Falsificationism is not just ‘potential’ falsifiability,but requires ‘actual’ falsification: Social psychology,critical rationalism,and progress in science

Based on an analysis of ten popular introductions to social psychology, we will show that Karl Popper's philosophy of ‘critical rationalism’ so far has had little to no traceable influence on the epistemology and practice of social psychology. If Popper is quoted or mentioned in the textbooks at all, the guiding principle of ‘falsificationism’ is reduced to a mere ‘falsifiability’ and some central elements of critical rationalism are left out – those that are incompatible with positivism and inductivism. Echoing earlier attempts to introduce Popper to social psychology by Paul Meehl and Tom Pettigrew, we will argue that a discussing Popper's ideas in more depth could help social psychology to move forward in view of the ‘crisis of confidence’ (Pashler and Wagenmakers, 2012) that has emerged recently in view of the ‘Stapel affair’ and the reports of failures to replicate social psychological experiments in high‐powered replication attempts.     

Data Dependent Cells Chi‐Square Test With Recurrent Events

We consider a recurrent event wherein the inter‐event times are independent and identically distributed with a common absolutely continuous distribution function F. In this article, interest is in the problem of testing the null hypothesis that F belongs to some parametric family where the q‐dimensional parameter is unknown. We propose a general Chi‐squared test in which cell boundaries are data dependent. An estimator of the parameter obtained by minimizing a quadratic form resulting from a properly scaled vector of differences between Observed and Expected frequencies is used to construct the test. This estimator is known as the minimum chi‐square estimator. Large sample properties of the proposed test statistic are established using empirical processes tools. A simulation study is conducted to assess the performance of the test under parameter misspecification, and our procedures are applied to a fleet of Boeing 720 jet planes' air conditioning system failures.     

Understanding Nurse Perceptions of a Newly Implemented Electronic Medical Record System

Nurses are the frontline of healthcare; however, there has been little theoretically-driven research on their acceptance of information technology use in care delivery. This research utilized the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model to understand how hospital nurses perceived the implementation of a new electronic medical record (EMR) system. This study used mix methods. The survey responses indicated that social influence and performance expectancy were significant factors in system adoption. Effort expectancy did not have a significant influence on the intention to use the EMR. The interviews were utilized to better understand these results. The UTAUT model highlighted factors that are important to nurses during an EMR deployment and can help in future implementations of technology in healthcare.     

An empirical assessment of the Above the Influence advertising campaign

This study evaluated the efficacy of Above the Influence (ATI), a national media-based health persuasion campaign to deter youth drug use. The campaign uses public service anti-drug prevention messages and targets youth between the ages of 14 and 16, a period of heightened susceptibility to peer influences. The evaluation utilized mall intercepts from geographically dispersed regions of the country. Theoretical impetus for the campaign combines elements of the theory of reasoned action (TRA), persuasion theory, and the health belief model. A series of structural equation models were tested with four randomly drawn cross-validation samples (N = 3,000). Findings suggest that awareness of ATI is associated with greater anti-drug beliefs, fewer drug use intentions, and less marijuana use. Congruent with the TRA, changes in beliefs and intentions are intermediate steps linking campaign awareness with behavior. This study provides further evidence of positive campaign effects and may strengthen reliance on mass media health persuasion campaigns as a useful adjunct to other programs targeting youth.     

Teaching ergonomics to undergraduate physical therapy students: new methodologies and impressions of a Brazilian experience

Being ergonomics a scientific discipline based on knowledge of several areas, it is important to use education methodologies that promote critical thinking and reflective during the educational process. The article discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity in undergraduate courses in health care in particular in disciplines that address the ergonomics issue. The aspects of the introduction of new education methodologies, as well as case studies in undergraduate courses in Brazil, are discussed in this study. Based on the literature review conducted, some proposals for action in the interdisciplinary teaching of ergonomics in Physiotherapy courses are presented.     

Using Promotores Programs to Improve Latino Health Outcomes: Implementation Challenges for Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations

ABSTRACT

Promotores are community lay health workers who provide outreach and services to Latinos. Little research on the promotores programs exists, and the focus of this article is to identify the challenges faced by community-based nonprofits when implementing promotores programs. To explore this type of program, telephone interviews were conducted with 10 promotores academic experts and nonprofit executives. The results suggest that implementation challenges fall into three major categories: the lack of standardized information on promotores programs, labor issues, and organizational costs. Future recommendations made in the article highlight promotores recruitment and retention strategies and the development of a clearinghouse of programmatic implementation information for community-based nonprofits.     

An axiomatization of the core for finite and continuum games

We provide a new axiomatization of the core of games in characteristic form. The games may have either finite sets of players or continuum sets of players and finite coalitions. Our research is based on Peleg's axiomatization for finite games and on the notions of measurement-consistent partitions and the f-core introduced by Kaneko and Wooders. Since coalitions are finite in both finite games and in continuum games, we can use the reduced game property and the converse reduced game property for our axiomatization. Both properties are particularly appealing in large economies.This paper is a revision of University of Bonn Sonderforschungsbereich 303 Discussion Paper No. B-149, with the same title.     

Searching for Barriers to Adoption of the Videophone in a Hospice Setting

Hospice services care for millions of Americans at the end of their life. To improve this care, videophones have been introduced. However, the use of videophones is often not readily accepted by hospice nurses. This study used three theories, surveys, and focus groups with 25 hospice employees to investigate why there was a lack of acceptance. The survey predicted the videophones would be adopted. However, this was not the case, so focus groups were conducted to expand understanding of nonacceptance. This research demonstrates that leadership, context, and perceptions of the technology were key features effecting videophone acceptance. Future research should further examine these barriers and address the need for new survey instruments regarding nonutilization in this context.