Doctoral Dissertation Research: Local-level Effects of Centrally Mandated Change

博士论文研究：中央授权变革的地方影响

• 批准号: 1424052
• 负责人: Marcia Inhorn
• 金额: $ 2.25万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1424052&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Local; level

Social scientists contribute to understanding the complex dynamics of particular areas of social behavior by attending to the larger contexts in which they occur. Currently, one potentially fruitful arena for developing new theory of mandated change is the worldwide concern about the causes of differential health outcomes. Observers have noted that unprecedented resources are being poured into funding healthcare initiatives, yet serious disparities persist. Efforts to alter this situation give social scientists valuable opportunities for investigating the causal relationships in social systems at multiple interacting levels of scale. Findings from such investigations have important implications for developing new social science theory as well application in many social spheres.In this research project, Yale University doctoral student Gabriela E. Morales, with the guidance of Dr. P. Sean Brotherton, will undertake research on one such natural experiment of planned, top-down change. It is occurring in Bolivia where the government has proposed to end health inequalities by creating an expansive new national health policy. The new policy increases low-cost, rural primary healthcare that also incorporates indigenous worldviews, including an unusual holistic model of health and well being, community decision-making, and intercultural care. This is a fascinating opportunity for social science investigation. The changes are only now underway and the smaller-scale of the Bolivian context makes intensive research feasible. The researcher will first study policy making and the training of health care providers in the capital city and then investigate local implementation of the new program in a rural district. Data will be collected using a range of social science methodologies including: semi-structured interviews, oral histories, therapeutic narratives, participant-observation, archival investigations, and document analysis. By drawing on these ethnographic methodologies, this research links large-scale processes of social change with a fine-grained analysis of implementation and on-the-ground effects. Lessons learned will useful for those concerned with many areas of planned social intervention.

社会科学家通过关注社会行为发生的更大背景，有助于理解特定社会行为领域的复杂动态。目前，发展强制性变革新理论的一个可能富有成果的领域是全世界对不同健康结果的原因的关注。观察人士注意到，为医疗保健计划投入了前所未有的资源，但严重的差距仍然存在。改变这种状况的努力为社会科学家提供了宝贵的机会，可以在多个相互作用的尺度上调查社会系统中的因果关系。这些研究成果对发展新的社会科学理论以及在许多社会领域的应用具有重要意义。在这个研究项目中，耶鲁大学博士生Gabriela E. Morales将在P. Sean Brotherton博士的指导下，对这样一个有计划的、自上而下的自然实验进行研究。这种情况发生在玻利维亚，该国政府提议通过制定一项广泛的新的国家卫生政策来结束卫生不平等现象。新政策增加了低成本的农村初级保健，这种保健也纳入了土著世界观，包括一种不同寻常的保健和福利、社区决策和跨文化保健的整体模式。这是社会科学研究的绝佳机会。这些变化现在才刚刚开始，玻利维亚的小规模环境使得深入研究变得可行。研究人员将首先研究首都的政策制定和卫生保健提供者的培训，然后调查当地在农村地区实施新计划的情况。数据将使用一系列社会科学方法收集，包括：半结构化访谈、口述历史、治疗叙述、参与者观察、档案调查和文件分析。通过利用这些民族志方法，本研究将大规模的社会变革过程与对实施和实地影响的细粒度分析联系起来。所吸取的经验教训对那些关心许多有计划的社会干预领域的人是有益的。