Non-random Design Research Articles

Impact Without Randomization: Lessons From a National, Longitudinal Evaluation

Higher education professionals often are tasked with providing evidence to stakeholders that programs, services, and practices implemented on their campuses contribute to student success. Furthermore, in the absence of a solid base of evidence related to effective practices, higher education researchers and practitioners are left questioning what works—and what does not—on college campuses. The goal of this essay is to advance a conversation about evidence within the higher education literature through an illustration of a nonrandom research study designed to evaluate the impact of a national interfaith organization on institutions’ efforts to promote interfaith learning and development. We briefly provide an overview of the relationship between evidence and evaluation efforts, then move to illustrating one project as a vehicle for understanding how evidence emerging from a nonrandom evaluation design can be done effectively in a national study related to one dimension of student success, and finally, offer support for the essay’s central thesis—that evaluation designs can present reliable evidence of impact in the absence of randomization.

Support recovery with Projected Stochastic Gates: Theory and application for linear models

Consider the problem of simultaneous estimation and support recovery of the coefficient vector in a linear data model with additive Gaussian noise. We study the problem of estimating the model coefficients based on a recently proposed non-convex regularizer, namely the stochastic gates (STG) (Yamada et al., 2020). We suggest a new projection-based algorithm for solving the STG regularized minimization problem, and prove convergence and support recovery guarantees of the STG-estimator for a range of random and non-random design matrix setups. Our new algorithm has been shown to outperform the existing STG algorithm and other classical estimators for support recovery in various real and synthetic data analyses.

A Faith Community Nursing Intervention for Informal Caregiver-Older Adult Dyads.

The purpose of this study was to test the impact of embedding trained Faith Community Nurse (FCN) interventionists in a Catholic Health System affiliated primary care practice as liaisons of care in the homes of older adult clients (OACs) and their informal caregiver (IC). Specific aims were to examine if a FCN intervention improved IC and OAC health, well-being, knowledge and understanding of chronic disease management, self-advocacy, and self-care. A non-random quasi-experimental design was used. Most ICs were spouses or adult children (M age = 66) who lived with the older adult (M age = 79). The ICs' scores significantly increased after the intervention on the Preparedness for Caregiving Scale (p = .002), Spirituality as Life, Meaning, and purpose (p = .026), and Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale (p = .005). Future research is needed examining the FCN intervention with larger sample sizes in more diverse communities and acute care settings.

Effectiveness of Dried Ginger On Dysmenorrhea Associated Symptoms Among Adolescent Girls at A Selected College of a South Indian Town – A Non-Random Pre-Experimental Design Study

Dysmenorrhea influences social, physical, and psychological well-being. Dysmenorrhea causes absenteeism from school, insomnia, nervousness, irritability, depression, and other symptoms. Adolescent girl health promotion is a significant component of the major health programs. Hence a study was planned to assess the effectiveness of dried ginger on dysmenorrhea-associated symptoms among adolescent girls at a selected college, Puducherry. Sixty patients who fit into the diagnosis of dysmenorrhea were selected. Six doses of 500 mg of dried ginger were administered for 48 hours, followed by an assessment of pain scores, and the difference was noted. The fact that there was an association between demographic variables and the intensity of the disease was noted. In the pre-test mean pain score level was 5.2 ±1.2. Whereas in the post-test, after the administration of dried ginger, the mean pain score level was 4.1 ±3.97. The effectiveness was statistically tested by paired t-test (t=1.37), which was found to be highly statistically significant at p < 0.001. There is a significant association between Dysmenorrhea associated symptoms with selected demographic variables like Type of family and dietary pattern. Whereas the other demographic variables are not effective with dysmenorrhea-associated symptoms

The Effects of Aerobic Sports on Fatigue and Vital Sign in Sportsman

The lactic acid buildup has long been suspected as a cause of muscle fatigue. Lactate is a waste of anaerobic metabolism; this process takes place in the absence of oxygen. Blood pressure, pulse, and respiration are vital signs to monitor adaptation to fatigue levels. This study aims to determine the effect of aerobic exercise on the level of fatigue and vital signs in athletes. This research is a quasi-experimental study with a non-random re-experimental design. Lactic acid levels and vital signs were assessed before and after the exercise program in 3 groups, namely the light-intensity exercise treatment group, the moderate-intensity exercise group, and the control group. The research site is at the Harapan Bangsa football stadium in Banda Aceh. The subject of PPLP Dispora Aceh athletes. The exercise was carried out for four weeks. The average lactic acid levels of the three groups showed differences. A significant decrease in lactic acid after the training test was seen in the group with OAIS (p = 0.04). Exercise with the right intensity, duration, and frequency can reduce lactic acid levels and vital signs. This study shows that moderate-intensity exercise can affect reducing lactic acid levels and vital signs so that it can slow down fatigue during exercise in Aceh football athletes. Keywords: Light and Moderate Intensity Exercise, Lactic Acid, Vital Signs.

A Versatile and Efficient Novel Approach for Mendelian Randomization Analysis with Application to Assess the Causal Effect of Fetal Hemoglobin on Anemia in Sickle Cell Anemia

Mendelian randomization (MR) is increasingly employed as a technique to assess the causation of a risk factor on an outcome using observational data. The two-stage least-squares (2SLS) procedure is commonly used to examine the causation using genetic variants as the instrument variables. The validity of 2SLS relies on a representative sample randomly selected from a study cohort or a population for genome-wide association study (GWAS), which is not always true in practice. For example, the extreme phenotype sequencing (EPS) design is widely used to investigate genetic determinants of an outcome in GWAS as it bears many advantages such as efficiency, low sequencing or genotyping cost, and large power in detecting the involvement of rare genetic variants in disease etiology. In this paper, we develop a novel, versatile, and efficient approach, namely MR analysis under Extreme or random Phenotype Sampling (MREPS), for one-sample MR analysis based on samples drawn through either the random sampling design or the nonrandom EPS design. In simulations, MREPS provides unbiased estimates for causal effects, correct type I errors for causal effect testing. Furthermore, it is robust under different study designs and has high power. These results demonstrate the superiority of MREPS over the widely used standard 2SLS approach. We applied MREPS to assess and highlight the causal effect of total fetal hemoglobin on anemia risk in patients with sickle cell anemia using two independent cohort studies. A user-friendly Shiny app web interface was implemented for professionals to easily explore the MREPS.

Nonparametric Prediction for Spatial Dependent Functional Data Under Fixed Sampling Design

In this work, we consider a nonparametric prediction of a spatiofunctional process observed under a non-random sampling design. The proposed predictor is based on functional regression and depends on two kernels, one of which controls the spatial structure and the other measures the proximity between the functional observations. It can be considered, in particular, as a supervised classification method when the variable of interest belongs to a predefined discrete finite set. The mean square error and almost complete (or sure) convergence are obtained when the sample considered is a locally stationary α-mixture sequence. Numerical studies were performed to illustrate the behavior of the proposed predictor. The finite sample properties based on simulated data show that the proposed prediction method outperformsthe classical predictor which not taking into account the spatial structure.

Intensive Cognitive Processing Therapy Associated With Reduced PTSD Treatment Dropout in a Case-Controlled Study of Treatment-Seeking Veterans

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is an empirically supported psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The complex issue of treatment attrition is a frequently cited concern regarding CPT and other evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD. The current study investigated the feasibility and effectiveness of “intensive” CPT, a treatment-consistent modification of CPT in which sessions are conducted more frequently than standard protocol. Fifty-four military veterans (20% female; Mage = 46; 80% Caucasian) seeking outpatient treatment for PTSD were included in this study. Patients who elected to receive intensive CPT (n = 27) were matched with archival records of individuals who received standard CPT (n = 27). Patients across treatment conditions were matched based on baseline symptom severity as measured by the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5; MPCL-5 = 52.61). Treatment outcomes were compared and longitudinal multilevel modeling was used to compare rate of symptom change over time. Patients who elected to engage in intensive CPT were twice as likely to complete treatment (88.9%) as those who received standard CPT (44.4%), X2(1, N = 54) = 12.00, p = .001. On average, intensive CPT patients completed treatment in about 25% of the time as standard CPT patients (33.8 days vs. 125.7 days). Patients in intensive CPT also demonstrated greater benefit: 81.4% reported a clinically significant improvement in PCL-5 scores compared to 51.8% of those in standard CPT, X2(1, N = 54) = 5.33, p = .020, φ = −0.314. Intensive and standard CPT performed comparably in regard to final PCL-5 score, change over time, and screening cutoff. In addition, there were no differences in treatment outcomes based on licensure status of the provider nor whether treatment was delivered in person or virtually. Intensive CPT represents a novel, treatment-consistent adaptation that was utilized to treat a group of veterans with PTSD with minimal treatment dropout. Patients who elected to engage in more frequent treatment were more likely to complete treatment, did so in one quarter of the time, and reported similar to better treatment outcomes. Providers may consider encouraging their patients to participate in treatment as frequently as they are able. However, preliminary findings are based on a nonrandom sample and design limitations temper conclusions.

Uniformly asymptotic normality of the weighted estimator in nonparametric regression model with φ-mixing errors

Abstract Consider the following nonparametric model: Y ni =g(x ni )+ε ni , 1 ⩽ i ⩽ n, where x n i ∈ A $ x_{ni}\in \mathbb{A} $ are the nonrandom design points and A $ \mathbb{A} $ is a compact set of ℝ m for some m=1, g (·) is a real valued function defined on A $ \mathbb{A} $ , and ε n1, ⋅, ε nn are zero mean φ-mixing random errors with finite moment of 2+δ order for some δ>0. Under some general conditions, we obtain the uniformly asymptotic normality of the weighted estimator of g (·). The rate of Berry-Esseen bound can approximate O(n −1/4) under some appropriate conditions. The validity of the main results is partially illustrated via a numerical simulation.

Teknik Mindfulness Dan Kecemasan Perempuan Sebagai Aparat Sipil Negara

The dual role of women who work as civil servants and become mothers can cause anxiety. Anxiety management is needed in order to be optimal in carrying out the role. This study aims to determine the effect of mindfulness techniques on anxiety in mothers who work as civil servants in Sumbawa Besar City. This research is a quasi-experimental quantitative research with a non-random pretest-posttest control group design. The sampling technique used nonrandom purposive, the subjects in this study were 13 people. Data collection in this study used the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skill as a check manipulation. Data analysis used Mann – Whitney U Test (Z=-2.164, p<0.050), and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks (Z=-2.384, p<0.050). This shows that mindfulness techniques are effective in reducing anxiety in mothers who work as civil servants.

Stylistic Analysis of Coelho’s novel The Alchemist

Style can be defined as the way language is used in a given context. Literary style can be defined as the linguistic patterns chosen by a particular author intentionally or unintentionally among all of the other options that are not chosen by her/him. The focal point of the study is to do a stylistic analysis of The Alchemist (1993), written by famous Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, which is the most influential novel with its profound thoughts and remarkable artistry. The novel has a unique narrative structure and profound symbolic meaning. As the research is theoretical, analytical, and descriptive in nature, close reading text-based analysis is applied in the analysis of the novel. The theoretical framework for the present study is a stylistic model based on linguistic and stylistic features proposed by Leech and Short (2007) that have been applied. They described a list of different categories; lexical categories, grammatical categories, figures of speech, coherence, and cohesion, but the present study focused on only two categories; lexical categories and grammatical categories. The researcher used a “mixed approach” for the study. The researcher used a secondary source of data collection. The present study used a non-random sampling design. Thus, in this study, the researcher has done a stylistic analysis of the novel and has presented how academic readers can better understand the writer’s use of different literary elements and how meanings are constructed from a specific novel to reveal its themes.

Logistic regression analysis of two-phase studies using generalized method of moments.

Two-phase designs can reduce the cost of epidemiological studies by limiting the ascertainment of expensive covariates or/and exposures to an efficiently selected subset (phase-II) of a larger (phase-I) study. Efficient analysis of the resulting data set combining disparate information from phase-I and phase-II, however, can be complex. Most of the existing methods, including semiparametric maximum-likelihood estimator, require the information in phase-I to be summarized into a fixed number of strata. In this paper, we describe a novel method for the analysis of two-phase studies where information from phase-I is summarized by parameters associated with a reduced logistic regression model of the disease outcome on available covariates. We then setup estimating equations for parameters associated with the desired extended logistic regression model, based on information on the reduced model parameters from phase-I and complete data available at phase-II after accounting for nonrandom sampling design. We use generalized method of moments to solve overly identified estimating equations and develop the resulting asymptotic theory for the proposed estimator. Simulation studies show that the use of reduced parametric models, as opposed to summarizing data into strata, can lead to more efficient utilization of phase-I data. An application of the proposed method is illustrated using the data from the U.S. National Wilms TumorStudy.

Strong consistency of regression function estimator with martingale difference errors

Abstract In this paper, we consider the regression model with fixed design: Y i = g ( x i ) + ε i {Y}_{i}=g\left({x}_{i})+{\varepsilon }_{i} , 1 ≤ i ≤ n 1\le i\le n , where { x i } \left\{{x}_{i}\right\} are the nonrandom design points, and { ε i } \left\{{\varepsilon }_{i}\right\} is a sequence of martingale, and g g is an unknown function. Nonparametric estimator g n ( x ) {g}_{n}\left(x) of g ( x ) g\left(x) will be introduced and its strong convergence properties are established.

A systematic review of trial registry entries for randomized clinical trials investigating COVID-19 medical prevention and treatment.

To identify investigated interventions for COVID-19 prevention or treatment via trial registry entries on planned or ongoing randomised clinical trials. To assess these registry entries for recruitment status, planned trial size, blinding and reporting of mortality. We identified trial registry entries systematically via the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform and 33 trial registries up to June 23, 2020. We included relevant trial registry entries for randomized clinical trials investigating medical preventive, adjunct or supportive therapies and therapeutics for treatment of COVID-19. Studies with non-random and single-arm design were excluded. Trial registry entries were screened by two authors independently and data were systematically extracted. We included 1303 trial registry entries from 71 countries investigating 381 different single interventions. Blinding was planned in 47% of trials. Sample size was >200 participants in 40% of trials and a total of 611,364 participants were planned for inclusion. Mortality was listed as an outcome in 57% of trials. Recruitment was ongoing in 54% of trials and completed in 8%. Thirty-five percent were multicenter trials. The five most frequent investigational categories were immune modulating drugs (266 trials (20%)), unconventional medicine (167 trials (13%)), antimalarial drugs (118 trials (9%)), antiviral drugs (100 trials (8%)) and respiratory adjuncts (78 trials (6%)). The five most frequently tested uni-modal interventions were: chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (113 trials with 199,841 participants); convalescent plasma (64 trials with 11,840 participants); stem cells (51 trials with 3,370 participants); tocilizumab (19 trials with 4,139 participants) and favipiravir (19 trials with 3,210 participants). An extraordinary number of randomized clinical trials investigating COVID-19 management have been initiated with a multitude of medical preventive, adjunctive and treatment modalities. Blinding will be used in only 47% of trials, which may have influence on future reported treatment effects. Fifty-seven percent of all trials will assess mortality as an outcome facilitating future meta-analyses.

The Effect of Deep Breathing Technique and Lo'i Sto Combination on Decreasing the Symptomps of Asthma Patients at the Area of Public Health Center of Penana'e

Asthma is a disease that occurs due to the narrowing of the airway that is reversible in a short time in thick mucus, spasm, and mucosal edema and also desquamation of the bronchial/bronchial epithelium form, due to eosinophilic inflammation with excessive sensitivity. An asthma attack is often triggered by an Upper Respiratory tract Infection (URI), smoking, emotional stress, physical activity, and antigenic/allergens stimulation including; inhalant that entering the body through breathing, ingestan that entering the body through the mouth, the contaminant that entering the body through the skin contact. This study aims to identify the deep breathing technique with lo'i sto for decreasing the symptomps of asthma between the intervention group and the control group. The experimental research design in this study used a quasy experimental design. The research design used was a non-random control group pretest-posttest design. A total of 66 people were sampled using the quota sampling technique following the criteria inclusion in research studies. Deep breathing technique with lo'i sto is carried out for 3 weeks along with the observing asthma symptoms weekly before and after deep breathing technique with lo'i sto to all of the respondents.n n

The effectiveness of Nurture Groups in improving outcomes for young children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties in primary schools: An evaluation of Nurture Group provision in Northern Ireland

Concerns have grown regarding the increased prevalence of social, emotional and behavioural difficulties observed in young children in primary school settings. Contributory factors are multiple and varied but one consistent emphasis has been on the negative effects of children’s poor attachments with significant others which, due to contextual factors, may not have developed sufficiently. Some groups of children are more at risk of not developing strong attachments, particularly children in care whose ‘pre-care’ and ‘in care’ experiences make it more likely that their attachments will have been adversely impacted. Reflecting this increasing concern, there has been a growth of school-based interventions that aim to strengthen attachments in order that children can develop social and emotional skills; thus enabling them to be better placed to access learning opportunities and reach levels of educational achievement and attainment similar to their peers. One such intervention is Nurture Groups, modelled on attachment theory. Nurture Group provision is a short-term, schools-based intervention targeted at individual children beginning school who are already displaying social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. This article reports the findings of one of the first larger-scale evaluations of the effectiveness of Nurture Group provision in improving outcomes of children, and the first to explore the differential effects of Nurture Groups in relation to school-, pupil- and programme-level characteristics. The evaluation used a non-random control group design, involving a total sample of 384 children, aged 5–6 years, from 30 Nurture Group schools and a further 14 matched schools with no Nurture Group provision in Northern Ireland. The trial found effect sizes ranging in magnitude from g = 0.528 to 1.352 for a range of social, emotional and behavioural outcomes, using the Boxall Profile and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. However, no evidence of effects was found for academic outcomes. The article discusses the implications for policy and practice of the findings.

Perfectly Active Teenagers. When Does Physical Exercise Help Psychological Well-Being in Adolescents?

In the context of physical activity and sport, perfectionism and the regular practice of physical activity are related to psychological well-being and the regulation of psychological resources necessary for adaptation to effort and satisfaction. At the same time, the most active students are also those who show greater appetites for physical education classes. The goal of this work was to identify the influence of perfectionist beliefs and the regularity of the practice of physical exercise on psychological well-being. The participants were adolescents (n = 436) aged between 14 and 19 years (M = 16.80, SD = 0.77). They were administered the Multidimensional Perfection Scale, the Psychological Wellbeing Scale, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQv2), and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The results showed, under a non-random and transversal design, that the participants gave important value to physical exercise because they feel both active and vigorous. Regarding perfectionism, the functional aspects of perfectionism (expectations of achievement and organization) correlated positively, while the dysfunctional aspects (fear of committing errors and external expectations) did so negatively with the importance given to physical exercise performed by adolescents; this in turn positively predicted psychological well-being. In this way, the hypothesized model contemplated the relevance of the included variables and reflected the mediation of the degree of importance given to the practice of physical exercise on perfectionist beliefs and psychological well-being. Currently, most physical activity practice proposals for adolescents focus on federated and structured environments for competition, and those that deal with recreational and health-oriented sports are far less common. Hence, “the perfect way of doing sports” for a teenager should be accompanied by cognitive schemes aimed at strengthening psychological resources that allow the regulation of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.

Globalization and health equity: The impact of structural adjustment programs on developing countries.

Among the many drivers of health inequities, this article focuses on important, yet insufficiently understood, international-level determinants: economic globalization and the organizations that spread market-oriented policies to the developing world. One such organization is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which provides financial assistance to countries in economic trouble in exchange for policy reforms. Through its 'structural adjustment programs,' countries around the world have liberalized and deregulated their economies. We examine how policy reforms prescribed in structural adjustment programs explain variation in health equity between nations-approximated by health system access and neonatal mortality. Our empirical analysis uses an original dataset of IMF-mandated policy reforms for a panel of up to 137 developing countries between 1980 and 2014. We employ regression analysis to evaluate the relationship between these reforms and health equity, taking into account the non-random selection and design of IMF programs. We find that structural adjustment reforms lower health system access and increase neonatal mortality. Additional analyses show that labor market reforms drive these deleterious effects. Overall, our evidence suggests that structural adjustment programs endanger the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals in developing countries.

Berry-Esseen type bounds of the estimators in a semiparametric model under linear process errors with α-mixing dependent innovations

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we mainly study the Berry-Esseen type bounds of estimators in a semiparametric model , where β is an unknown parameter, are nonrandom design points, are the response variables, is an unknown function designed on the closed interval , and the errors are formed by with and are α-mixing random variables. Under appropriate conditions, the Berry-Esseen type bounds for estimators of β and can attain nearly and , respectively, and under further restriction for the weights, the Berry-Esseen type bound for estimator of can also achieve nearly . A numerical simulation is also carried out to verify the validity of the theoretical results.

Evaluating Mindful With Your Baby/Toddler: Observational Changes in Maternal Sensitivity, Acceptance, Mind-Mindedness, and Dyadic Synchrony.

Studies on the effectiveness of mindful parenting interventions predominantly focused on self-report measures of parenting, whereas observational assessments of change are lacking. The present study examined whether the Mindful with your baby/toddler training leads to observed changes in maternal behavior and mother–child interaction quality. Mindful with your baby/toddler is a 8- or 9-week mindful parenting training for clinically referred mothers of young children (aged 0–48 months), who experience parental stress, mother–child interaction problems, and/or whose children experience regulation problems. The study involved a quasi-experimental non-random design including a sample of 50 mothers who were diagnosed with a mood disorder (n = 21, 42%), an anxiety disorder (n = 7, 14%), post-traumatic stress disorder (n = 6, 12%), or other disorder (n = 7, 14%). Mothers completed a parental stress questionnaire and participated in home observations with their babies (n = 36) or toddlers (n = 14) during a waitlist, pretest, and posttest assessment. Maternal sensitivity, acceptance, and mind-mindedness were coded from free-play interactions and dyadic synchrony was coded from face-to-face interactions. Sensitivity and acceptance were coded with the Ainsworth’s maternal sensitivity scales. Mind-mindedness was assessed by calculating frequency and proportions of appropriate and nonattuned mind-related comments. Dyadic synchrony was operationalized by co-occurrences of gazes and positive facial expressions and maternal and child responsiveness in vocal interaction within the dyad. Coders were blind to the measurement moment. From waitlist to pretest, no significant improvements were observed. At posttest, mothers reported less parenting stress, and were observed to show more accepting behavior and make less nonattuned comments than at pretest, and children showed higher levels of responsiveness. The outcomes suggest that the Mindful with your baby/toddler training affects not only maternal stress, but also maternal behavior, particularly (over)reactive parenting behaviors, which resulted in more acceptance, better attunement to child’s mental world, and more “space” for children to respond to their mothers during interactions. Mindful with your baby/toddler may be a suitable intervention for mothers of young children with (a combination of) maternal psychopathology, parental stress, and problems in the parent–child interaction and child regulation problems.