Framing Questions Research Articles

Towards an understanding of mobility in social policy research

Over recent years, there has been increasing attention to migration in social policy research. Uniting this research has been a focus on cross-national migration, and predominantly immigration. In the meantime, the relationship between human mobility and social policy at other scales and sites has gained much less attention. This is in spite of the salience of multiple forms of mobility and measures for restricting, facilitating or promoting mobility not confined to the territorial borders of the nation-state. This article proposes an alternative mobility perspective for social policy research that moves us beyond the limitations of current migration approaches. To do so, we draw on interdisciplinary mobilities theory and research. Empirically, we apply a mobility perspective to examine how systems of social provision are shaped by and shape mobility and immobility, in restricting, facilitating or promoting the movement of people. We argue that such an approach allows us to frame and address questions that place mobility and immobility as central to the social relations of welfare, advancing our understanding of how social policies can reduce or reinforce the inequalities of mobility.

Strengthening systematic reviews in public health: guidance in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions, 2nd edition.

Decision makers in public health practice and policy rely on access to trustworthy, relevant, synthesized evidence. The second edition of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions ('the Handbook') reflects a major revision in guidance for authors of systematic reviews, incorporating a decade of methodological development and a number of significant changes to previous recommendations. This paper aims to highlight new guidance that addresses a number of key methodological challenges for authors of systematic reviews in public health. The revised Handbook includes guidance on framing public health research questions for synthesis, considering equity, intervention complexity, risk of bias assessment and synthesis methods other than meta-analysis. Reviews of public health interventions frequently encounter the types of methodological complexity addressed in this new guidance. We hope that readers will find that the Cochrane Handbook includes detailed and thoughtful guidance on both conceptualizing and executing systematic reviews relevant to public health questions. Considering the available methods guidance will, we hope, provide support for authors of public health reviews to tackle the challenges they encounter, strengthen their analysis and provide useful answers to the important questions asked by stakeholders and users of public health evidence.

Biomineralization: Integrating mechanism and evolutionary history.

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) biomineralizing organisms have played major roles in the history of life and the global carbon cycle during the past 541 Ma. Both marine diversification and mass extinctions reflect physiological responses to environmental changes through time. An integrated understanding of carbonate biomineralization is necessary to illuminate this evolutionary record and to understand how modern organisms will respond to 21st century global change. Biomineralization evolved independently but convergently across phyla, suggesting a unity of mechanism that transcends biological differences. In this review, we combine CaCO3 skeleton formation mechanisms with constraints from evolutionary history, omics, and a meta-analysis of isotopic data to develop a plausible model for CaCO3 biomineralization applicable to all phyla. The model provides a framework for understanding the environmental sensitivity of marine calcifiers, past mass extinctions, and resilience in 21st century acidifying oceans. Thus, it frames questions about the past, present, and future of CaCO3 biomineralizing organisms.

Facilitating dance in general education through the arts-school partnership: a case study of Ballet Ireland’s primary school program

ABSTRACT Dance as a performing art can be marginalized in general school arts provision, included in curriculum for its benefits in health and well-being rather than its intrinsic aesthetic appeal. In the Irish national curriculum, dance is primarily categorized as physical education, and can be culturally decontextualized because of this approach. Arts partnerships between dance organizations and schools can help address curricular neglect of aesthetic and cultural aspects of dance education. This paper presents a case study of an arts-school partnership established by Ballet Ireland in a Dublin primary school. While Ballet Ireland’s outreach work united an interdisciplinary arts approach to dance engagement with elements of authentic learning, this approach was complicated for their primary school program by the curricular position of dance in PE in Irish schools. A framing question for the study was the following: in what ways does the arts-school partnership work to establish dance as a meaningful subject in an Irish primary school context, among students and teachers? This question was explored in terms of the children and teachers’ affective and cognitive engagement with the dance classes. Methods included unstructured observations of classes and one-on-one and focus group interviews with teachers and students involved in the programme.

Material inquiry and transformation as prerequisite processes of scientific argumentation: Toward a social‐material theory of argumentation

AbstractArgumentation as a scientific practice has largely been examined along an epistemic and/or dialogic perspective in science education research. Both perspectives have sidelined the use of real material objects that are indispensable for scientists to construct arguments about the natural world. To address this gap, this article investigates how material objects are used to coordinate with our speech and actions to shape argumentation in secondary physical science. Drawing on actor‐network theory, the article reframes argumentation as a chain of human‐material interactions incorporating the role of physical things to construct evidence. Based on a collective case study comprising classroom video data generated from two grade nine science classrooms, the article examines how teachers and students used material objects to engage in argumentation related to qualitative analysis in chemistry and Newton's laws of motions in physics. The analysis reveals two major themes: (a)material inquiryas the framing of questions and statements about the behavior or property of the material world and (b)material transformationas the orchestration of material objects, embodied actions, and words to actively create evidence. This article concludes that both material inquiry and material transformation are essential prerequisites for scientific argumentation to take place, not only in research laboratories, but also in science classrooms. The contribution to the development of a future socio‐material theory of scientific argumentation, which takes material agency and multimodal discourse into account, are also discussed.

Loss and damage in the global stocktake

ABSTRACT Article 8 in the Paris Agreement is devoted exclusively to climate change-driven loss and damage. It follows that the planned ‘global stocktake’ of the Paris Agreement, which will assess progress toward reaching the Agreement’s goals, should also cover loss and damage. Determining how the assessment for Article 8 should be framed is a question that remains largely unexplored. Doing so is challenging for at least two reasons: the prevailing knowledge gaps in loss and damage research and the contentious nature of inter-governmental negotiations about loss and damage. This article identifies the key framing questions that ought to be answered in the context of Article 8, prior to conducting the ‘global stocktake’. Key among these framing questions are critical structural problems, stemming mainly from underrepresentation of Global South worldviews, and from major data gaps and methodological difficulties inherent to assessing progress with managing loss and damage. A ‘global stocktake’ of Article 8 provides a window of opportunity for making headway on the inter-governmental debate about loss and damage, and the direction of the research efforts that are needed to inform such debate. This article concludes by reflecting on the stakes that developing countries have in that window of opportunity. Key policy insights Imperfect as its output might be, the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement can help identify and act upon the key barriers that today prevent us from conducting a comprehensive assessment of progress with regard to the goals of Article 8 on loss and damage. The global stocktake should not shy away from considering loss and damage, and should ideally conduct separate assessments for losses and for damages. Developing country governments can use the global stocktake to raise the profile of climate change-driven loss, which is comparatively under-researched, while promoting a concerted effort to fund high-quality domestic research.

Comparison of the accuracy of residents, senior physicians and surrogate decision-makers for predicting hospital mortality of critically ill patients.

To compare the predictive performance of residents, senior intensive care unit physicians and surrogates early during intensive care unit stays and to evaluate whether different presentations of prognostic data (probability of survival versus probability of death) influenced their performance. We questioned surrogates and physicians in charge of critically ill patients during the first 48 hours of intensive care unit admission on the patient's probability of hospital outcome. The question framing (i.e., probability of survival versus probability of death during hospitalization) was randomized. To evaluate the predictive performance, we compared the areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) for hospital outcome between surrogates and physicians' categories. We also stratified the results according to randomized question framing. We interviewed surrogates and physicians on the hospital outcomes of 118 patients. The predictive performance of surrogate decisionmakers was significantly lower than that of physicians (AUC of 0.63 for surrogates, 0.82 for residents, 0.80 for intensive care unit fellows and 0.81 for intensive care unit senior physicians). There was no increase in predictive performance related to physicians' experience (i.e., senior physicians did not predict outcomes better than junior physicians). Surrogate decisionmakers worsened their prediction performance when they were asked about probability of death instead of probability of survival, but there was no difference for physicians. Different predictive performance was observed when comparing surrogate decision-makers and physicians, with no effect of experience on health care professionals' prediction. Question framing affected the predictive performance of surrogates but not of physicians.

Comparison of the accuracy of residents, senior physicians and surrogate decision-makers for predicting hospital mortality of critically ill patients

ObjectiveTo compare the predictive performance of residents, senior intensive care unit physicians and surrogates early during intensive care unit stays and to evaluate whether different presentations of prognostic data (probability of survival versus probability of death) influenced their performance.MethodsWe questioned surrogates and physicians in charge of critically ill patients during the first 48 hours of intensive care unit admission on the patient’s probability of hospital outcome. The question framing (i.e., probability of survival versus probability of death during hospitalization) was randomized. To evaluate the predictive performance, we compared the areas under the ROC curves (AUCs) for hospital outcome between surrogates and physicians’ categories. We also stratified the results according to randomized question framing.ResultsWe interviewed surrogates and physicians on the hospital outcomes of 118 patients. The predictive performance of surrogate decisionmakers was significantly lower than that of physicians (AUC of 0.63 for surrogates, 0.82 for residents, 0.80 for intensive care unit fellows and 0.81 for intensive care unit senior physicians). There was no increase in predictive performance related to physicians’ experience (i.e., senior physicians did not predict outcomes better than junior physicians). Surrogate decisionmakers worsened their prediction performance when they were asked about probability of death instead of probability of survival, but there was no difference for physicians.ConclusionDifferent predictive performance was observed when comparing surrogate decision-makers and physicians, with no effect of experience on health care professionals’ prediction. Question framing affected the predictive performance of surrogates but not of physicians.

Minimal Fregeanism

Abstract Among the virtues of relationist approaches to Frege’s puzzle is that they put us in a position to outline structural features of the puzzle that were only implicit in earlier work. In particular, they allow us to frame questions about the relation between the explanatory roles of sense and sameness of sense. In this paper, I distinguish a number of positions about that relation which have not been clearly distinguished. This has a few pay-offs. It allows us to shed light on recent controversies about the ‘essential indexical’, and it also allows us to see what’s at stake between relationists and their opponents. When we see what’s at stake, we can see that we have reason to adopt an account of cognitive significance that incorporates elements of both relationist and Fregean approaches.

Recent Articles

Recent Articles

Sarah Kinkel. Disciplining the Empire: Politics, Governance and the Rise of the British Navy.

Sarah Kinkel. <i>Disciplining the Empire: Politics, Governance and the Rise of the British Navy</i>.

“…Undeniably FInest Choice of Frame” ( on the Question of PIcture Framing by I. E. Repin)

Numerous paintings by I. E. Repin in the collections of the Russian Museum, Tretyakov Gallery, Ateneum are distinguished by interesting, richly decorated, at times unique frames. The vast majority of these decorative art pieces have not been studied. Not only the creator of the sketch and the framemaker are left undisclosed, but also those who stood behind the choice of the frame – the artist himself or, rather, the buyer, customer. The contemporary ideas regarding Repin’s frames have largely been influenced by a highly critical commentary of Y. D. Minchenkov, which he recorded in his memoirs dedicated to artists – members of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Yet, the frames of Repin, which we have successfully identified and attributed, make us doubt the objectivity of Minchenkov's words. The question of Repin's contribution to the art of picture framing has not yet been considered in the works of specialists. Nonetheless, the original decor of the frames for such paintings as “Sadko” give grounds to assume that they were created according to the artist's drawings. Remarkably, a number of the artworks considered in the article have been introduced into scholarly literature for the first time.

Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States Edited by Joanne M.A. Murphy. London: Routledge 2021. Pp. 242. $160. ISBN 9780367230265 (cloth).

<i>Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States</i> Edited by Joanne M.A. Murphy. London: Routledge 2021. Pp. 242. $160. ISBN 9780367230265 (cloth).

The effect of test query on recognition event-related potentials (ERPs)

The influence of question framing (i.e., [was the item] “old?” or “new?”) on recognition memory and event-related potentials (ERPs) was investigated. Words were encoded using a shallow task to create a weak memory trace that was more susceptible to test question framing effects. Participants made yes/no judgments on two, counterbalanced tests. One test focused on old items (“old?”), whereas the other test focused on new items (“new?”). The behavioral evidence suggested that the weak memory traces led to more familiarity-based recognition judgments with a concentrated effect on decision criterion. There were some small ERP changes on the FN400 or LPC consistent with the criterion changes, but the test query did not directly alter these ERP components. Instead, the test query altered a late old/new ERP difference similar to the “right frontal old/new effect” reported in source monitoring ERP studies. When the query was “new?”, old items elicited more positive ERPs, whereas there was no old/new difference when the query was “old?”. The results suggest that the query framing induces memory biases that occur late in the stream of processing. More generally, the results indicate that decision criterion must be accounted for when interpreting physiological correlates of recognition memory.

Patient perception of scoliosis correction surgery on Instagram.

Patient feedback surveys provide important insight into patient outcomes, satisfaction, and perioperative needs. Recent critiques have questioned provider-initiated surveys and their capacity to accurately gauge patient perspectives due to intrinsic biases created by question framing. In this study, the authors sought to evaluate provider-independent, patient-controlled social media Instagram posts in order to better understand the patient experience following scoliosis correction surgery. Twitter and Instagram were queried for posts with two tagged indicators, #scoliosissurgery or @scoliosissurgery, resulting in no relevant Twitter posts and 25,000 Instagram posts. Of the initial search, 24,500 Instagram posts that did not directly involve the patient's own experience were eliminated. Posts were analyzed and coded for the following criteria: the gender of the patient, preoperative or postoperative timing discussed in the post, and classified themes related to the patient's experiences with scoliosis correction surgery. Females made 87.6% of the Instagram posts about their experience following scoliosis correction surgery. The initial postoperative stage of surgery was mentioned in 7.6% of Instagram posts. The most common theme on Instagram involved offering or seeking online support from other patients, which constituted 85.2% of all posts. Other common themes included concern about the surgical scar (31.8%), discussing the results of treatment (28.8%), and relief regarding results (21.2%). Social media provided a platform to analyze unprompted feedback from patients. Patients were most concerned with their scoliosis correction surgery in the period of time 2 weeks or more after surgery. Themes that were most commonly found on Instagram posts were offering or seeking online support from other patients and concern about the surgical scar. Patient-controlled social media platforms, like Instagram, may provide a useful mechanism for healthcare providers to understand the patient experience following scoliosis correction surgery. Such platforms may help in evaluating postoperative satisfaction and improving postoperative quality of care.

Disaster Preparedness and Planning for Service Sustainability: Case of Egerton University Digital Library, Main Campus

Preparing and planning for disaster remains the most crucial component of libraries. It also happens to be one that is least understood. Since the existence of libraries and information science, there has been a history of disasters happening from time to time. Disasters are events in which no library would like to experience but the still do. Egerton University library being the study area, has experienced disasters in the form of rioting students causing service disruption and incidences of fire. This study sought to evaluate the disaster preparedness and planning of digital libraries in relation to service sustainability. It considered the following objectives: To establish the level of disaster preparedness and planning; To find out the training the library staff have undergone; To determine the disaster preparedness and planning equipment in place; and to establish the challenges faced in preparing and planning for disasters at Egerton University digital library in service delivery. It was anchored on the Theory of Planned Behavior. The study made use of descriptive research design and considered census method to arrive at 68 library staff as its respondents. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. The quantitative data collected was inferentially analyzed as per the objectives of this study. A statistical software SPSS was used in analyzing this data. Findings were presented in the form of tables as frequencies and percentages for easy understanding. The validity of the instruments was determined using specialists who assisted in properly framing questions in the questionnaire. They also assisted in realigning it according to the objectives of the study. The study established that the level of disaster preparedness and planning at the digital library in Egerton University was low hence the digital library was at risk of disasters; not all the library staff had not adequately undergone training on disaster preparedness and planning; the library was not adequately supplied with disaster preparedness and planning equipment’s; the digital library was experiencing challenges in regards to disaster preparedness and planning; and the digital library services will be affected in the event of a disaster happening. The study concluded that the digital library could experience disasters because they were not exempted from disasters like any other organization or section within the University; the library was not so keen on training its staff on disaster preparedness and planning; the digital library had inadequate disaster preparedness and planning equipment’s; implementing a disaster preparedness plan was hindered by lack of adequate funds which were needed for purchasing suitable equipment’s, servicing these equipment as well as training all the library staff. The study recommended that the management of the university and library should provide the needed support and influence staff training in regards to disaster preparedness and planning; the library should develop a well-documented disaster preparedness policy of its own and incorporate it with the overall disaster preparedness policy for the university; and a structured, systematic and regular mechanism of training staff on disaster preparedness should be developed, supported and implemented within the library.

The new Framework and the Core Elements of complex intervention research

Abstract The new framework will be presented. The main phases of intervention research: development or identification, feasibility, evaluation and implementation are connected to 6 core elements: Context: any feature of the circumstances in which an intervention is conceived, developed, evaluated and implemented Programme theory: how an intervention is expected to lead to its effects and under what conditions. Programme theory should be tested and refined at all stages and used to guide the identification of uncertainties and research questions Stakeholders: those who are targeted by the intervention, involved in its development or delivery, or more broadly those whose personal or professional interests are affected, that is who have a stake in the topic. This includes patients, the public, and professionals Refinement: the process of ‘fine tuning' or making changes to the intervention once a preliminary version has been developed Uncertainties: identifying key uncertainties that exist given what is already known and what the programme theory, researchers and stakeholders identify as being most important to find out. These judgements inform the framing of research questions that, in turn, govern research perspective choice Economic considerations: exploring the comparative resource and outcome consequences of the interventions for those people and organisations affected The presentation will discuss how to use the framework, highlighting that complex intervention research can be an iterative process. Repeating of phases is preferable to automatic progression to the next phase if uncertainties remain unresolved. Main messages Complex intervention research may begin at any phase, depending on what is appropriate for the intervention in question, and does not necessarily move sequentially through the phases. The core elements should be considered early and revisited continually throughout, as this will make it most likely that the intervention will be implementable in practice.

The University of Texas's “Racial Geography Tour,” designed by Dr. Edmund Gordon

The University of Texas's “Racial Geography Tour,” designed by Dr. Edmund Gordon

Psychosocial Care for Adult Cancer Patients: Guidelines of the Italian Medical Oncology Association.

Simple SummaryPeople with cancer often experience psychological and social needs, related to their disease and treatments, that can negatively impact quality of life. Various social interventions can be helpful but are not always offered to patients who would benefit from them. This guideline aims to help oncology professionals address the psychosocial aspects of their adult patients and of those who care for them. It was compiled by a multidisciplinary panel, including patients, using rigorous methodology. Topics include patient information and communication, screening and management of psychosocial needs, and caregiver support. In particular, evidence emphasizes that nurses play a central role in providing psychosocial care and information for cancer patients, and that Physician communication skills must be improved with specific evidence-based training. In addition, psychosocial needs must be promptly detected and managed, especially with appropriate non-pharmacological interventions.Psychosocial morbidity can have negative consequences for cancer patients, including maladaptive coping, poor treatment adherence, and lower quality of life. Evidence shows that psychosocial interventions can positively impact quality of life, as well as symptoms and side effects; however, they are not always offered to patients who might benefit from them. These guidelines were produced by a multidisciplinary panel of 16 experts, including patients, following GRADE methodology. The panel framed clinical questions and voted on outcomes to investigate. Studies identified by rigorous search strategies were assessed to rate certainty of evidence, and recommendations were formulated by the panel. Although the quality of the evidence found was generally moderate, interventions could be recommended aimed at improving patient information, communication with healthcare professionals and involvement in decision-making; detecting and managing patient psychosocial needs, particularly with non-pharmacological therapy; and supporting families of patients with advanced cancer. The role of nurses as providers of information and psychosocial care is stressed. Most recommended interventions do not appear to necessitate new services or infrastructures, and therefore do not require allocation of additional resources, but predominantly involve changes in clinical staff behavior and/or ward organization. Patients should be made aware of psychosocial care standards so that they can expect to receive them.

Voter experience and ballot language framing effects: Evidence from a survey experiment

AbstractObjectiveDiscover the extent to which habitual voting may alter the effects of framing in the language of ballot measures.MethodsOnline survey was conducted using Amazon Mechanical Turk crowd labor service. Participants were presented with two ballot questions with two separate sets of language, randomized so that each participant had an equal chance of seeing either version. Logistic regression was used to analyze responses.ResultsSupport for one measure was drastically reduced with the change in question framing; for the other, the results were inconclusive. None of the models exhibited any evidence that habitual voting mitigated framing effects.ConclusionExperienced voters are no more immune to framing effects than inexperienced voters.