Perspectives on behavioral and social science research on cancer screening.
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The first section in the current article offered several themes that characterize behavioral and social science cancer screening research to date and are likely to be relevant for studying the adoption and utilization of future screening technologies. The themes discussed included the link between epidemiologic surveillance and the priorities of intervention, the "at-risk" perspective that often guides research on screening and initiatives to redress disparities, the need to monitor the diversification of personal screening histories, the range of intervention groups and study designs that can be tested, the importance of including key questions in population-level surveys and national health objectives, and the desirability of clarifying the characteristics of cancer screening that make it an attractive field of study in its own right. The second section commented on emerging areas in which more research will allow additional lessons to be learned. The other articles in the current supplement presented many more lessons in a variety of areas, and other authors are encouraged to write similar articles that help to identify general themes characterizing cancer screening research. (+info)
Introduction: why do we need a science of well-being?
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INTRODUCTION: why do we need a science of well-being? (+info)
Well-being: towards an integration of psychology, neurobiology and social science.
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Well-being: towards an integration of psychology, neurobiology and social science (+info)
Participation of African social scientists in malaria control: identifying enabling and constraining factors.
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OBJECTIVE: To examine the enabling and constraining factors that influence African social scientists involvement in malaria control. METHODS: Convenience and snowball sampling was used to identify participants. Data collection was conducted in two phases: a mailed survey was followed by in-depth phone interviews with selected individuals chosen from the survey. FINDINGS: Most participants did not necessarily seek malaria as a career path. Having a mentor who provided research and training opportunities, and developing strong technical skills in malaria control and grant or proposal writing facilitated career opportunities in malaria. A paucity of jobs and funding and inadequate technical skills in malaria limited the type and number of opportunities available to social scientists in malaria control. CONCLUSION: Understanding the factors that influence job satisfaction, recruitment and retention in malaria control is necessary for better integration of social scientists into malaria control. However, given the wide array of skills that social scientists have and the variety of deadly diseases competing for attention in Sub Saharan Africa, it might be more cost effective to employ social scientists to work broadly on issues common to communicable diseases in general rather than solely on malaria. (+info)
The coevolution of ritual and society: new 14C dates from ancient Mexico.
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New (14)C dates from Oaxaca, Mexico, document changes in religious ritual that accompanied the evolution of society from hunting and gathering to the archaic state. Before 4000 B.P. in conventional radiocarbon years, a nomadic egalitarian lifeway selected for unscheduled (ad hoc) ritual from which no one was excluded. With the establishment of permanent villages (4000-3000 B.P.), certain rituals were scheduled by solar or astral events and restricted to initiates/social achievers. After state formation (2050 B.P.), many important rituals were performed only by trained full-time priests using religious calendars and occupying temples built by corvee labor. Only 1,300-1,400 years seem to have elapsed between the oldest known ritual building and the first standardized state temple. (+info)
Behavioral and social sciences theories and models: are they used in unintentional injury prevention research?
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Behavioral and social sciences theories and models have the potential to enhance efforts to reduce unintentional injuries. The authors reviewed the published literature on behavioral and social science theory applications to unintentional injury problems to enumerate and categorize the ways different theories and models are used in injury prevention research. The authors conducted a systematic review to evaluate the published literature from 1980 to 2001 on behavioral and social science theory applications to unintentional injury prevention and control. Electronic database searches in PubMed and PsycINFO identified articles that combined behavioral and social sciences theories and models and injury causes. The authors identified some articles that examined behavioral and social science theories and models and unintentional injury topics, but found that several important theories have never been applied to unintentional injury prevention. Among the articles identified, the PRECEDE PROCEED Model was cited most frequently, followed by the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior and Health Belief Model. When behavioral and social sciences theories and models were applied to unintentional injury topics, they were most frequently used to guide program design, implementation or develop evaluation measures; few examples of theory testing were found. Results suggest that the use of behavioral and social sciences theories and models in unintentional injury prevention research is only marginally represented in the mainstream, peer-reviewed literature. Both the fields of injury prevention and behavioral and social sciences could benefit from greater collaborative research to enhance behavioral approaches to injury control. (+info)
An analysis of American Journal of Epidemiology citations with special reference to statistics and social science.
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In an effort to inform the ongoing discussion about the purpose, purview, theoretical orientation, and viability of epidemiology, this paper considers the contemporary epistemological foundations of the discipline by analyzing article citations. Two principal questions are the following: 1) What research do American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) authors rely on to support, inform, and frame their investigations? and 2) to what extent do such authors use social scientific and statistical citations? The data used appear to be superior to those used in previous efforts because they contain complete citations for all articles published, along with complete within-article citations, for all AJE articles published from January 1981 to December 2002. The most frequent AJE citations are statistically oriented works. About 9% of citations are to AJE articles, 15% are to a larger set of eight epidemiologic journals, 15% are to a select set of eight medical journals, 3% are to (bio)statistics journals, and just 0.2% are to social science journals. Trend analysis reveals little change during the 22-year study period. The principal implication is that AJE authors are overlooking a vast literature that could inform their understanding of how exposures emerge and are maintained. (+info)
Exploring diagnostic processes: social science perspectives.
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This review explores social science analyses of diagnosis of childhood neurological disabilities. The paper moves through three sections, which capture the historical and conceptual trends within the literature. The first focuses on work identifying the need to communicate effectively with parents when giving a diagnosis, the second explores the role parents can play as "partners" or contributors to diagnosis, and the final section goes further in exploring the social complexity of diagnoses in order to examine the embedded nature of social practices, power relations and hierarchies, and institutions in the diagnosis encounter. (+info)