Mixed Methods in Research on the Psychology of the Internet and Social Media

Die Forschung zur Psychologie des Internets und der sozialen Medien (PISM) ist durch eine starke methodische Kompartmentalisierung gekennzeichnet. Im aktuellen Beitrag zeigen wir empirisch, dass 1. quantitative Methoden den bevorzugten Goldstandard des Mainstreams des Feldes darstellen (bevorzugt gegenüber qualitativen Methoden und Mixed Methods) und 2. das Feld in separate Communities of Practice (Psychologie, Kommunikations-, Kultur-/Medienwissenschaften) mit je verschiedenen Kausalitätsverständnissen und Methoden aufgeteilt ist. Hierzu untersuchen wir die im Jahr 2020 in sechs einschlägigen PISM-Zeitschriften veröffentlichten Artikel auf die Verwendung quantitativer, qualitativer und Mixed-Methods-Ansätze und analysieren die jeweils verwendeten kausalen Logiken (Regularitätstheorie vs. subjektive Bedeutung). Wir stellen fest, dass die Analyse kausaler Regelmäßigkeiten im Zentrum der quantitativen Forschungspraktiken in der Psychologie und der Kommunikationswissenschaft steht, während die qualitative Kausallogik der subjektiven Bedeutung von Wissenschaftler*innen in den Kultur- und Medienwissenschaften angewandt wird. Es gibt kaum Überschneidungen zwischen diesen Communities und nur wenige Studien mit Mixed-Methods-Designs. Um zu beschreiben, wie eine Bereicherung von PISM durch Mixed-Methods-Ansätze aussehen könnte, stellen wir anschließend eine Mixed-Methods-Studie zu Social-Media-basierten Integrationsmustern von Menschen koreanischer und türkischer Herkunft in Deutschland vor. Abschließend argumentieren wir für eine Auflösung exkludierender, stereotyper Vorstellungen von Kausalität und Methoden in der PISM-Forschung und schlagen Wege in Richtung methodisch inklusiverer Untersuchungspraktiken vor.Research on the psychology of the Internet and social media (POISM) is characterized by a heavy methodological compartmentalization. In the current contribution we show empirically that 1. quantitative methods constitute the preferred gold standard of the field's mainstream (favored over qualitative and mixed methods), 2. the field is divided into separate communities of practice (psychology, communication, cultural/media studies), each with their own type of causal claims and associated methods. To show this we content analyze published articles in 2020 across six pertinent POISM journals for instances of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods as well as regularity-type versus subjective meaning-type causal logic. We find that regularity-type causal logic is at the center of quantitative research practices in psychology and communication, while qualitative subjective meaning-type causal logic is adopted by scholars in cultural/media studies, with hardly any overlap in between, and only few mixed methods studies. To describe how the research area would profit from mixed methods approaches, we subsequently present a mixed methods study about social media-based integration patterns of Korean and Turkish-heritage individuals in Germany. We conclude by dissolving some of the exclusive stereotyped notions of causality and methods in POISM research and suggest avenues for methodologically more inclusive practices of inquiry

Mixed Methods in the Psychology of the Internet and Social Media

We carried out a content analysis of the causal logic and the methods that psychology, communication and cultural/media studies scholars take up in their publications in pertinent journals concerning the psychology of the Internet and social media. This study will appear in Forum Qualitative Research: see https://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs

Post-anaesthesia pulmonary complications after use of muscle relaxants (POPULAR): a multicentre, prospective observational study

Background Results from retrospective studies suggest that use of neuromuscular blocking agents during general anaesthesia might be linked to postoperative pulmonary complications. We therefore aimed to assess whether the use of neuromuscular blocking agents is associated with postoperative pulmonary complications. Methods We did a multicentre, prospective observational cohort study. Patients were recruited from 211 hospitals in 28 European countries. We included patients (aged ≥18 years) who received general anaesthesia for any in-hospital procedure except cardiac surgery. Patient characteristics, surgical and anaesthetic details, and chart review at discharge were prospectively collected over 2 weeks. Additionally, each patient underwent postoperative physical examination within 3 days of surgery to check for adverse pulmonary events. The study outcome was the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications from the end of surgery up to postoperative day 28. Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for surgical factors and patients’ preoperative physical status, providing adjusted odds ratios (ORadj) and adjusted absolute risk reduction (ARRadj). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01865513. Findings Between June 16, 2014, and April 29, 2015, data from 22803 patients were collected. The use of neuromuscular blocking agents was associated with an increased incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications in patients who had undergone general anaesthesia (1658 [7·6%] of 21694); ORadj 1·86, 95% CI 1·53–2·26; ARRadj –4·4%, 95% CI –5·5 to –3·2). Only 2·3% of high-risk surgical patients and those with adverse respiratory profiles were anaesthetised without neuromuscular blocking agents. The use of neuromuscular monitoring (ORadj 1·31, 95% CI 1·15–1·49; ARRadj –2·6%, 95% CI –3·9 to –1·4) and the administration of reversal agents (1·23, 1·07–1·41; –1·9%, –3·2 to –0·7) were not associated with a decreased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Neither the choice of sugammadex instead of neostigmine for reversal (ORadj 1·03, 95% CI 0·85–1·25; ARRadj –0·3%, 95% CI –2·4 to 1·5) nor extubation at a train-of-four ratio of 0·9 or more (1·03, 0·82–1·31; –0·4%, –3·5 to 2·2) was associated with better pulmonary outcomes. Interpretation We showed that the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs in general anaesthesia is associated with an increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications. Anaesthetists must balance the potential benefits of neuromuscular blockade against the increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications