166,617 research outputs found

    A conceptual treadmill: the need for ‘middle ground’ in clinical decision making theory in nursing

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    This paper explores the two predominant theoretical approaches to the process of nurse decision making prevalent within the nursing research literature: systematic-positivistic approaches as exemplifed by information processing theory, and the intuitive-humanistic approach of Patricia Benner. The two approaches' strengths and weaknesses are explored and as a result a third theoretical stance is proffered: the idea of a cognitive continuum. According to this approach the systematic and intuitive theoretical camps occupy polar positions at either end of a continuum as opposed to separate theoretical planes. The methodological and professional benefits of adopting such a stance are also briefly outlined

    Mission drift in qualitative research, or moving toward a systematic review of qualitative studies, moving back to a more systematic narrative review

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    The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the use of a narrative inductive method of analysis. The essence of qualitative work is described. The natural ability for issues of ethnicity and diversity to be investigated through a qualitative approach is elaborated. Recent developments in systematic review are delineated, including the Delphi and Signal and Noise techniques, inclusion of grey literature, scoping studies and meta-ethnography. A narrative inductive interpretive method to review qualitative research is proposed, using reflective teams to analyse documents. Narrative is suggested as a knowledge-generating method and its underlying hermeneutic approach is defended as providing validity and theoretical structure. Finally, qualities that distinguish qualitative research from more quantitative investigations are delineated. Starting points for reflecting on qualitative studies and their usefulness are listed. Key words: Qualitative Systematic Review, Evidence-Based Policy, Grey Literature, Scoping Studies, Delphi, ‘Signal and Noise’, Meta-ethnography, Narrative Review, Narrative Method, and Reflective Teams

    The Optimisation of Integrated Urban Transport Strategies: Tests Using Pluto

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    This working paper reports work indertaken on an EPSRC study, the optimisation of integrated urban transport strategies. It is the fist in a series of papers each reporting work using a different transport model. This paper is concerned with work using PLUTO, a transport model based on a hypothetical city, which can provide model runs quickly and cheaply. PLUTO was used to experiment widely, examining paths towards an optimum when considering discrete policy variables, continuous policy variables and hybrids where several policy variables may be combined to form a strategy. Our search for a method by which to reach an optimum solution uses regression analysis of carefully specified sets of model runs. We find that the use of statistical modelling techniques is extremely useful in pointing the way to an optimum, using only a limited number of model runs. However, care is necessary to ensure that the regression models are interpreted correctly

    Marking as judgment

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    An aspect of assessment which has received little attention compared with perennial concerns, such as standards or reliability, is the role of judgment in marking. This paper explores marking as an act of judgment, paying particular attention to the nature of judgment and the processes involved. It brings together studies which have explored marking from a psychological perspective for the purpose of critical discussion of the light they shed on each other and on the practice of marking. Later stages speculate on recent developments in psychology and neuroscience which may cast further light on educational assessment

    Medicine is not science

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    ABSTRACT: Abstract Most modern knowledge is not science. The physical sciences have successfully validated theories to infer they can be used universally to predict in previously unexperienced circumstances. According to the conventional conception of science such inferences are falsified by a single irregular outcome. And verification is by the scientific method which requires strict regularity of outcome and establishes cause and effect. Medicine, medical research and many “soft” sciences are concerned with individual people in complex heterogeneous populations. These populations cannot be tested to demonstrate strict regularity of outcome in every individual. Neither randomised controlled trials nor observational studies in medicine are science in the conventional conception. Establishing and using medical and other “soft science” theories cannot be scientific. It requires conceptually different means: requiring expert judgement applying all available evidence in the relevant available factual matrix. The practice of medicine is observational. Prediction of outcomes for the individual requires professional expertise applying available medical knowledge and evidence. Expertise in any profession can only be acquired through experience. Prior cases are the fundament of knowledge and expertise in medicine. Case histories, studies and series can provide knowledge of extremely high reliability applicable to establishing reliable general theories and falsifying others. Their collation, study and analysis should be a priority in medicine. Their devaluation as evidence, the failure to apply their lessons, the devaluation of expert professional judgement and the attempt to emulate the scientific method are all historic errors in the theory and practice of modern medicine

    Book Review

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    Quantitative Methods in Law represents the efforts of one legal scholar to apply mathematical probability and statistics to the solution of a wide range of legal problems. Michael O. Finkelstein has republished in book form a collection of his articles, beginning with his most famous and most widely cited: the application of mathematical probability to jury discrimination cases. After leading the reader through a series of fascinating applications of statistical problem solving to an impressively wide range of legal situations, the book concludes with the final words of one of the most engaging battles among legal scholars in recent years: the exchange between Michael Finkelstein and Laurence Tribe on the use of Bayes\u27 theorem in a criminal trial to assist the jury in integrating probabilistic evidence with nonnumerical testimony

    The Search for Invariance: Repeated Positive Testing Serves the Goals of Causal Learning

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    Positive testing is characteristic of exploratory behavior, yet it seems to be at odds with the aim of information seeking. After all, repeated demonstrations of one’s current hypothesis often produce the same evidence and fail to distinguish it from potential alternatives. Research on the development of scientific reasoning and adult rule learning have both documented and attempted to explain this behavior. The current chapter reviews this prior work and introduces a novel theoretical account—the Search for Invariance (SI) hypothesis—which suggests that producing multiple positive examples serves the goals of causal learning. This hypothesis draws on the interventionist framework of causal reasoning, which suggests that causal learners are concerned with the invariance of candidate hypotheses. In a probabilistic and interdependent causal world, our primary goal is to determine whether, and in what contexts, our causal hypotheses provide accurate foundations for inference and intervention—not to disconfirm their alternatives. By recognizing the central role of invariance in causal learning, the phenomenon of positive testing may be reinterpreted as a rational information-seeking strategy
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