A Reflection on Critical Methodology: Accountability and Beneficiary Participative Evaluation in Third Sector Research

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Enabled by the underpinnings of critical theory, this article discusses research methodology developed with the aim of...     

The challenges of evaluating dose response in flexible‐dose trials using marginal structural models

Assessing dose response from flexible‐dose clinical trials is problematic. The true dose effect may be obscured and even reversed in observed data because dose is related to both previous and subsequent outcomes. To remove selection bias, we propose marginal structural models, inverse probability of treatment‐weighting (IPTW) methodology. Potential clinical outcomes are compared across dose groups using a marginal structural model (MSM) based on a weighted pooled repeated measures analysis (generalized estimating equations with robust estimates of standard errors), with dose effect represented by current dose and recent dose history, and weights estimated from the data (via logistic regression) and determined as products of (i) inverse probability of receiving dose assignments that were actually received and (ii) inverse probability of remaining on treatment by this time. In simulations, this method led to almost unbiased estimates of true dose effect under various scenarios. Results were compared with those obtained by unweighted analyses and by weighted analyses under various model specifications. The simulation showed that the IPTW MSM methodology is highly sensitive to model misspecification even when weights are known. Practitioners applying MSM should be cautious about the challenges of implementing MSM with real clinical data. Clinical trial data are used to illustrate the methodology. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Life-Span Approach to Children-In-Law’s Perceptions of Parent-In-Law Communication

Relationships between children-in-law (CIL) and parents-in-law (PIL) can be enduring sources of delight or distress that influence the quality of spousal relationships and grandparent-grandchild ties. Little research, however, examines CIL perceptions of in-law relationships (ILRs) beyond the newlywed years. Drawing on the life course perspective and socioemotional selectivity theory, we hypothesized that marital duration would predict how frequently CIL encountered positive and negative PIL behaviors, and account for the degree to which these behaviors were appraised favorably or as problematic. A total of 179 individuals rated how often a target PIL provided informational support, instrumental support, emotional support, and companionship, and how frequently the target PIL was intrusive, rejecting, insensitive, and failed to help. The frequency with which both positive and negative in-law behaviors were experienced was predicted by marital duration (but not CIL age or PIL age), although quadratic and cubic marital duration terms were better predictors than the linear term.     

Game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (GB-CBT) group program for children who have experienced sexual abuse: a preliminary investigation

This preliminary investigation examined the efficacy of a game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy group program for elementary school-aged children who have experienced sexual abuse. Treatment aimed to improve: (a) internalizing symptoms, (b) externalizing behaviors, (c) sexually inappropriate behaviors, (d) social skills deficits, (e) self-esteem problems, and (f) knowledge of healthy sexuality and self-protection skills. Results indicate that game-based cognitive-behavioral therapy was effective for improving internalizing and externalizing symptoms, reducing sexually inappropriate behaviors, and improving children's knowledge of abuse and self-protection skills. Although results pointed in a positive direction for social skills and self-perception, these findings were not statistically significant. Clinical significance was also evaluated to assess the clinical utility of treatment effects. Treatment implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.     

纳米级红外光谱用于聚合物的表征

尽管红外微光谱有广阔的用途,但是由于光学规则与实际设计的局限性,其基本的空间分辨率受到了限制。傅里叶变换红外光谱的空间分辨率局限于3倍的红外辐射波长。通过使用衰减全反射(ATR)的方式,可以将其空间分辨率接近于其辐射波长。纳米级红外光谱(Nano IR)技术可以解决分辨率的限制,提供一种在200nm及其之上可以测量样品物理和化学性质的方法。     

Options traders exhibit subadditive decision weights

Professional options traders priced risky prospects as well as uncertain prospects whose outcomes depended on future values of various stocks. The prices of the risky prospects coincided with their expected value, but the prices of the uncertain prospects violated expected utility theory. An event had greater impact on prices when it turned an impossibility into a possibility or a possibility into a certainty than when it merely made a possibility more or less likely, as predicted by prospect theory. This phenomenon is attributed to the subadditivity of judged probabilities.