Maybe Small Is Too Small a Term: Introduction to Advancing Small Sample Prevention Science
Maybe Small Is Too Small a Term: Introduction to Advancing Small Sample Prevention Science
复制标题
DOI：
10.1007/s11121-015-0584-5
复制
发表时间：
2015-10-01
影响因子：
3.5
通讯作者：
Allen, James
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fok, Carlotta Ching Ting;Henry, David;Allen, James
针对健康差距的预防研究往往涉及与经历这种差距的小人口群体的工作。这一特别部分的目标是：（1）解决什么是小样本的问题;（2）确定一些关键的研究设计和分析问题，在预防研究中出现的小样本;（3）开发应用，面向问题，和方法创新的解决方案，这些设计和分析问题;以及（4）评估这些创新解决方案在描述现象、检验理论和评估预防研究干预措施方面的潜在作用。通过这些努力，我们希望促进这些方法创新的更广泛应用。我们还寻求尽可能地探索它们在更普遍的问题中的含义，这些问题出现在小样本研究中，但涉及预防研究的所有领域。这个特殊部分包括两个部分。第一部分旨在为设计阶段的研究人员提供投入，而第二部分则侧重于分析。每篇文章都描述了一个创新的解决方案，以应对小样本分析所带来的一个或多个挑战，特别强调预防研究中干预效果的测试。最后的文章总结了他们的一些更广泛的影响，沿着与预防科学的小样本研究的未来方向的结论。最后，一个评论提供了赞助会议的联邦机构的观点，会议产生了这个特别的部分。
Prevention research addressing health disparities often involves work with small population groups experiencing such disparities. The goals of this special section are to (1) address the question of what constitutes a small sample; (2) identify some of the key research design and analytic issues that arise in prevention research with small samples; (3) develop applied, problem-oriented, and methodologically innovative solutions to these design and analytic issues; and (4) evaluate the potential role of these innovative solutions in describing phenomena, testing theory, and evaluating interventions in prevention research. Through these efforts, we hope to promote broader application of these methodological innovations. We also seek whenever possible, to explore their implications in more general problems that appear in research with small samples but concern all areas of prevention research. This special section includes two sections. The first section aims to provide input for researchers at the design phase, while the second focuses on analysis. Each article describes an innovative solution to one or more challenges posed by the analysis of small samples, with special emphasis on testing for intervention effects in prevention research. A concluding article summarizes some of their broader implications, along with conclusions regarding future directions in research with small samples in prevention science. Finally, a commentary provides the perspective of the federal agencies that sponsored the conference that gave rise to this special section.