. These findings suggest the need for a more refined use of meta-analysis since meta-analytic results may be adversely impacted by the lack of direct comparability of effect sizes based on different measures.     

Social Support: An Important Factor for Treatment Adherence and Health-related Quality of Life of Patients with End-stage Renal Disease

ABSTRACT

End-stage Renal Disease (ESRD) or chronic kidney disease constitutes a serious public health problem in the United States. The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship of perceived social support with treatment adherence and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of ESRD patients. The study utilized a non-experimental research design and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze the data collected from a sample of 413 ESRD patients. The findings of the study supported a statistically significant relationship between perceived social support and HRQOL as well as between perceived social support and treatment adherence. Formulating appropriately targeted interventions to improve social support may help in enhancing the HRQOL and treatment adherence, where both those factors were empirically supported to be related to mortality and hospitalizations in ESRD patients. This study helps to enhance the body of knowledge relating to HRQOL of ESRD patients, and provided foundation for interventions in improving treatment adherence and the HRQOL. Future research may focus on the complexities associated with the HRQOL and treatment adherence in ESRD patients, with emphasis on demographic characteristics and its relationship with social support.     

Predicting chronic neglect: Understanding risk and protective factors for CPS‐involved families

Child neglect continues to receive less attention in research literature compared to other forms of maltreatment, despite accumulating evidence of serious negative impacts on child well‐being. Chronic neglect is also poorly understood. Although such cases comprise a relatively small percentage of workers' caseloads, they represent accumulation of harm that impacts the cognitive and social development of children. These cases can also disproportionately utilize protective service resources. This study contributes to the literature by examining risk and protective factors of chronic neglect. We utilized administrative data (N = 2,074) from a midsize city in the Northeast to examine the use of existing risk assessment tools to distinguish families with and without chronic neglect, including an analysis of the predictive capacity of risk and protective factors. We found that families with chronic neglect were younger, had more children, were more likely to have children under age one, and had higher rates of domestic violence, mental health problems, and cognitive impairment. None of the assessed protective factors differed significantly. The overall predictive value of the assessment was low. Implications include the need to expand risk assessment tools to incorporate patterns over time and identify early indicators specific to chronic neglect.     

A Multivariate Analysis of the Working Poor in Texas: Implications for Policy

ABSTRACT

Social policy makers and researchers in the United States are greatly concerned with the plight of millions of immigrants to the United States. The effects of immigrants on the distribution of services and goods for impoverished segments of the population, especially along southern border-state areas, are currently undergoing scrutiny of policy makers. President George W. Bush has recently recommended sending the National Guard to the southern border to curb illegal migration. There is a strong national sentiment against illegal migration. Many believe that illegal migrants are exploited and, therefore, contribute disproportionately to the growing class of working poor in America. However, their have been limited attempts to link scientifically derived demographic and economic evidence of the causal factors associated with the growth of the working poor, and to develop research methodology and technical means to provide needed and valuable decision-support information for perspective policy makers and service providers. Using census data we attempt to empirically and geospatially look at the factors that contribute to the growth of working poor within the border state of Texas and its counties during 1990–2000.     

A Primer for Social Worker Researchers on How to Conduct a Multinomial Logistic Regression

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to explain how to conduct a multinomial logistic regression (MLR) to increase its usage among social work researchers. A challenge for social work researchers carrying out practice-based research is to incorporate statistical analyses that are comprehensible to clinicians. Another challenge is that categorical variables, as opposed to continuous, commonly occur in clinical settings, yet their usage is seldom taught in social work education. This article will discuss MLR, a categorical data analysis used when there are three or more unordered categories in the outcome variable. Multinomial logistic regression determines differences across client groups, and can be useful in assessment, case planning, and examination of outcomes.