Social Work Commons^™

Study Quality Assessment In Systematic Reviews Of Research On Intervention Effects, Kathleen Wells, Julia H. Littell

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective

The goal of this study is to advance an approach to the assessment of the quality of studies considered for inclusion in systematic reviews of the effects of social-care interventions.

Method

To achieve this objective, quality is defined in relation to the widely accepted validity typology; prominent approaches to study quality assessment are evaluated as to their adequacy.

Results

Problems with these approaches are identified.

Conclusion

A formal, yet explicit, multidimensional approach to assessment grounded in substantive issues relevant to the intervention and the broader context in which it is embedded is promoted. Uncritical and exclusive use of indicators …

Recruiting Urban Latina Adolescents And Their Families: Challenges And Lessons Learned In Suicide Attempts Research, Luis H. Zayas, Carolina Hausmann-Stabile, Allyson M. Pilat

Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research Faculty Research and Scholarship

Recruiting samples with unique characteristics dispersed across services and geography is hard to identify because of legal status and stigma create research challenges. Public health, however, requires sustained recruitment efforts. We describe challenges and solutions in recruiting urban adolescent Latinas who had attempted suicide. Procedures for recruitment and human subject protections were established, yet logistic obstacles emerged. Program directors failed to support the research; therapists were slow to identify subjects and to meet inclusionary criteria; numbers of prospective participants were lower than originally calculated; girls and parents were hard to reach; and interview appointments were missed. From challenges came solutions: …