A few hard copies can still be ordered
at the Publisher’s
The eBook is available at e-Bookweb.nl
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A Kindle version is also available
Free download: Preface
Advising on research methods: Proceedings of the 2007 KNAW Colloquium edited by Herman Adèr and Gideon Mellenbergh contains a number of newly written articles based on lectures held at the 2007 KNAW colloquium.
The physical book is sold out, a few copies are still available at the Publisher’s. February 2014 an eBook version was made available.
An important part of the job of most methodologists is advising substantive researchers on research methods. Methodological consultancy impresses outsiders as an art, and methodologists sometimes reinforce this impression. However, useful information is available on both the communication (see, for example Derr, 2000) and content (see, for example Adèr, Mellenbergh, & Hand, 2008) aspects of methodological consultancy, and this knowledge can be passed on to starting methodological consultants.
The colloquium covered a broad spectrum of consultancy topics. Several speakers extended their contribution to a paper which is published in the present proceedings of the colloquium.
Advising on research methods in a multi-disciplinary setting is discussed by both Janice Derr and Hilde Tobi. Derr describes barriers to the effectiveness of statistical consultancy in multi-disciplinary settings, and practical ways to overcome them. Tobi takes Lattuca’s distinction between four types of interdisciplinarity as a starting point to describe the role of the methodological consultant in each of these four types (Lattuca, 2003). She also discusses the possibilities and challenges of working in interdisciplinary research settings.
Gerald van Belle links statistics to everyday experience. He considers statistics as a distillation of human experience of variation and causation. Statistical consultants can take advantage of this link by appealing to their clients’ experience of variation and causation. Victor van Daal comments on Van Belle’s views. He expands Van Belle’s topics of variation and causation by connecting them to De Groot’s phases of the empirical cycle of research (De Groot, 1969).
The contributions of both Robert Pool and Jules Ellis are on methodological consultancy in practical setting. Pool describes a clinical trial on the prevention of HIV transmission in Africa. The exclusive use of conventional surveys and questionnaires is out of the question in this context. He describes pitfalls and solutions of getting information on the sensitive topic of this clinical trial. Ellis reports consultancy to companies, which did research on the financing of the health care in The Netherlands. He discusses the effectiveness of advice given the constraints of prior ideas and requirements of decision makers and stakeholders.
The contributions of Bo Lu and Marijtje van Duijn and of Herman Adèr are more theoretical than the other contributions. Lu and Van Duijn discuss the use of propensity scores to reduce selection bias in observational studies. They present a simulation study to illustrate that propensity score matching can be effective in reducing selection bias. Their contribution shows that the propensity score should be part of every consultant’s methodological toolbox. Adèr addresses two related topics. First, the importance of the temporal order of observations and events. Second, the application of research strategies, such as structural equation modelling and propensity score matching. The two topics are related because the application of a research strategy implies a temporal order of actions, which have to be taken. His contribution alerts consultants to the importance of temporal order and the application of ordered actions in a research strategy.
The book has been indexed for Google books. This makes it possible to have a good look at the contents:
Table of contents
Preface by Don Mellenbergh
Having an impact in a multi-disciplinary setting
by Janice Derr
Having an impact in a multi-disciplinary setting: The search for a chameleon
by Hilde Tobi
Statistics as a distillation of everyday experience
by Gerald Van Belle
The advisory process and the empirical cycle according to De Groot by Victor
van Daal
Some issues arising from the use of qualitative methods in clinical trials by
Robert Pool
Methodological and statistical consulting in research for policy makers in health
care finance by Jules Ellis
Reducing selection bias using propensity score matching by Bo Lu and Marijtje
van Duijn
Temporal considerations and Strategies by Herman Adèr
Adèr, H. J., Mellenbergh, G. J., & Hand, D. J. (2008). Advising on research methods: A consultant’s companion. Huizen: Johannes van Kessel. (With contributions by David Hand)
De Groot, A. D. (1969). Methodology. The Hague, The Netherlands: Mouton.
Derr, J. A. (2000). Statistical Consulting: A guide to effective communication. Pacific Grove, CA: Duxbury Press.
Ellis, J. L. (2003–2004). Statistiek voor de psychologie deel 1–4 [Statistics for psychologists part 1–4]. Amsterdam: Boom.
Lattuca, L. R. (2003). Creating interdisciplinarity: Grounded definitions from college and university faculty. History of Intellectual Culture, 3(1). Retrieved from http://www.ucalgary.ca/hic
Pool, R. (2000). Negotiating a Good Death: Euthanasia in the Netherlands. Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Press.
Tobi, H., Kuik, D. J., Bezemer, P. D., & Ket, P. (2001). Towards a curriculum for the consultant biostatistician: Identification of central disciplines. Statistics in Medicine, 20, 3921–3929.