The Role of Systematic Reviews in Clinical Research and Practice

The way in which researchers view education differs fundamentally from the way in which teachers view education. These different outlooks are (partly) a consequence of the different work roles of researchers and teachers. This article explores the question of whether it is really inevitable that research and practice each establish different views of education. The author shows that the definition of the role of researchers draws heavily on a dualistic view that separates knowledge from skill and detaches human intellectual faculties from other human faculties. Although such dualistic notions are highly contested nowadays, they are institutionalized in the definition of the work of researchers and the purpose of research. The contribution of this article lies in the presentation of a unifying framework in which the views of teachers and researchers can be (at least partially) reconciled in the context of clinical research practice.

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Clinical applications of nanomedicine research with Sourav Bhattacharjee

Video Journal of Biomedicine ◽

10.2217/vjbm-2020-0020 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sourav Bhattacharjee

Keyword(s):

Clinical Research ◽

Cancer Treatment ◽

Clinical Applications ◽

University College ◽

The University

In this second Expert Perspective video with Sourav Bhattacharjee of the University College Dublin, Sourav discusses how nanomedicine is being used in clinical research, with particular emphasis on the role of nanomedicine and nanotechnology in cancer treatment.

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Music Teacher Evaluation

The Oxford Handbook of Assessment Policy and Practice in Music Education, Volume 1 ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190248093.013.34 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 793-829

Author(s):

Douglas C. Orzolek

Keyword(s):

Teacher Evaluation ◽

Music Teacher ◽

American Education ◽

Effective Teacher ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Self Reflection ◽

Evaluation Systems ◽

The Impact ◽

Music Teacher Evaluation

This chapter outlines the nature of music teacher evaluation found in existing and related literature and research. From these writings, there are an abundance of emergent themes that provide stakeholders with an opportunity to examine this topic and consider its application in their own settings. These themes include ideas related to the following: the intent of teacher evaluation; the role of teacher evaluation; what an effective teacher is; the importance of multifaceted evaluation systems; the place of student learning in the evaluative process; the various forms of evidence used to evaluate educators; the fact that research and practice should be intertwined in developing evaluation systems; the role of testing; the degree to which observation and self-reflection should be involved in teacher evaluation; the importance of clear and concise goals for learners; and the impact that systems of evaluation will have on the educators, schools, students, and American education as a whole. This chapter intends to allow stakeholders the opportunity to reflect on all of these issues and challenges.

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Beyond clinical trials: Extending the role of the clinical research nurse into social care and homeless research

Journal of Clinical Nursing ◽

10.1111/jocn.15911 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth Biswell R ◽

Michael Clark ◽

Michela Tinelli ◽

Gillian Manthorpe ◽

Joanne Neale ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Trials ◽

Clinical Research ◽

Social Care ◽

Research Nurse

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Determining the influence of intervention characteristics on implementation success requires reliable and valid measures: Results from a systematic review

Implementation Research and Practice ◽

10.1177/2633489521994197 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 263348952199419

Author(s):

Cara C Lewis ◽

Kayne Mettert ◽

Aaron R Lyon

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Quality Measures ◽

Measure Development ◽

Relative Advantage ◽

Design Quality ◽

High Quality ◽

Evidence Strength

Background: Despite their inclusion in Rogers’ seminal diffusion of innovations theory, few implementation studies empirically evaluate the role of intervention characteristics. Now, with growing evidence on the role of adaptation in implementation, high-quality measures of characteristics such as adaptability, trialability, and complexity are needed. Only two systematic reviews of implementation measures captured those related to the intervention or innovation and their assessment of psychometric properties was limited. This manuscript reports on the results of eight systematic reviews of measures of intervention characteristics with nuanced data regarding a broad range of psychometric properties. Methods: The systematic review proceeded in three phases. Phase I, data collection, involved search string generation, title and abstract screening, full text review, construct assignment, and citation searches. Phase II, data extraction, involved coding psychometric information. Phase III, data analysis, involved two trained specialists independently rating each measure using PAPERS (Psychometric And Pragmatic Evidence Rating Scales). Results: Searches identified 16 measures or scales: zero for intervention source, one for evidence strength and quality, nine for relative advantage, five for adaptability, six for trialability, nine for complexity, and two for design quality and packaging. Information about internal consistency and norms was available for most measures, whereas information about other psychometric properties was most often not available. Ratings for psychometric properties fell in the range of “poor” to “good.” Conclusion: The results of this review confirm that few implementation scholars are examining the role of intervention characteristics in behavioral health studies. Significant work is needed to both develop new measures (e.g., for intervention source) and build psychometric evidence for existing measures in this forgotten domain. Plain Language Summary Intervention characteristics have long been perceived as critical factors that directly influence the rate of adopting an innovation. It remains unclear the extent to which intervention characteristics including relative advantage, complexity, trialability, intervention source, design quality and packaging, evidence strength and quality, adaptability, and cost impact implementation of evidence-based practices in behavioral health settings. To unpack the differential influence of these factors, high quality measures are needed. Systematic reviews can identify measures and synthesize the data regarding their quality to identify gaps in the field and inform measure development and testing efforts. Two previous reviews identified measures of intervention characteristics, but they did not provide information about the extent of the existing evidence nor did they evaluate the host of evidence available for identified measures. This manuscript summarizes the results of nine systematic reviews (i.e., one for each of the factors listed above) for which 16 unique measures or scales were identified. The nuanced findings will help direct measure development work in this forgotten domain.

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“I Knew It Was Gonna Be Hard, but I Always Knew I Had Support From My Parents”: The Role of Family on Undocumented Students’ College Aspirations and Persistence

Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory & Practice ◽

10.1177/15210251211018826 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 152102512110188

Author(s):

Cinthya Salazar

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Undocumented Students ◽

The United States ◽

Public University ◽

College Aspirations ◽

Higher Education Research ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Postsecondary Success ◽

States Experience

Literature shows that undocumented students in the United States experience significant challenges to and through higher education. Only a few studies have uncovered the mechanisms that undocumented students use to persist in college; in particular, the role that family plays on their postsecondary success is understudied. In this qualitative study, I examine the role that family plays on undocumented students’ college aspirations and persistence. Findings from a sample of 16 undocumented students attending a four-year public university show that their families are the stimulus motivating them to pursue higher education, as well as the support system they can rely on to manage college barriers. However, the data also revealed that for a few participants, their families are a source of stress, resulting in additional challenges they must manage as they navigate higher education. I present these findings using participants’ vignettes and conclude with implications for higher education research and practice.

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Understanding the nature and scope of clinical research commentaries in PubMed

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association ◽

10.1093/jamia/ocz209 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 449-456

Author(s):

James R Rogers ◽

Hollis Mills ◽

Lisa V Grossman ◽

Andrew Goldstein ◽

Chunhua Weng

Keyword(s):

Clinical Research ◽

Sentiment Analysis ◽

Random Sample ◽

Full Text ◽

Topic Modeling ◽

Critical Appraisal ◽

Research Articles ◽

Disease Specific ◽

Research Studies

Abstract Scientific commentaries are expected to play an important role in evidence appraisal, but it is unknown whether this expectation has been fulfilled. This study aims to better understand the role of scientific commentary in evidence appraisal. We queried PubMed for all clinical research articles with accompanying comments and extracted corresponding metadata. Five percent of clinical research studies (N = 130 629) received postpublication comments (N = 171 556), resulting in 178 882 comment–article pairings, with 90% published in the same journal. We obtained 5197 full-text comments for topic modeling and exploratory sentiment analysis. Topics were generally disease specific with only a few topics relevant to the appraisal of studies, which were highly prevalent in letters. Of a random sample of 518 full-text comments, 67% had a supportive tone. Based on our results, published commentary, with the exception of letters, most often highlight or endorse previous publications rather than serve as a prominent mechanism for critical appraisal.

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