Developing the adjudicated case study method

In this commentary we discuss Miller’s Panel of Psychological Inquiry (PPI) and Bohart’s Research Jury method approaches to the development of the adjudicated case study method, as represented by the papers assembled for this issue of Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. In our view, the case studies presented here demonstrate the rapidly developing potential offered by this approach for psychotherapy research and reveal many parallels to recent research using the Hermeneutic Single Case Efficacy Design (HSCED) model. In our view, each of the three models has taken significant steps forward in adapting particular aspects of the legal process as viable psychotherapy research procedures. In this commentary we summarize the HSCED method, then take readers through the issues of the sources of the evidence used; ways in which that evidence is tested; claims, burden and standard of proof; and the handling of the adjudication process itself. We conclude with recommendations for further development of adjudicated case study methods

Experimental Design: Design Experimentation

This paper was selected for publication in MIT’s Design Issues. The research takes an original approach by positioning experimentation as a comprehensive design methodology, rather than using the traditional industrial design approach of employing experimentation as a problem-solving tool within a standard design model. It is an evolution of design thinking on non-linear design methods first developed by Hall and presented to the ‘International Association of Societies of Design Research Conference’, Seoul, South Korea (2009), and in a paper entitled ‘Innovation design engineering: Non-linear progressive education for diverse intakes’ presented at the ‘International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education’, University of Brighton, UK, which offered a non-linear pedagogy (Hall and Childs 2009) that uniquely supports a diverse interdisciplinary intake. Experimental design is well known in the science domain but very little evidence has been recorded of experimentation in industrial design and its position in relation to work in other science and research domains. Connections are made with theories on research methods, an analysis of case studies and comparisons of literature on experimentation from science disciplines, especially that of Kuhn (1962), Galison (1987), Pasteur’s quadrant for scientific research in Stokes (1997) and Borgdorff (2007). Hall makes significant claims in exploring and articulating a model of design experimentation that highlights the differences between scientific and design experimentation. This work was original in describing an experimental design model for the increasing activity in early phases of design development by recording and enhancing knowledge in this important area for future design research and practice. The methods researched in the paper were later used in experimental design workshops in Daegu, South Korea (2011) and Busan, South Korea (2012)

Analysing health claims policy in Australia : a case study of evidence in food and nutrition policy-making

Purpose: Health claims generally describe an association between a food product and a health outcome. There is debate whether health claims promote or obstruct healthy food selection behaviour. This study investigates the role of evidence in food and nutrition policy-making. The research question is how and why was health claims policy made in Australia? The research is innovative in its critical analysis design and its focus on building theory to help improve food and nutrition policy-making processes and outcomes.Methods: A case study design was adopted in which events, stakeholders and issues associated with the policy review were described from data generated from interviews and documentary sources. A content-analysis tool is being used to critically analyse textual data. Concepts in the text are being identified and relationships among the policy concepts, stakeholders and processes are being mapped.Findings: The analysis of data associated with the policy review is revealing a pattern of relationships among stakeholders, processes and concepts around shared values, beliefs and interests towards food and health. Broader food regulation contexts have influenced the decision-making environment. The pattern of relationships shares common characteristics with Sabatier&rsquo;s &lsquo;Advocacy Coalition Framework&rsquo; theoretical explanation of policy-making.Conclusions: The study findings have implications for health claims policy and practice in Australia. As a case study of evidence in food and nutrition policy-making, this research highlights the role of competing interests, beliefs and values in evidence interpretation. Challenges are identified in undertaking food policy research.<br /

The advertising of nutritional supplements in South African women’s magazines: a descriptive survey

Objective: Nutritional supplements are inadequately regulated in South Africa. These types of products are increasingly advertised and the advertisements frequently contain health claims. Because advertisements play a considerable role in informing potential consumers, it is crucial that information about supplements in advertisements is accurate. A survey was carried out to determine the extent to which health claims are made in nutritional supplement advertisements and to describe the appropriateness of the research cited within the advertisements in support of the health claims.Design: The design was a descriptive survey.Method: The five women’s magazines with the highest circulation figures in South Africa in July 2010 were identified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations of South Africa as Cosmopolitan, Finesse, Move!, Rooi Rose and Sarie. Issues of these magazines were obtained during the period from September 2010 to August 2011. Pre-specified eligibility criteria were used to identify suitable advertisements and to determine the percentage of nutritional supplements about which health claims were made. The percentage of these supplements for which research was cited in support of the claims was also determined, and the level and appropriateness of the cited research, described.Results: In total, 486 eligible advertisements were identified which referred to 158 nutritional supplements. Of these, 137 (86.7%) made health claims and 9 of the 137 (6.6%) cited research to support their claims. The cited research was judged to be largely inappropriate based on study design and/or the characteristics of the study.Conclusion: South Africans should be wary of advertisements that make claims about the health benefits and safety of nutritional supplements. Regulation of the advertising of nutritional supplements is urgently needed.Keywords: dietary supplements, health claims, regulation, advertising, evidence based health car

A Classroom Based Assessment in a High School Social Studies Classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the use of brain-based pre-writing strategies will improve students’ abilities to support claims, with evidence, on a state-mandated, classroom-based, assessment. Specifically, the research evaluated the working hypothesis that using brain-based, pre-writing activity in the non-fiction, expository writing process will assist students in their performances, as assessed by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state-approved You and the Economy CBA CBA Rubric. By using brain-based strategies as a pre-writing activity in the non-fiction, explanatory, secondary social studies writing process, I hypothesized that those students would demonstrate logical use of claims and evidence in their typed essays. The research questions were answered through an action-research data cycle. This research is guided by two overarching research questions: 1. As brain-based learning strategies are being implemented in real time, what is the nature of the process of using brain-based interventions? In documenting the brain-based interventions, what decision-making factors are considered when designing the unit of instruction? 2. What changes—if any—are demonstrated in student writing performances on a Classroom Based Assessment, when brain-based learning strategies are implemented over the span of the research cycle? These research questions were answered through a study design involving a cycle of instruction, culminating in an explanatory writing sample. The results of the CBA-related to claims and evidence outlined in EALRs 2.2.1 and 5.2.2, instructional practices to implement brain-based pre-writing strategies will be implemented. Using brain principles to increase visual, auditory and kinesthetic contact with the concepts presented may improve students’ abilities to make claims and provide proper evidence for those claims, as measured by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State approved You and the Economy Class Based Assessment (CBA) Rubric. The process of my decision making, as well as student writing, was examined to evaluate the effect of brain-based pre-writing strategies, which students use to complete the CBA

Use and outcomes of targeted therapies in early and metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in Australia: Protocol detailing observations in a whole of population cohort

Background: The management of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer (BC) has changed dramatically with the introduction and widespread use of HER2-targeted therapies. However, there is relatively limited real-world information on patterns of use, effectiveness and safety in whole of population cohorts. The research programme detailed in this protocol will generate evidence on the prescribing patterns, safety monitoring and outcomes of patients with BC treated with HER2- targeted therapies in Australia. Methods/design: Our ongoing research programme will involve a series of retrospective cohort studies that include every patient accessing Commonwealth-funded HER2-targeted therapies for the treatment of early BC and advanced BC in Australia. At the time of writing, our cohorts consist of 11 406 patients with early BC and 5631 with advanced BC who accessed trastuzumab and lapatinib between 2001 and 2014. Pertuzumab and trastuzumab emtansine were publicly funded for metastatic BC in 2015, and future data updates will include patients accessing these medicines. We will use dispensing claims for cancer and other medicines, medical service claims and demographics data for each patient accessing HER2- targeted therapies to undertake this research. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been granted by the Population Health Service Research Ethics Committee and data access approval has been granted by the Australian Department of Human Services (DHS) External Review Evaluation Committee. Our findings will be reported in peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and policy forums. By providing detailed information on the use and outcomes associated with HER2-targeted therapies in a national cohort treated in routine clinical care, our research programme will better inform clinicians and patients about the real-world use of these treatments and will assist third-party payers to better understand the use and economic costs of these treatments

Instrumental Use of Information in the Design of the Chilean Secondary Education Reform

The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which different types of information were instrumentally used for the formulation of policy problems and the delineation of policy solutions stated by the policymakers in charge of the Chilean secondary education reform carried out between 1995 and 2000. This is an unusual setting where the administrators responsible for the design and implementation of the reform policy had strong backgrounds in social research. This type of setting has not been explored substantively by other researchers. The data analyzed in the study were 63 pieces of information used as evidence for 53 policy claims in appropriate documents as well as feedback from participating policymakers. The study showed a high degree of instrumental use of information both for identifying problems of secondary education in Chile, as well as policies to address them. Almost every policy claim identified in the reform documents analyzed was based directly on some type of evidence. Approximately 85% of the evidence used to support claims was research based. The research implied that use of information in policymaking can be increased by planning long-term processes of policy development with a stable policymaking team, including policymakers in production of research and other information needed, strengthening national research capacity in education, and to consult a wide variety of information

Building Information Literacy Through Consideration of Claims in Psychology: Evaluating Credibility and Evidence in Sources

This chapter describes the design, execution, and initial assessment of a series of assignments meant to build information literacy in students in an Introductory Psychology course. Students rated popular psychology claims as true or false. They then evaluated the science regarding“The Mozart Effect,” in a group-led discussion. They then chose a popular claim to study, found relevant sources, evaluated them, and wrote an evidence-based summary of whether to accept or reject the claim. Our assessment indicated that students improved their ability to 1) find relevant primary sources, 2) discern sources as evidence-based and credible, and 3) use evidence to construct a written argument. This multi-part assignment emphasized the process of research over the final product while improving scientific and information literacy

Theory, Data, and Deterrence: A Response to Kenwick, Vasquez, and Powers

Kenwick, Vasquez, and Powers question whether empirical evidence supports the claim that defense pacts deter conflict as our prior research has concluded. We review the theoretical argument for why defense pacts should deter conflict and consider the challenges inherent in evaluating deterrence using observational data. We then consider whether the research design choices of Kenwick et al. improve upon our research design. We demonstrate that claims that defense pacts deter conflict are robust to many of these changes in research design, and we argue that the consequential difference, while perhaps appropriate for testing the Steps-to-War argument, is not appropriate for testing the deterrent effect of defense pacts. We conclude by noting that a deterrence effect of defense pacts is not necessarily incompatible with aspects of the Steps-to-War argument, and we suggest profitable new directions for testing the Steps-to-War approach

Fundamental frequency height as a resource for the management of overlap in talk-in-interaction.

Overlapping talk is common in talk-in-interaction. Much of the previous research on this topic agrees that speaker overlaps can be either turn competitive or noncompetitive. An investigation of the differences in prosodic design between these two classes of overlaps can offer insight into how speakers use and orient to prosody as a resource for turn competition. In this paper, we investigate the role of fundamental frequency (F0) as a resource for turn competition in overlapping speech. Our methodological approach combines detailed conversation analysis of overlap instances with acoustic measurements of F0 in the overlapping sequence and in its local context. The analyses are based on a collection of overlap instances drawn from the ICSI Meeting corpus. We found that overlappers mark an overlapping incoming as competitive by raising F0 above their norm for turn beginnings, and retaining this higher F0 until the point of overlap resolution. Overlappees may respond to these competitive incomings by returning competition, in which case they raise their F0 too. Our results thus provide instrumental support for earlier claims made on impressionistic evidence, namely that participants in talk-in-interaction systematically manipulate F0 height when competing for the turn