Methodological Issues Research Articles

Psychedelics as an intervention for psychological, existential distress in terminally ill patients: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.

The interest in psychedelics as a therapeutic intervention for existential distress of people with terminal illness grounds on their mechanism of action and effect on the spiritual/existential aspects accompanying end-of-life experiences. This systematic review and network meta-analysis aimed at examining the efficacy and safety of psychedelic compounds for existential distress in terminally ill people. PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) administering psychedelics for existential distress in people with terminal illnesses. Meta-analysis estimated the standardized mean difference (SMD) and odds ratio (OR), with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), between treated and control groups in pairwise and network comparisons, using random-effects models. Post-treatment measures of depression and anxiety, as proxies of existential distress, and tolerability were the primary outcomes. Nine studies, involving 606 participants (362 treated with psychedelics: psilocybin, ketamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)) were included. The meta-analysis supported the efficacy of psychedelics on depression (SMD: -0.80 (95% CI: -0.98, -0.63)) and anxiety (SMD: -0.84 (95% CI: -1.20, -0.48)). Network meta-analysis identified psilocybin as the most effective compound for depression, and LSD for anxiety. However, head-to-head comparison between psychedelics did not reach statistical significance. The rates of treatment discontinuation and adverse events between psychedelics and controls were comparable. Psychedelics, especially psilocybins and LSD, showed promising effects on depression and anxiety in people with terminal illnesses. Limitations include the small number of RCTs, methodological issues related to blinding, and the lack of direct comparisons between psychedelic compounds. Larger studies and comparative research are needed to consolidate these findings.

Participant role shifting in minority language institutional interactions: COVID-19 contact tracing telephone calls as complex spaces of linguistic non-understanding

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of collecting and disseminating publicly relevant health information from and to lay audiences to combat global health crises. In Flanders, Belgium, reaching linguistic minority groups within this context largely depended on government-mandated contact tracing through telephone interactions, which was initially put in place to contain the level of outbreak, but was gradually tasked with relaying safety measures and other information related to the pandemic. In line with these developments, Flemish contact tracing over the telephone initially supported Belgium’s three national languages, viz. Dutch, French and German, as well as English as a lingua franca. This list was gradually expanded with minority languages including, among others, Turkish, Arabic, Bulgarian and Polish. This article reports on a one-year fundamental research project as part of which we recorded and analyzed telephone contact tracing conversations which were conducted in the minority languages Turkish and Arabic. We specifically analyze these Turkish and Arabic data as spaces of linguistic non-understanding from the perspective of the researcher-fieldworker (van Hest, Ella & Marie Jacobs. 2022. Spaces of linguistic non-understanding in linguistic ethnography (and beyond). In Methodological issues and challenges in researching transculturally, 14–38. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8772518), and aim to uncover their impact on the interactional dynamics in this ‘novel’ institutional activity type. Through a Goffmanian analysis, the study reveals how the inclusion of minority languages in contact tracing practice led to complex shifts in participant roles, as contact tracers balanced their institutional responsibilities with imperatives of patient-centered rapport, cultural mediation, and enabling the data collection on behalf of the researchers. The condition of linguistic non-understanding also underlines how the (potential) presence of an overhearing eavesdropper may have influenced the interactional dynamics between contact tracers and index patients. The paper hence provides insights into the complexities of conducting contact tracing in a multilingual context, while simultaneously shedding light on the implications of linguistic diversity on situated institutional practices.

Methodological Issues in Measuring Restrictive Care Practices (Mechanical/physical restraint, Chemical restraint and Seclusion) in Adult Mental Health Inpatient Units: A Systematic Review of Recent Literature.

To identify and characterise the approaches and instruments used in recent literature to measure the prevalence of restrictive care practices in adult mental health inpatient units. Additionally, it sought to summarise the reported psychometric properties, including reliability and validity of these measures. A systematic review of recent litratures was conducted using Scopus, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Embase databases to identify studies published from 1 January 2010 to 11 October 2023. A total of 128 studies measuring the use of restrictive care practices were included. Data on measurement methods were extracted from each study and summarised to compare how consistently these practices have been measured across studies and how authors consistently reported the reliability and validity of these measurment approaches. All findings were reported following the PRISMA 2020 checklist. There were significant variations in how the prevalence of restrictive care practices was measured, and the reliability and validity of these measurements were unclear for most studies. Only 11 studies reported inter/intra-rater reliability. Key variations were observed in data sources utilised, how and by whom the data were collected, the timing and total duration of data collection during patient admission, how and by whom data were extracted from secondary sources, measurement instruments and the reported reliability and validity of measures. Methodological inconsistencies about the measurements approaches of restricitve care practices would introduduce potential random and/or systematic biases on the reported data which may obscure the the true prevalance these practices. This hinder the abilityto acurately assess the effectiveness of reduction strategies and understand the naturally occuring practices. Establishing a standardised set of reliable measures is crucial for enabling valid comparisons for the rates of restricitve car epractice use across settings and countries, which could enhance the ongoing monitoring and reduction of these practices. The absence of standardised defintions and measurement approaches for restrictive care practices challenges the global effort to reduce their use. Without reliable and common measures, clinicians and researchers often face challenges in documening RCP incidents accurately, compromising efforts to improve care quality and support a recovery-oriented approach. Such measurment errors would mislead decission-maker which would furhter contribute to the inconsistency the the implementation of these practices. No patient or public contribution. PROSPERO: CRD:42022335167; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/export_details_pdf.php.

EP Thompson’s moral economy and legacy

This article offers a critical commentary upon historian EP Thompson’s pioneering research, carried out between the 1960s and 1980s, into the notion of moral economy. It addresses the main features of Thompson’s moral economy, his methodology and his profound, but also contested and ambivalent legacy to subsequent scholars. Set within the specific historical context of eighteenth-century England, Thompson’s moral economy revealed in new and original ways the often strained and conflict-ridden relations and actions between the working population and its rulers around the marketing of food and the price of bread. Thompson paid particular attention to food riots. They clearly illustrated the conflict, between, on the one hand, the traditional regulatory customs of some of the ruled and their supporters and the ‘free-market’ innovations of increasing numbers of their rulers. Thompson offered a historical-materialist reading of moral economy, situated in social contexts, relations and actions as well as in values and norms. Having addressed key empirical and methodological issues, the article proceeds to a critical examination of Thompson’s legacy. This covers the deep and widespread influence of Thompson’s moral economy, academically and geographically, its weaknesses as well as strengths and the ways in which he responded to reviews. In the last section, ‘Moral economy at the crossroads’, the article outlines and comments upon some of the key characteristics of the recent and ongoing single-, multi- and cross-disciplinary proliferation of studies of moral economy. It concludes by briefly indicating the ways in which future research into moral economy may fruitfully develop.

An Integrative, Systematic Review of the Situational Judgment Test Literature

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are popular assessment approaches that present scenarios describing situations that one may experience in a job. Due to its long history and cross-disciplinary nature, today’s SJT literature is quite fragmented. In this integrative review, we start by systematically taking stock and synthesizing the SJT literature from the different scientific disciplines via bibliometric techniques on 524 unique documents. We identify six literature clusters (i.e., SJTs in the medical sciences, SJTs in personnel selection, methodological issues and SJTs for specific constructs, SJTs to assess emotional intelligence and related constructs, technological advances in SJTs, SJTs for teacher assessment and development) that correspond to academic disciplines and research streams within them. We also identify current trends in SJT research by examining the clusters formed by a recent subset of the SJT literature. We then build on the bibliometric analysis by categorizing the identified themes in an organizing framework with two fundamental dimensions: the main purpose of a study (i.e., conceptual understanding, prediction, other [e.g., understanding mean group differences, applicant reactions]) and its research focus (i.e., SJTs holistically, content, and design and methods). Finally, on the basis of this framework, we provide recommendations to encourage greater knowledge sharing between scientific disciplines. In addition, we outline an agenda for future research in terms of four broad directions: SJT theory, SJT constructs, SJT design and methods, and SJT application domains.

Is it a method or approach? A systematic review of communicative language teaching in Japan

ABSTRACT In many FL contexts, pressure to adopt Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has surged. In Japan, CLT is gradually being implemented by teachers and schools following the Ministry of Education’s efforts to improve Japanese learners’ communication skills. This systematic review article has two primary goals: to understand how the Japanese research community define and conceptualize CLT in the context of the ongoing policy shift, and to evaluate the effectiveness of classroom-based CLT research on Japanese learners’ language development. Analysis reveals significant inconsistencies in how CLT is defined and conceptualized, often conflating it with a method of training speaking proficiency. This framing of CLT as a method primarily for speaking is argued to stem from misinterpretations of domestic macro-level policies and CLT’s positioning in duality with traditional methods which inaccurately shoehorn it into the same categorical container of a method rather than approach. Moreover, while classroom-based research in Japan offers some empirical evidence that CLT has language learning benefits, there are insufficient studies which show how CLT can be effectively adapted in contextually appropriate ways, which is partly due to methodological issues and a lack of robust testing instruments. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for future research.

Molecular Study: Nitroreductase Enzyme and Nitroimmidazole Resistance Genes (Nim Genes) Effect on AMR to Metronidazole in Clostridium difficile

Nitroreductase enzymes and Nim genes have been observed to be a factor predisposing to reduced susceptibility to metronidazole in anaerobic bacteria. Therefore, this study was determined the effect of nitroreductase enzymes and nim genes in metronidazole susceptibility in UK C. difficile isolates. Three UK C. difficile ribotypes 027, 001, 106 including metronidazole reduced susceptible (CDRM) and metronidazole susceptible (CDSM) C. difficile strains, and 2 control strains from ribotype 010 (CDRM) and 038 (CDSM) were used. Control strain C. perfringens ATCC 3626 previously identified to be nitroreductase positive, and positive control for nimB which was Bacteroides fragilis strain BF8 was also included in this research. These selected strains were observed for their nitroreductase activity and presence of Nim genes. C. perfringens ATCC 3626 demonstrated nitroreductase activity but was absent in C. difficile control. Three CDRM strains (001 and 106 ribotype) demonstrated nitoreductase activity. None of the CDSM strains analysed showed detectable nitroreductase activity. The nim gene PCR amplification was only observed in the nim positive control strain BF8 (about 400 bp). All samples tested including ribotype 001 027 and 106 CDSM and CDRM strains showed no nimPCR product. In conclusion, despite the nitroreductase result obtained, inconsistencies observed during the assay showed methodology issues, thus using radio labelled metronidazole and monitoring the decline in the radiolabel signal proportional to the level of nitroreduction, maybe a preferred method in correlating nitroreductase activity to the CDRM phenotype. Also, this research observed the absence of nim genes in C. difficile UK ribotypes irrespective of metronidazole susceptibility patterns, depicting the inability of the universal primers for nimA-NimE to amplify a potential nim gene in C. difficile UK ribotypes. The universal primers were previously reported incapable of amplifying nimJ due to a different nucleotide sequence coding for same proteins as the universal primers.

Bile duct ligation-induced cirrhosis does not alter the blood-brain barrier permeability to sucrose in rats

Contradictory results have been reported about the effects of liver diseases on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability to markers. For instance, both an increase and no change in the BBB permeability to BBB markers sodium fluorescein and Evans blue have been reported in experimental cholestasis induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in rats. These contradictory effects might be due to inherent limitations of these markers and/or methodological issues. Here, we investigated the time course of the impact of BDL in rats on BBB permeability using a recently developed stable isotope labeled marker [13C]sucrose, which is expected to be devoid of limitations of other markers, such as sodium fluorescein. At various times (five days, two weeks, and four weeks) after BDL or sham surgery, the brain uptake clearance (Kin) of [13C]sucrose was estimated using quantitation of the marker in plasma, blood, and brain by a specific LC-MS/MS analytical method. BDL caused substantial increases in the plasma concentrations of liver biochemical markers (bilirubin, total bile acids, ammonia, and cholesterol) and reduced liver cytochrome P450 content and metabolic activities. However, compared with the sham group, the plasma or blood AUC, brain concentrations, and Kin of [13C]sucrose in BDL animals remained unchanged at all the studied times. Additionally, we observed a negative correlation between the sucrose Kin and plasma total bile acids concentrations in the BDL animals. It is concluded that cholestatic liver disease, induced by BDL surgery in rats, does not significantly affect the BBB permeability to sucrose up to 4 weeks after the surgery.

Reasons for difficulties in isolating the causative organism during food-borne outbreak investigations using STEC as a model pathogen: a systematic review, 2000 to 2019.

IntroductionFood-borne disease outbreak investigations use epidemiological, microbiological and food chain evidence to identify the implicated food and inform risk management actions.AimsWe used Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) as a model pathogen to investigate the success of outbreak strain isolation from food or environmental samples during outbreak investigations, and examined the factors influencing the chance of isolation.MethodsWe searched for reports of food-borne STEC outbreak investigations worldwide in peer-reviewed and grey literature in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.ResultsWe found a total of 223 outbreaks suitable for inclusion. Food and/or environmental samples were available for testing in 137 investigations, and the outbreak strain was isolated in 94 (42%) of investigations. We found no significant effect of STEC serovar or size of outbreak on likelihood of successful outbreak strain isolation. Isolation success ranged across different implicated commodities from 86% for beef-related outbreaks to 50% for salads and leafy greens. In 20% of outbreaks with samples available for testing, an additional STEC strain was isolated alongside the outbreak strain and in 6.6%, only an alternative STEC strain was isolated. Risk management action was taken on epidemiological evidence alone in 21 incidents.ConclusionThe principal reasons why the outbreak strain was not isolated were lack of sample availability and methodological issues concerned with laboratory isolation. We recommend strategies that could improve the likelihood of isolation including the rapid collection of samples based on epidemiological intelligence.

Spirituality in Patients With Cancer: A Synthesis of a Program of Research.

Spiritual care is a key domain of quality palliative care as defined by national palliative care guidelines. The aim of this project was to synthesize data and research experience by the authors over 30years related to spirituality in patients with cancer. The research objectives for this analysis were to: Describe spirituality in patients with cancer. Determine the outcomes of palliative care interventions on spirituality and related variables in patients with cancer in these studies conducted by the authors. Summarize methodological issues in conducting research related to spirituality in oncology patients. A synthesis of 15 prior studies conducted by the authors was completed and also compared to current literature regarding spirituality in cancer and other serious illness. Findings demonstrate the broad scope of spirituality, key spiritual concerns in cancer and methodological approaches to assessing spirituality. Spirituality is a major concern for patients, yet limited training has been provided for clinicians who deliver this care. Additional studies are needed to advance this important aspect of palliative care.

Analyzing metadiscourse in L2 writing for academic purposes: Models and approaches

Successful texts rely on writers’ ability to “control the level of personality in their texts, claiming solidarity with readers, evaluating their material, and acknowledging alternative views” (Hyland, 2004b, p. 133). The rhetorical ability to achieve this social interaction is now acknowledged to be both a key feature of academic writing and an important aspect of advanced academic literacy. Over the past three decades, metadiscourse has emerged as a robust model that has garnered increasing attention in applied linguistics, but prevailing views suggest different models and approaches open to us (Ädel & Mauranen, 2010). The openness warrants a review of these methodological issues. Therefore, this study explicates integrative and non-integrative models, delineates thin and thick methodological approaches, and demonstrates how these perspectives are operationalised through two tutorials. Our discussion concludes by highlighting potential avenues of the above-mentioned frameworks and methods in the future research of second language writing and academic discourse.

Research Review: Why do prospective and retrospective measures of maltreatment differ? A narrative review.

Childhood maltreatment contributes to a large mental health burden worldwide. Different measures of childhood maltreatment are not equivalent and may capture meaningful differences. In particular, prospective and retrospective measures of maltreatment identify different groups of individuals and are differentially associated with psychopathology. However, the reasons behind these discrepancies have not yet been comprehensively mapped. In this review, we draw on multi-disciplinary research and present an integrated framework to explain maltreatment measurement disagreement. We identified three interrelated domains. First, methodological issues related to measurement and data collection methods. Second, the role of memory in influencing retrospective reports of maltreatment. Finally, the motivations individuals may have to disclose, withhold, or fabricate information about maltreatment. A greater understanding of maltreatment measurement disagreement may point to new ways to conceptualise and assess maltreatment. Furthermore, it may help uncover mechanisms underlying maltreatment-related psychopathology and targets for novel interventions.

Breaking Down the Metrics: A Comparative Analysis of LLM Benchmarks

Due to the fast advancement in large language models (LLMs), the natural language processing (NLP) technology domain has witnessed a massive change. It has brought ground breaking developments in how machines understand and generate human language. However, even with these advancements, it remains hard to objectively compare and evaluate LLMs' performance because various benchmarks and metrics are used in the assessment. Such a method requires this study's writers to conduct a comparative analysis of various benchmark LLMs to explain the viability of different evaluation metrics. Analyzing the recognized standards, including GLUE, SuperGLUE, and SQuAD, reveals weaknesses and potential in the present evaluating systems. It embraces quantitative assessments of model performances and benchmarking and critical evaluations of benchmark designs and their scope. The paper discusses methodological issues in benchmarking research and explains that current measures are insufficient and lack comprehensive evaluation patterns. The conclusions of this research underline the significance of creating fully integrated and efficient reference sets that match the rate of innovation in LLM ability and inform other studies and the overall subsequent advancement of more sophisticated and flexible language models.

«Declared quality of life»: new perspectives for assessing patients’ quality of life in clinical medicine

In modern patient-oriented medical care, quality of life is an important criterion for a comprehensive assessment of the patient's health and evaluation of treatment effectiveness. This article is devoted to the current methodological issues of assessing quality of life and other patient-reported outcomes (PRO) and attempts to reveal the difficulties of interpreting PRO data obtained in real-world clinical practice. A new concept for identifying significant changes in the patient's general health condition in clinical practice is presented, and a new model of quality of life outcomes before and after treatment is considered. The concepts of “declared quality of life”, “index of achieved quality of life” and “declared clinical effect” have been declared. Assessment of the declared quality of life of the patient and determination of the index of the achieved quality of life can be used for practical purposes to implement the principle of patient-oriented care in clinical practice.

Flood of techniques and drought of theories: emotion mining in disasters

Emotion mining has become a crucial tool for understanding human emotions during disasters, leveraging the extensive data generated on social media platforms. This paper aims to summarize existing research on emotion mining within disaster contexts, highlighting both significant discoveries and persistent issues. On the one hand, emotion mining techniques have achieved acceptable accuracy enabling applications such as rapid damage assessment and mental health surveillance. On the other hand, with many studies adopting data-driven approaches, several methodological issues remain. These include arbitrary emotion classification, ignoring biases inherent in data collection from social media, such as the overrepresentation of individuals from higher socioeconomic status on Twitter, and the lack of application of theoretical frameworks like cross-cultural comparisons. These problems can be summarized as a notable lack of theory-driven research and ignoring insights from social and behavioral sciences. This paper underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between computer scientists and social scientists to develop more robust and theoretically grounded approaches in emotion mining. By addressing these gaps, we aim to enhance the effectiveness and reliability of emotion mining methodologies, ultimately contributing to improved disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.

Dating the Justinianic Plague in England: integrating historical and archaeological data on the early Cambridgeshire region

ABSTRACT Archaeogenetic analysis has retrieved evidence of the presence of Yersinia pestis, the pathogen of bubonic plague, from graves in the Early Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Edix Hill, Cambridgeshire. Associated grave goods there, and some radiocarbon dates from Germany, suggested that the plague may have been present before the historically recorded outbreak of the 540s known as the Justinianic Plague. Targeted high-precision radiocarbon dating, however, largely confirms the conventional historical chronology. Concurrent re-examination of multiple methodological and empirical issues informatively reveals complex issues within radiocarbon data, and significant disjunctions in the phased sequence of both female and male accoutrements in this part of Anglo-Saxon England across the middle of the sixth century, when the populations were also having to accommodate themselves to the onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age.

Methodological Developments and Innovations of the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1972–2023

Methodological Developments and Innovations of the National Crime Victimization Survey, 1972–2023

HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ASPECTS OF THE EVOLUTION OF TWO-PIANO MUSIC IN CHINA

Objective: This study aims to analyze the historical development and theoretical foundations of music for two pianos in China and to establish a periodization of its key stages. Special attention is devoted to the methodological issues related to performance techniques in this genre, as well as to the influence of Western musical traditions on the formation of Chinese two-piano music. The research seeks to identify the specific features of this genre as an important element of Chinese musical culture and to analyze its interaction with contemporary trends in musical art. Methodology: To achieve the research objectives, a historical-musicological approach has been applied, which allows for tracing the development of two-piano music in the context of cultural and social changes in China. A comparative method is also employed to analyze the interplay between Chinese and Western musical elements in two-piano compositions. The research is based on the analysis of musical scores, monographs, and academic works dedicated to Chinese musical traditions. Scientific novelty: For the first time, this study systematically examines the historical development of two-piano music in China, emphasizing the key stages of its formation and the influence of both national and Western musical traditions. It explores how Chinese composers have utilized this genre to express national identity, blending traditional Chinese elements with Western musical forms. Particular attention is given to analyzing the technical and performance innovations that have shaped the development of this genre in China. Conclusions: Music for two pianos in China reflects a unique synthesis of Chinese folk musical traditions and Western technical and harmonic approaches. It not only enriches the concert repertoire but also plays a significant role in shaping contemporary Chinese musical identity. Although this genre is still evolving, notable achievements in its development can already be observed, especially due to support from educational and performance initiatives. However, further expansion of the repertoire and improvement in performance standards require enhancing the system of musical education and actively incorporating new pedagogical approaches to two-piano ensemble training.

Experiences of parents of children with mental illnesses: A systematic review and meta-ethnographic synthesis.

In this paper, we present a qualitative meta-ethnographic synthesis of 26 articles reporting experiences of subjective burden in 389 parents of children with mental illnesses. The studies were identified through a systematic literature search of PubMed, CINAHL Ultimate, APA PsycInfo, and MedLine Ultimate. We conducted a quality appraisal and followed the seven stages of meta-ethnographic synthesis. We developed a line of argument synthesis in the form of a model that depicts the subjective, temporal, and psychological experiences of parents. The model proposes a cyclical process characterized by five stages, each depicting a transitional point in which parents re-evaluate their experiences: caring for an intimate stranger; turning point; unavoidable role; uncertain future; transcendence. This model highlights the complex psychological processes that parents endure when caring for a child with a mental illness. The review highlights several methodological issues in this field of research, including issues related to sampling, poor reporting of data analysis, limited critical appraisal, and a lack of reflexivity. Future research should address the gaps in the literature while also attending to the issues that have been highlighted by this review.

Látencia és felszínre kerülés kapcsolati erőszak esetén

Aim: The study aims to highlight methodological issues in estimating exposure to domestic violence (DV). It also aims to provide information on the reasons for underreporting DV cases. Methodology: The researchers rely on data available in the Unified Criminal Statistics of the Investigating Authority and the Prosecutor's Office to describe the number of victims of domestic violence. They also present some findings of a representative survey. Findings: Latency is high in cases of domestic violence. The difficulty in accurately estimating latency is that different data collection methods and different research questions reveal different levels of exposure. Police have a crucial role in the disclosure of DV. The main reason for under-reporting is the emotional state of the victims (including embarrassment and shame) who sometimes would like to keep the abuse a secret. Value: According to the study, different data collections and methodologies may give different estimations about the number of victims of DV. Information on the reasons for non-reporting can increase the efficiency of professionals, aiming at the prevention and response to domestic violence. In light of the results, especially the high proportion of male victims, further research questions can be identified.