U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NATIONAL
INSTITUTES OF HEALTH NIH News Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
(OBSSR) <http://obssr.od.nih.gov/index.aspx>
For Immediate Release: Friday, March 23, 2012
CONTACT: OBSSR Office of Communications, Ann C. Benner,
301-594-4574, <e-mail:annb@nih.gov>
NIH LAUNCHES ONLINE RESOURCE ON BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
RESEARCH METHODS
A Web-based interactive anthology will provide
psychologists, economists, anthropologists, sociologists and other scientists
with the latest research methods and tools to address emerging challenges in
public health, such as the obesity epidemic and the rise of chronic diseases
such as heart disease. The Office of
Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) at the National Institutes of
Health collaborated with New England Research Institutes to create the free
resource(http://www.esourceresearch.org/),
called e-Source.
Because behavioral and social scientists hail from widely
varying disciplines from political science to social work research, there was a
need for a central resource for current, high quality behavioral and social
science research methods. With
contributions from international experts, this anthology provides authoritative
answers to methodological questions and sets quality standards for the research
community.
The goal of the program is to demonstrate the potential
of behavioral and social science research, focusing on applying research
findings to public health activities and the potential to enhance biomedical
research. It is also a useful training
resource for biological scientists, providing them with a basic foundation for
collaborations with behavioral and social scientists.
"The behavioral and social sciences research
community has long needed an easily accessible, low-cost central resource for
standardized methods," said Dr. Robert M. Kaplan, director of OBSSR.
Behavioral and social science has broad appeal and
impact, and the program was developed to reach a wide audience of researchers,
within the NIH, nationally and internationally. The Web-based interactive
collection consists of 20 interactive chapters with new features including a
discussion forum and enhanced note-taking capabilities. The twenty chapters
cover a range of topics, but are accessible to all users, including those with
limited familiarity of concepts such as how to conduct a qualitative analysis.
The concepts are supported with interactive exercises and a full set of
references linked to abstracts in Pubmed(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed),
a library of citations for scientific journals.
The program includes chapters under five major categories
relevant to behavioral and social science. "Setting the Scene"
introduces major concepts in design and planning of social and behavioral
science research. "Describing How" addresses methodologies used to
explain how something occurs (for instance, learning how a disease is
distributed in a population by conducting a survey or an observational study).
"Explaining Why" provides guidance on qualitative methods appropriate
for describing why something occurs. "What Works" explores research
methods that can evaluate whether one treatment is better than another and
whether there are cost differences (for example, a brand drug versus a generic
medication). "Emerging Issues" addresses challenges in behavioral and
social science research.
Several features engage the user and promote sharing,
including a discussion board, a notes feature to save content and share it with
others, and a function which allows the user to print a page or a chapter as a
PDF. Unlike a printed textbook, the site
has been developed with the expectation that it will provide a foundation of
methods, but also evolve as new issues emerge.
Future topics may include the effects of living in a particular
neighborhood, the impact of differences in language and lifestyles, and the
science of writing questions.
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
(OBSSR) opened officially on July 1, 1995. The U.S. Congress established the
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) in the Office of the
Director, NIH, in recognition of the key role that behavioral and social
factors often play in illness and health. The OBSSR mission is to stimulate
behavioral and social sciences research throughout NIH and to integrate these
improving our understanding, treatment, and prevention of disease. For more
information, please visit <http://obssr.od.nih.gov>.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the
nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a
component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the
primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and
translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments,
and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit <www.nih.gov>.
NIH...Turning
Discovery into Health
##
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