Selected Target Groups Research Articles

Corneal amyloidosis.

Citizen science is increasingly used to collect ecological data. Specifically, participation of school students in authentic research has been suggested as having a multitude of benefits from data collection to science education. Nevertheless, the overall quality and quantity of data concerns ecologists who are using data for further analysis. I coordinate a citizen science project, the Helsinki Urban Rat Project where lower and upper secondary school students collect data on urban rat occurrence through the use of track plates that record rat footprints. Within the project, both the success and accuracy of participating young citizen scientists can be assessed by comparing their results by professional researchers9 results and due to the use of an additional questionnaire relate this to the background variables (i.e., age, gender, available support, attitudes and sensitivity to disgust). I found out that, in contrast to results from previous studies, age was not a significant variable, but rather available support and voluntary participation with rewards increased data quality. Additionally, higher liking of biology as a school subject was associated with the lower accuracy, whereas a higher interest in environment with higher accuracy. The young citizen scientists provided reliable data with the exception of overrepresented false positive observations. My results suggest that the quality and quantity of citizen-generated data are not straightforwardly dependent on the selected target groups. Citizen science activities should be planned by careful consideration of the context, for example the school strongly shapes the participatory activities.

Evaluation of an eating disorder curriculum

This article reports on the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of A Preventive Curriculum for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia (Carney & Veilleux, 1986), which was published by BANA — Can/Am utilizing a grant from the Health Promotion Contribution Program of Health and Welfare Canada. The writing and evaluation consisted of three phases: Phase I, identification and delineation of an outline for the curriculum, and a model and method for evaluation of the curriculum; Phase II, the review of the first draft by selected target groups such as the funding agency, health professionals, teachers, and consultants; followed by a second draft to be used in the formal evaluation; and Phase III, which consisted of the actual pilot testing along with the qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The task force joining evaluators (researchers and health professionals) and practitioners (the author, teachers, and students) serves as a model for research and development of A Preventive Curriculum for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia, and effective evaluation and policy research of the curriculum.

End Result Measurements of Quality of Medical Care

The desirability of determining quality of medical care by its effect on some measurable aspect of health is matched by the pessimism among researchers about the possibility of success in dealing with the issue. A reversal in this outlook seems essential today in view of the need to assess the meaning of the enormous changes in organization, financing and accessibility of medical services that are just beginning to emerge. The forces for change are clear-Medicare; Title 19 and its objectives of assuring comprehensive medical care to all who cannot finance it themselves; demonstration programs of the Public Health Service, Office of Economic Opportunity, Children's Bureau and other governmental agencies that deliberately attempt to modify the nature of medical care that is available and used by selected target groups in the population; and other demonstration programs to broaden the scope, efficiency and effectiveness of medical care available to the population in general. These programs offer an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the effects of medical care on health status, and evidence indicates that both the administrator and researcher are seeking ways to exploit this opportunity. Hopefully, this paper will help to accelerate the process by reducing to written form some of the thoughts that have been expressed from time to time about the nature of