Perspectives of research on aging in India

Any social action plan, scheme, or program for welfare or intervention can be formulated only on the basis of data generated by research findings. Empirical data forms the backbone of the formulation of policy. This paper outlines the summary of the Indian research effort in the area of aging. An examination of the research trends shows both strengths and weaknesses. The generation of large and varied pieces of data across disciplines is a strength, while the absence of methodological rigor, integration of research effort, and the building of theory are the lacunae. The needs of the elderly, elder-care issues, State vs. family care, elder abuse, interventional and action plan research are some areas that need accentuation. Documentation of data, creation of databases, and a national body for overseeing research are requirements that cannot be delayed any longer.     

Documentation in evaluation research: Managerial and scientific requirements

Documentation in evaluation research consists of written material, in human- or machine-readable form, pertaining to the plans, activities, and results of the project. It is argued here that good documentation is essential for effective management of evaluations, and for responsible reporting of the research procedures and findings. Documentation relating to electronic data processing activity is especially important. The purpose of this paper is to stimulate consideration and discussion of documentation, and to emphasize its importance in evaluation research. The role of documentation in the planning and control functions of project management is reviewed, and the importance of documentation in the assessment of research quality with respect to objectivity, validity, and replicability is discussed. Reasons for poor documentation are considered. An outline of documentation required in different phases of research projects is provided, and recommendations for improving the quality of documentation are presented.     

Qualitative research strategies in rehabilitation

This article presents an overview of the qualitative research methods that social scientists use to explore human phenomena. The authors describe the philosophical and historical foundations of qualitative research, coupled with illustrations of specific qualitative designs. Applications of qualitative methods in the contemporary rehabilitation literature are also presented.     

Internal validity in rehabilitation research

In experimental research, internal validity is the extent to which the researcher can conclude that the manipulation of the independent variable caused change in the dependent variable. Without causal inference, researchers and research consumers would not be able to meaningfully interpret the results of experiments. This article discusses (a) threats to internal validity in rehabilitation research an (b) experimental procedures that can aid rehabilitation researchers in maximizing the internal validity of their investigations.     

Multiple regression in rehabilitation research

This article examines applications of multiple regression in rehabilitation research. The authors address the logic and assumptions of correlational research, annotated with examples from the contemporary rehabilitation and allied health literature. As a means of testing relationships between a set of independent variables and one dependent variable, multiple regression is presented as a flexible and useful data analytic strategy.     

Single subject research methods in rehabilitation

The article describes single-subject research designs as an efficient and cost-effective way to assess the impact of targeted interventions on individual behavior. The authors overview the basic tenets of single-subject research, provide examples of several types of single-subject designs, and describe the utility of single-subject designs in rehabilitation research.     

Ethics,human rights and sociological inquiry: Genocide,politicide and other issues of organizational power

This paper introduces a human rights (in contrast to an ethicist) perspective into sociological investigation. Moreover, it indicates why a human rights orientation is necessary for examining genocide, politicide and other issues of organizational power. For years he has been concerned with the sociology of ethics, human rights and bureaucracy. Her research focuses on formal organizations, criminology/deviance, family life and medical sociology. Her primary interests are race and ethnic relations, family life and social psychology. Her interests include formal organizations, American studies and autobiography.     

以科技资源开放共享提升上海科研公共服务水平

上海处于“创新驱动、转型发展”、建设创新型城市的关键时期,迫切需要充分利用各类科技资源,完善创新服务体系,不断提升自主创新能力：一方面,要进一步强化科技资源共享和优化配置,提升科技资源综合利用率;另一方面,更要推动“创新资源集聚”向“创新支撑服务”升级,促进科技研发公共服务发展,服务企业发展和产业技术创新。为此,上海应完善科技研发公共服务平台体系,推动企业创新发展;建立“科技资源数据中心”,优化科技创新资源配置;打造科技创新服务基地,培育壮大科技公共服务产业。     

The use of focus groups in rehabilitation research

In this article, the authors explore the applications of focus groups to rehabilitation and disability research. Key issues in designing focus group research (e.g., methodological considerations, strategies for conducting focus groups, data analysis procedures) are highlighted. The authors then discuss specific considerations for conducting focus groups with people with disabilities. The article concludes with a review of three research studies in rehabilitation that used a focus group methodology.     

An experiment in helping social work practitioners to design and conduct research

A twelve-week short course, “Understanding Social Work Practice through Research” was conducted for experienced social work practitioners during the Spring of 1982. The course, experimental in character, began with the practice interests of individual course members and used the resources of the class members and the course tutors to help each person to devise a research design suitable to his or her personally declared practice interests. The work was supported by handouts (e.g., “Turning an interest in a practice issue into one or more researchable questions”; “Decisions required when constructing a research design”; etc.) and by worksheets.

Eight persons attended all or most sessions (one dropped out early in the sequence) and all of these completed a research design and indicated an interest in implementing it. Optional follow-up sessions were provided in the form of group support meetings held at four-month intervals and individual consultation as required. In addition to producing a viable research design, members gained increased confidence in themselves as researchers as well as practitioners, clarified their understanding of the relationship between research and practice, and in some cases emerged with a renewed enthusiasm for social work practice.     

An introduction to methodological challenges in the evaluation of eHealth research: Perspectives from the Health e-Technologies Initiative

In February 2002 the Health e-Technologies Initiative (HETI), a program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation^®, was created to advance discovery of scientific knowledge regarding the effectiveness of interactive eHealth applications. This article is the introduction to a series of seven articles written by grantees of HETI which address challenges, lessons learned, and proposed solutions as researchers implement eHealth projects. From this body of work it is clear that the overall process of conducting evaluation research in eHealth requires careful and detailed planning, recognition of the heightened sensitivity of IRBs, and institutions around the electronic collection and communication of personal health information, and a combination of tenacity and creativity to address the inevitable thorny methodological challenges to eHealth research. Use of established guidelines to help standardize the evaluation process, where feasible, is recommended.     

Ethics Creep: Governing Social Science Research in the Name of Ethics

This article presents an analysis of the Canadian ethics review process by a member of a Research Ethics Board. The author suggests that the new formal system for regulating the ethical conduct of scholarly research is experiencing a form of ethics creep. This is characterized by a dual process whereby the regulatory system is expanding outward to incorporate a host of new activities and institutions, while at the same time intensifying the regulation of activities deemed to fall within its ambit. These tendencies are demonstrated through an analysis of: 1) the scope of research ethics protocols, 2) the concept of harm employed by these boards, 3) the use of informed consent provisions, and 4) the presumption that research participants will remain anonymous. To accentuate the nature of this ethics creep, comparisons are made between the ways in which identical knowledge generation activities are governed within journalism and the academy. The conclusion suggests that one effect of the increasingly formalized research ethics structure is to rupture the relationship between following the rules and acting ethically. Some of the reasons for this creep are highlighted along with the risks that it poses for scholarship.