摘要:

Research in developmental and behavioral pediatrics is characterized by special methodological problems involving measurement, design, and analysis related to research questions, populations, and nature of interventions in this field. To sensitize researchers and practitioners to these problems and to enhance the quality of research and critical consumption of research reports, this special issue provides a summary of basic methodological issues in developmental and behavioral pediatrics. Advances in this field will require the kind of critical observation and decision making that are shared by researchers and practitioners and are illustrated by contributions to this issue.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

The field of behavioral-developmental pediatrics covers a wide range of topics, problems, and conditions. A variety of professionals including pediatricians, psychologists, child psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, and educators are involved in research and clinical care. Each of these disciplines uses a variety of methodologies, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. Different categories of research and methods of critiquing the literature in behavioral and developmental pediatrics are described.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

This article considers a number of issues encountered in the selection and use of measures in research in the area of behavioral and developmental pediatrics. In addition to considering basic psychometric principles, it is argued that problems inherent in the developmental process, the lack of correspondence between study and standardization samples, and methodological factors affecting measurement may threaten the validity of individual measures and bias research outcome. A number of recommendations are made to counter the effects of these common measurement problems that indirectly result from the absence of a “gold standard” for measuring behavior and development.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Measurement is the critical building block underlying all science. Adequate measures should demonstrate reliability, validity, and sensitivity. Special problems associated with the selection and development of measures used in behavioral pediatric research are reviewed. These include measurement specificity, construct complexity, the illusive “gold standard,” construct independence, theoretical clarity, timing of measurements, and developmental considerations. The advantages and limitations of a variety of behavioral assessment strategies are described: questionnaires, interviews, behavioral observations, permanent products, biological measures, and provider ratings. Programmatic measurement research not only improves the science of behavioral pediatrics but also has widespread clinical application.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

A review of the last three volumes of theJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatricsrevealed that 27% of the articles used correlations, 17%X2, 16%ttests, 15% analysis of variance or covariance, and 13% involved regression analysis. Multivariate techniques, discriminant or factor analysis, logistic regression, and sensitivity/specificity were used in less than 5% of articles; the average number of statistical techniques per article was 2.5. These statistical techniques are described in general, conceptual terms in regard to appropriate and inappropriate usage. Clinical examples are provided. Familiarity with these techniques allows the reader “statistical access‘’ to almost 90% of the articles in behavioral pediatrics and other areas of the medical literature.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

摘要:

Behavioral and developmental pediatric research often seeks to form causal inferences from associations between variables obtained in nonrandomized studies. To do this it is necessary to distinguish the effects of the independent variable of interest from other factors with which it is correlated. We review statistical adjustment procedures for assessing the effects of the independent variable after controlling for other variables, called cofactors. We present guidelines for cofactor adjustment for different patterns of causal relationships occurring in the developmental pediatric literature. We also review procedures for selecting a subset of cofactors from a larger array of candidate variables. Finally, we examine common methodological complications related to cofactor adjustment, including the presence of measurement error in the independent variable and/or the cofactors.

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID

ISSN:0196-206X    

出版商:OVID    

年代:1991

数据来源: OVID