CORE--FIELD WORK TRAINING AND QUALITATIVE DATA

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The Sociobehavioral Research Group has developed a national reputation for training ethnographic field researchers working with adults and children with various cognitive, behavioral and emotional problems, along with their families and the professionals who work with these populations. The Group is also widely recognized for its innovative work in integrating fieldwork studies with other analytical methods such as tests, field observations, ratings, questionnaire data, and survey methods. Its ability to integrate qualitative and quantitative data within a single research design is a unique strength. Although more and more investigators are coming to appreciate the value of qualitative data, the means of collecting and analyzing these materials are particularly difficult to integrate, because they require training and apprenticeship experiences that are more prolonged than those called for by most methods. The EthnoNotes FileMaker Pro based system for the management and analysis of qualitative data and its integration with quantitative data continues to expand. This work has enhanced the efficiency of data processing and analysis for a number of MRRC projects and other studies. The Core supports work that focuses on ethnic and immigrant family and community issues which have been identified as among the key research, policy, and intervention priorities for NICHD in the MR/DD field in the 21st century. The need to address these issues is pressing. Thus, the Fieldwork Training and Qualitative Data Core is unusually well positioned to continue to conduct research with ethnically diverse families and their children in populations whose present and future well-being should not be neglected.