Planning Research Projects Research Articles

The Scenario Quality Assessment Method: A New Technique for Verifying the Quality of Scenarios

ABSTRACTIn a modern world faced by increasing uncertainty and crises, the importance of scenarios to inform the strategic decision‐making processes of governments and corporations has become paramount. This necessitates that those scenarios are rigorous and of high quality. A challenge is that research articulating how to classify and ensure the quality of a scenario is not prolific. This paper addresses this challenge by developing a framework of criteria for assessing scenario quality based on the futures and foresight literature and then using this to offer a new method for specifically assessing the quality of scenarios in the context of crisis management. The Scenario Quality Assessment Method infuses both the critical thinking and creativity required to develop quality scenarios. The method was empirically verified with scholars and practitioners in the industry to determine inter‐rater reliability before its intended use in the analysis of a data set for a scenario planning research project in the context of crisis management. This paper contributes theoretically to future and foresight research by including the concept of creativity when assessing the quality of scenarios and offers practitioners in crisis management an effective technique to assess the quality of their own scenarios.

Predicting and assessing the impacts of COVID-19 disruption on marine science and sectors in Australia

AbstractBy March 2020 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was anticipated to present a major challenge to the work undertaken by scientists. This pandemic could be considered just one of the shocks that human society has had and will be likely to confront again in the future. As strategic thinking about the future can assist performance and planning of scientific research in the face of change, the pandemic presented an opportunity to evaluate the performance of marine researchers in prediction of future outcomes. In March 2020, two groups of researchers predicted outcomes for the Australian marine research sector, and then evaluated these predictions after 18 months. The self-assessed coping ability of a group experienced in ‘futures studies’ was not higher than the less-experienced group, suggesting that scientists in general may be well placed to cope with shocks. A range of changes to scientific endeavours (e.g., travel, fieldwork) and to marine sectors (e.g., fisheries, biodiversity) were predicted over the first 12–18 months of COVID-19 disruption. The predicted direction of change was generally correct (56%) or neutral (25%) for predictions related to the scientific endeavour, and correct (73%) or mixed (9%) for predictions related to sectors that are the focus of marine research. The success of this foresighting experiment suggests that the collective wisdom of scientists can be used by their organisations to consider the impact of shocks and disruptions and to better prepare for and cope with shocks. Graphical abstract Word cloud analysis of free text responses to questions about expected impact of COVID-19 on the activities associated with marine science

Data simulations for advancing psychological research: Insights, preparations and investigations.

Simulation has become an essential tool in psychological research, offering unique insights into statistical concepts, optimising research project planning and modelling human behaviour and cognition. This tutorial navigates simulations' diverse applications across various research stages. This tutorial begins by demonstrating simulations' impact on understanding statistical concepts. Amidst growing demands for effect size reporting and interpretation, simulations can help clarify the relationship between data and effect sizes, benefiting both educational purposes and advanced research. Simulations play a crucial role in planning psychological research. They provide flexible solutions for power, helping to determine necessary sample sizes and aiding in robust research planning, providing evidence of planned procedures. Simulations are pivotal in exploring human behaviour and cognition, as well as statistical method properties. By forcing researchers to translate verbal theory into formal models, simulation can help specify the assumptions. The paper also discusses improving simulation efficiency, such as using calculation clusters, optimising simulation practices and recognises simulations' limitations. This paper emphasises simulations' versatile role in psychological research. They enable deep insights into complex datasets, streamline project preparation and uncover subtleties in human behaviour, cognition and statistical methodologies.

Emergency pediatric patients and use of the pediatric assessment triangle tool (PAT): a scoping review

BackgroundWe conducted a scoping review of the evidence for the use of the Pediatric Assessment Triangle (PAT) tool in emergency pediatric patients, in hospital and prehospital settings. We focused on the psychometric properties of the PAT, the reported impact, the setting and circumstances for tool implementation in clinical practice, and the evidence on teaching the PAT.MethodsWe followed the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews and registered the review protocol. We searched MEDLINE, PubMed Central, the Cochrane Library, Epistemonikos, Scopus, CINAHL, Grey literature report, Lens.org, and the web pages of selected emergency pediatrics organizations in August 2022. Two reviewers independently screened and extracted data from eligible articles.ResultsFifty-five publications were included. The evidence suggests that the PAT is a valid tool for prioritizing emergency pediatric patients, guiding the selection of interventions to be undertaken, and determining the level of care needed for the patient in both hospital and prehospital settings. The PAT is reported to be fast, practical, and useful potentially impacting overcrowded and understaff emergency services. Results highlighted the importance of instruction prior using the tool. The PAT is included in several curricula and textbooks about emergency pediatric care.ConclusionsThis scoping review suggests there is a growing volume of evidence on the use of the PAT to assess pediatric emergency patients, some of which might be amenable to a systematic review. Our review identified research gaps that may guide the planning of future research projects. Further research is warranted on the psychometric properties of the PAT to provide evidence on the tool’s quality and usefulness. The simplicity and accuracy of the tool should be considered in addressing the current healthcare shortages and overcrowding in emergency services.Review registration: Open Science Framework; 2022. https://osf.io/vkd5h/

Between “Chaos” and “Order”: The Czech Anthropologist and his Experience in the Changes of Time

The main purpose of this text is to show how complex and long the disciplination or disciplinary practice of an anthropologist conducting his fieldwork in non-European areas can be. In the first part, the text is very much retrospective. I focus on my long formative period, during which my ideas about becoming a full-time ethnologist were born in a kind of unconscious vacuum. I revisit my first field entry among the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) people of northwestern Mexico and attempt to bring the reader up to speed on my determined efforts to reach out to native communities and my chaotic actions during this first field experience in a non-European setting as a then third-year ethnology student. This will be followed by a reflection on my next two field researches among the Tarahumara in 1996 and 2001, the first of which resulted in an M. A. thesis and the second in a dissertation. In this section, I try to show a certain shift in the approach to fieldwork, which was no longer mere chaos, but led to a more systematic organization of fieldwork findings and their elaboration into a more extensive qualifying thesis and several technical studies. While in the first part I go back into the deep past in order to show the complexities that a budding ethnologist can or must deal with if he wants to penetrate a completely different environment from his own, in the second part I discuss some of the methods of field research that I have not been familiar with in the past, or have used unconsciously or without better understanding of them. These I find useful in current and forthcoming return research among the Tarahumara. They resonate strongly in contemporary anthropology, and are constantly being refined. In this section I will also outline, with respect to methodological horizons, my current planned research project focusing on the human relationship to biodiversity in the context of environmental and climate change, which is increasingly impacting (not only) Tarahumara communities.

Global gaps in citizen‐science data reveal the world's “lost” birds

Biodiversity knowledge gaps, which limit scientific research and conservation planning, are especially acute for the most poorly known organisms. Citizen science offers a powerful and effective means to fill these gaps. The recent growth of citizen‐science platforms has resulted in near‐complete coverage of global avian diversity (~11,849 species). Because shrinking knowledge gaps increasingly reveal meaningful absences, we evaluated the potential of citizen‐science data to establish “lost” bird taxa: those without documentation for more than 10 years. Collating more than 42 million photographic, audio, and video records returned 144 bird species (1.2%) as lost, the majority of which (62%) are in danger of extinction. The higher the coverage by citizen scientists and the longer the interval since their last documented record, the more likely that lost birds are to be imperiled. Our approach provides a data‐driven and reproducible method to identify lost species and elucidates high‐priority knowledge gaps to inform future conservation action.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF A METHOD FOR THE QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF 20-HYDROXYECDISONE IN THE SERRATULA CORONATA HERBAL DRY EXTRACT

Introduction. The development and validation of analytical methods are one of the most important stages in the development of a new drug. As part of the implementation of the scientific research plan, the VILAR has developed a method for obtaining a dry extract Serratula coronata herb and its adaptogenic activity has been proven. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a method for the quantitative determination of 20-hydroxyecdysone to control the quality of the Serratula coronata herbal dry extract. Materials and methods. The object of the study is a dry extract obtained by extracting dried herb with 70% ethyl alcohol, subsequent concentration, purification with chloroform, liquid-liquid extraction with n-butanol and drying of butanol extracts. Results. As a result of the research, optimal analysis conditions were selected and validation was carried out, which made it possible to characterize it positively in terms of specificity, linearity, accuracy, reproducibility, and intra-laboratory precision. Conclusions. The developed method is suitable for the quantitative determination of 20-hydroxyecdysone in the Serratula coronata herbal dry extract and can be used in drawing up a regulatory document for this substance.

299 Building and maintaining an engaged undergraduate equine research team

Abstract An objective of the equine science program at Penn State is to provide the training and knowledge students need to solve problems in their lives and careers. The Equine Research Team at Penn State (PSERT) is a novel approach to meeting this objective, inspired by Dr. Max Kleiber’s “Tracer Team”, a group of faculty and graduate students that successfully studied kinetics of phosphorus and calcium metabolism in dairy cows at the University of California, Davis in the 1950s and 60s. The team allows us to address several objectives that are not easily approached using more traditional teaching environments found in the classroom or laboratory. These include 1) satisfying the demand for research experience from a large number of students, who come to research with an enormous range of ability and enthusiasm, 2) providing the hand on practice utilizing the scientific method to solve problems in the equine industry, 3) building a sense of personal responsibility and simultaneously cooperation by approaching research as a team, 4) creating an environment of academic and creative achievement outside the traditional grading system, and 5) blurring the lines that traditionally separate academic and social life at a university to create an environment much closer to what students will experience as graduates. In spring 2008, 10 undergraduate students sought formal research experience opportunities in the area of equine science. Students were organized into a team that met biweekly. Project leaders registered for independent study course credits and conducted 3 research studies in yr 1, while the rest of the team participated as volunteers. Fourteen years later, the team is still an important student organization with between 40 to 60 members on an annual basis. Over the years, the team has traveled to universities and important equine industry locations throughout the United States. Members have conceived, conducted, analyzed and presented research studies on a wide range of topics within the sphere of equine science. The team has two faculty advisors, an executive committee analogous to most student organizations, a group of research project leaders, and approximately 60 dues paying student members. The biweekly meeting is organized and led by the executive committee and generally contains the following components: update of activities, seminar provided by an outside speaker from industry or academia who has expertise in the area of equine research, presentation by one of the research project leaders, and group discussion of the project, planning of future research projects. This Equine Research Team has been and continues to be a model that can be utilized by others to successfully facilitate undergraduate student engagement in research.

Implementation in the Motek Caren system with virtual reality of an existing motor rehabilitation programme for people with Down’s syndrome in order to increase its effectiveness

IntroductionDown’s syndrome often requires specialized rehabilitation methods in order to effectively improve cognitive and motor functioning. The growing interest in technologies to support rehabilitation is opening up new and promising perspectives for improving the quality of life of people diagnosed with this syndrome. One of these technologies is the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) system from Motek.ObjectivesThe aim of the planned research project is to explore the potential of using the CAREN system in the rehabilitation of people with Down’s syndrome.MethodsThe study included 10 participants with Down’s syndrome (men and women aged 18 to 50 years) without the presence of organic musculoskeletal disease or other somatic causes impairing motor performance. Before the training test, the participants were assessed by two psychological tests: 1) ACE III - Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III Scale (ACE-III), which assesses attention and orientation, memory, verbal fluency, language and visuospatial functions and 2) the TONI 4 Non-Verbal Intelligence Test, which is a test used to measure general intelligence. The tests were carried out using the MOTEK CAREN device, which consists of a treadmill for motor training and a virtual reality screen on which different scenes are displayed for the participant to see during the test. Integrated motion capture technology was used to assess movement capabilities of the patients.. The screen displayed different types of applications in the form of virtual reality, in which the participant had to cope with various tasks accommodating different psychomotor skills, for example:crossing a virtual bridge, walking through a forest. The test took about 45 minutes per person. Two training sessions were conducted for each of the 10 patients with a one-month interval between them.ResultsThe Motek Caren System has proven to be a promising rehabilitation method for people with Down’s syndrome, compared to previous experience with different rehabilitation methods and existing research in the field.ConclusionsResults emphasize the necessity for further investigations and future research should involve more participants. The project has the potential to integrate modern technology with traditional forms of therapy to improve the quality of life and functioning of people affected by this syndrome.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Target trial emulation for comparative effectiveness research with observational data: Promise and challenges for studying medications for opioid use disorder.

Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) increase retention in care and decrease mortality during active treatment; however, information about the comparative effectiveness of different forms of MOUD is sparse. Observational comparative effectiveness studies are subject to many types of bias; a robust framework to minimize bias would improve the quality of comparative effectiveness evidence. This paper discusses the use of target trial emulation as a framework to conduct comparative effectiveness studies of MOUD with administrative data. Using examples from our planned research project comparing buprenorphine-naloxone and extended-release naltrexone with respect to the rates of MOUD discontinuation, we provide a primer on the challenges and approaches to employing target trial emulation in the study of MOUD.

Public engagement and collaboration for carbon dioxide removal: lessons from a project in the Dominican Republic

Despite an increase in literature on public perceptions of carbon dioxide removal (CDR), there remains a paucity of evidence describing the social and developmental processes involved in the implementation of projects in-situ. This research illustrates a case study documenting a planned research project for coastal enhanced weathering—a form of ocean alkalinity enhancement—in a remote, rural area of the Northwestern Dominican Republic, a Small Island Developing State particularly at risk from climate change impacts. This paper is a collaboration between the company responsible for the project (Vesta) and researchers located in the Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom, We draw upon 2 years' worth of surveys, interviews, focus groups, group information sessions, and reflexive documentation by the Dominican Republic researchers, to present a first-hand account of local community responses to the planned research project and to coastal enhanced weathering and climate change more broadly. We discuss themes of climate vulnerability, justice, and adaptive capacity through the lens of the collaborative governance and social diffusion principles that the project was designed with. We also reflect on a program of outreach and participatory activities which was established to support community development in the areas surrounding the field trial site, as informed by exploration of community needs drawn from the research.

Planning Inclusive Research: A Comparison of Two Inclusive Dissertation Research Projects

Abstract Planning inclusive research should center meaningful engagement of co-researchers with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities to address issues that are important to their communities. There are a variety of approaches to planning research projects consistent with the guiding principles of inclusive research. We describe components of planning inclusive research by comparing two inclusive dissertation research projects. We organize our comparison into five sections: (1) initiating the projects, (2) team member characteristics and roles, (3) building and sustaining relationships, (4) accessibility in the research process, and (5) outcomes. We then discuss how contextual and team-level factors influence the process of planning inclusive research.

Effectiveness of pharmaceutical care introduced in coordination with PHC – study design.

Pharmacist services have the potential to lower medical costs and improve patients' clinical outcomes. However, when compared to usual care, depending on the service kind, pharmacist’s services have a varying impact on patient outcomes. Some services appear to have little impact, while others have the potential to improve outcomes on a scale that is clinically relevant. Pharmacists in Poland have received rights to provide additional services to patients in 2021, but new services have not yet been implemented. Although there has been research on impact on patient outcomes of various pharmaceutical interventions, those interventions have been observed in a silos, with little to no care coordination with primary health care.
 Objective of the planned research project is to analyse cost-effectiveness of non-dispensing pharmaceutical services realized as part of coordinated care with primary care providers.
 The research project will be carried out at Medical and Diagnostic Center (MDC) in Siedlce, Poland, where a number of pharmaceutical services have been already introduced. Those have been developed in collaboration between pharmacists, physicians and nurses working in MDC and include:
 
 medication reviews – assessment of patient’s pharmacotherapy and patient’s general health, usually after primary care doctor’s referral,
 medication consultation – educating patient on the use of medicines for a given illness,
 pharmaceutical assistance – preparing medicine sets for patient,
 health prophylaxis and diagnosis – patient education on health prophylaxis, combating vaccine-hesitancy in patients, assistance in combating addictions,
 intervention/urgent visit – health assessment in connection with a minor ailment,
 patient digitalization – assessment of main technical issues related to care coordination, including setting up patient’s account in Polish electronic health record system and MDC account,
 internal pharmaceutical consultation – consultation on patient’s pharmacotherapy between pharmacists and primary care doctor, specialist or nurse via phone, online system or on-site appointment..
 
 To deliver those services, pharmacists will have access to information collected at time of the patient encounter as well as additional set of clinical data from internal MDC IT system. IT system would also allow for communication between different healthcare professionals, allowing for recommendations and referrals.
 A method used in the project will be a controlled intervention study with pre-post comparison between patients receiving pharmaceutical care services and care as usual. Study would look to include at least 200 patients. Outcome measurements will be pharmacotherapy-related problems (drug interactions, drug contraindications, incorrect and not recommended dosing, non-adherence), 12-month clinical outcomes of patients (percentage outside blood pressure range, percentage outside glycated haemoglobin range, SF-36 physical functioning, drug burden index, medication-related hospital admissions), number of pharmaceutical consultations delivered to physicians, and costs. Study will also collect patient experiences with the interventions and their opinions will be used to improve services in the future.
 The research is looking to bridge the science gap in cost and effectiveness assessment of pharmaceutical care services, improve patients’ health outcomes and help bring organizational and financial improvements to healthcare sector.
 

Achievements and trends in the field of neurotechnologies and artificial intelligence in Russian Federation: a comprehensive scientometric analysis

The research paper presents the results of Russian articles analysis in the field of neurotechnology and artificial intelligence published from 1998 to 2023 in peer-reviewed journals indexed in the international scientific database Scopus. The methods of scientometric and bibliographic analysis with the construction of terminology maps and cartography were used for the analysis. The analysis allowed to identify the positive dynamics of publication activity in the field of neurotechnologies and artificial intelligence, the most active authors, key topics and areas of cooperation, as well as to form recommendations and describe the prospects for the development of this topic. The presented results can contribute to more effective planning of scientific research and partnerships for further development of the considered sphere and strengthening Russia’s position on the global scientific stage.

Reliability analysis of binary outcomes: sample size and calculations of kappa statistic

Reliability analysis is an important methodological tool used in medical research to assess the degree of agreement between measurements taken by different methods or by multiple investigators. In this article, we provide an easy-to-understand overview of the basic concepts associated with reliability analysis, as well as the statistical criteria used in its application in biomedical research. The similarities and differences between the analysis of validity and the analysis of reliability are also presented. The principles of calculating Cohen’s kappa for the simplest situation with two researchers and binary variables are demonstrated both by using the formulas and by applying the SPSS software. Advantages and disadvantages of using kappa statistic are discussed. The article is intended for novice researchers and young scientists and will be useful for planning of research projects and training data collectors.

Relieving effect of online ideological and political education on students’ anxiety disorders

BackgroundWith the emergence and development of the Internet, the practice of ideological and political education via the Internet for students has gradually become a new trend. However, some students developed anxiety disorders due to changes in activity patterns, increased pressures from society and individual’s particular mentality. The focus of the present study was to explore the impact of online ideological and political education on relieving students’ anxiety disorders.Subjects and MethodsA total of 200 students with anxiety disorders from different universities were randomly divided into the intervention group (100 students) that underwent online ideological and political education, and the control group (100 students) who received traditional ideological and political education. Pre and post test assessments of anxiety levels were conducted using the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS).ResultsPre-intervention, both the control and intervention groups showed similar levels of anxiety disorders. However, post-intervention assessments yielded notable results. The anxiety levels in the intervention group who experienced online ideological and political education showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) compared to the control group.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that online ideological and political education can effectively reduce the levels of anxiety disorders among university students. Such intervention can be leveraged as part of the broader strategy to promote psychological health in the student community. Future researchers are encouraged to investigate the specific components of online ideological and political education to have such effect.AcknowledgementThe planning research projects of the China Association of Private Education (School Development) No.CANFZG23433; Research on the Construction of the Cultivating System of Private Colleges and Universities under the Prospective of Ideological and political (No.ZD -2023-10); 2022 Liaoning Province First Rate Undergraduate Course; 2023 Shenyang University of Science and Technology Teaching Team Construction (No.13621-2023-03-079).

Investigating mortality and morbidity associated with UrINary incontinence during Older Womens Secondary Care Admissions and exploring nurses experiences of delivering related care (U-INconti): a mixed methods research protocol

IntroductionUrinary incontinence (UI) is associated with increasing age and is more frequently experienced by women. Despite 40% prevalence in the community, little is known about the prevalence/incidence of UI in...

Assessing Educators’ Soft Skills: Developing a Self-Assessment Instrument

Educators play multifaceted roles in supporting students’ academic growth, necessitating a diverse knowledge base and a variety of soft skills. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in the education environment, compelling educators to adapt to these new demands. Consequently, nurturing soft skills among educators has become crucial to effectively address evolving educational challenges. This paper presents the development and validation process of an online questionnaire aimed at measuring Te Pūkenga educators’ self-assessment of their soft skills before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire comprises 28 Likert-type scale questions, encompassing 14 identified soft skills, alongside 6 additional questions on sociological and academic factors. A two-stage approach for questionnaire development and validation was used. In stage one, the questionnaire was created through a literature review and the identification of soft skills and independent variables. Stage two involved a content validity check by 10 educators and academic experts, leading to refinement based on their feedback. Subsequently, a pilot study was conducted with 50 random respondents to determine the validity and reliability of the instrument, and a preliminary data analysis was performed. The results of the validation process confirmed the questionnaire’s validity and reliability, as we hypothesised, indicating its potential as a useful research tool for a planned research project. Further research involving a broader range of tertiary institutions can enhance the scale’s validity and reliability, thereby strengthening its applicability to be utilised by diverse educational institutions and in diverse research settings to measure educators’ self-assessments of their acquired soft skills and self-evaluations of how challenging experiences and events in their professional environment influence the implementation of these skills. By embracing and fostering soft skills among educators, educational institutions can better equip their staff to meet the evolving demands and complexities of modern education.

Basis for a research project on marking strategies for a deep geological high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository in Germany

Abstract. Marking has been considered as an approach for the preservation of information and awareness after the closure of a deep geological repository (DGR) for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). The discussion to use markers to warn people off from – in oversimplified terms – digging into a DGR dates back to the 1980s. Based on the recent recommendations by the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD NEA) regarding the preservation of records, knowledge and memory (RK&M) of DGRs in a systemic approach (NEA, 2019), the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) has identified the need for research regarding relevant aspects of potential future marking strategies in Germany. The first elaborate and sophisticated concept has been developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the USA (DOE, 2004). Far from being “one marker”, it is a monumental multi-component system. Internationally, the WIPP concept provided abundant food for thought and inspired a new wave of discussions – not as a design to be copied to other DGRs (the WIPP concept has been developed for this specific DGR at its unique desert location), but as a model for site-specific ambitions to design a marker system that aims in earnest to preserve information and awareness on-site by non-mediated means. In NEA (2019) marking is described as one approach – out of nine – for the preservation of RK&M of DGRs. Marking was found to be focused, in particular, on preserving awareness. However, for a robust system, individual preservation mechanisms should not be planned in isolation, but rather “the components of a systemic RK&M preservation strategy should work together, complement and strengthen each other, act as indexes to each other and thus provide diversity and redundancy with a view to maximising information accessibility, understandability and survivability over the various timescales considered” (NEA, 2019, p. 95). In Germany, there are no regulatory requirements with regards to marking. The Site Selection Act (StandAG, 2017/2023), which sets the regulatory framework for the targeted DGR for HLW, does not mention marking. It mentions, however, two points with specific relevance to RK&M preservation: (1) important data and documents must be permanently stored, and (2) the DGR concept must ensure recoverability of the waste for 500 years after closure, thereby setting a post-closure time frame of specific interest. Against this background, a research project is planned to explore the relevant aspects of potential future marking strategies in Germany. Different types of markers may play different roles. And these roles may again change over time: what are the specifics imposed by the 500-year recoverability requirement? How could surface markers be combined with, e.g., concepts for the re-use of the site or possible added-value projects for the local community? Could off-site markers/monuments play a role? Who would be the stakeholders in a participatory process? With respect to deep geological markers, different questions arise, like the following: could markers within the DGR potentially play a role in recoverability concepts without negatively impacting long-term safety? What dependencies exist on the type of host rock yet to be selected? Could the same markers help warn an inadvertent intruder in the long term? The potential role of markers in a systemic RK&M preservation strategy needs to be investigated by taking other preservation approaches into consideration, too. Which mechanisms could strengthen the efficacy of markers? Which could be strengthened by markers? This presentation will deliver insight into the preliminary studies preceding the planned research project.

Learning from the CO-CREATE project: A protocol for systems thinking across research (STAR).

The CO-CREATE project aimed to work with young people to create, inform, and disseminate obesity-preventive evidence-based policies using a complex systems perspective. This paper draws lessons from this experience and proposes a protocol for embedding systems thinking within a research project. We first draw on existing systems thinking frameworks to analyze how systems thinking was translated across CO-CREATE, including the flow and relationship between the work packages and in the methods used. We then take the lessons from CO-CREATE and the principles of existing systems thinking frameworks-which focus on various points of intervention planning and delivery but not on research projects as a whole-to formulate a protocol for embedding systems thinking across a research project. Key lessons for future planning and delivery of systems-oriented research projects include incorporating "boundary critique" by capturing key stakeholder (adolescent) values and concerns; working to avoid social exclusion; ensuring methodological pluralism to allow for reflection and responsiveness (with methods ranging from group model building, Photovoice, and small group engagement); getting policy recipients to shape key questions by understanding their views on the critical drivers of obesity early on in the project; and providing opportunity for intraproject reflection along the way.