1.  Peer Reviewed Title: International family-planning budgets in the "new US" era. Author: Gillespie D; Maguire ES; Neuse M; Sinding SW; Speidel JJ Source: Lancet. 2009 May 2;373(9674):1505-7. Abstract: Anticipating major shifts in the political complexion of Washington as a result of the 2008 Presidential election, we, as five former directors of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) population and reproductive health programme, recently issued a report as part of an effort to increase USAID's stagnant family-planning budget. Our evidence-based report, Making the case for international family planning, recommends an increase from the present level of US$457 million to $1.2 billion in 2010, with modest further annual increases thereafter. With dramatic political shift in Washington, we are optimistic that our message will resonate well in the new policy environment. We have no illusions about the treacherous political terrain of reproductive health in the USA. However, we are much encouraged by President Obama's commitment to bring science back into the service of public policy, his efforts to find common ground in the national debate about abortion, and his and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's determination to make international development cooperation and women's rights far more prominent features of US foreign policy. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | USAID | FAMILY PLANNING | FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES | POLITICAL FACTORS | HEALTH POLICY | REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH | SOCIAL SCIENCES | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Government Agencies | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Policy | Health | Science | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 341020 |
| 2. Peer Reviewed Title: The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP). Author: Boatin B Source: Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. 2008 Sep;102 Suppl 1:13-7. Abstract: The Onchocerciasis Control Programme in West Africa (OCP) started operations in 1975. Its main objectives were to eliminate human onchocerciasis, as a disease of public-health importance and an obstacle to socio-economic development, from the Programme area. By the end of 2002, the OCP covered 11 West African countries, and had introduced large-scale Mectizan (ivermectin) distribution to about 10 million people, through the communitydirected treatment approach, with treatment coverages ranging from 51%-81%. Research on large-scale Mectizan use illustrated the importance of evidence-based results, the power of multicountry studies, the need for social science in community-driven endeavours and operations research, and the value of empowering communities as allies in disease control. The generous donation of Mectizan by Merck & Co., Inc., has increased general interest in health-related public-private partnerships and generated the momentum for other donations to tackle other diseases. The vector control on which the OCP was initially based successfully interrupted the transmission of the parasite causing human onchocerciasis, Onchocerca volvulus, in many areas. The introduction of Mectizan led to the decline in anterior-segment lesions in the eye and the arrest of posterior-segment lesions. The drug continues to be highly effective in morbidity control, although recently there have been reports of sub-optimal responses in some adult O. volvulus, albeit in a few, very small and isolated foci. Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | PROGRESS REPORT | OPERATIONS RESEARCH | INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES | COMMUNITY | ONCHOCERCIASIS | PARASITE CONTROL | COMMUNITY HEALTH SERVICES | COMMUNITY-BASED DISTRIBUTION | SOCIAL SCIENCES | FOREIGN AID | VECTOR CONTROL | Africa | Developing Countries | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration | Research Methodology | Residence Characteristics | Population Distribution | Geographic Factors | Population | Parasitic Diseases | Diseases | Public Health | Health | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Nonclinical Distribution | Distributional Activities | Program Activities | Science | Sociocultural Factors | Financial Activities | Economic Factors | Disease Transmission Control | Prevention and Control Document Number: 329160 |
| 3. Peer Reviewed Title: Ethical dilemmas of social science research on AIDS and orphanhood in Western Kenya. Author: Nyambedha EO Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2008 Sep;67(5):771-9. Abstract: This paper is based on the experiences drawn from a long-term social science research programme on the impact of the AIDS pandemic on orphanhood in western Kenya. It discusses the ethical dilemma of maintaining a delicate balance between research ethics, the expectations of the study population and negotiating the community's vested interests in a health related research project in a low-income society. I argue that informed consent and the intended benefits of the study to the participants continue to be major challenges facing the justification of social research with people affected by or living with AIDS in low-income societies. The paper underscores the importance of community feedback sessions as a way of enhancing chances of acceptability of research efforts and obtaining informed consent. It further shows how community feedback sessions contribute to local knowledge of the problem being studied, creating opportunities for advocacy. This discussion adds to the existing ethical debate on the wider contexts within which research on vulnerable people affected by AIDS is conducted by arguing that research practice is inseparable from epistemological concerns of knowledge production. I suggest that ethnographers should enhance efforts to innovatively design action research projects to serve the twin purposes of data collection and deal with ethical challenges that are experienced when doing long-term research on vulnerable groups. Language: English Keywords: KENYA | RESEARCH REPORT | ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN | SOCIAL SCIENCES | INFORMED CONSENT | ETHICS | AIDS | RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT | Africa, Eastern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Science | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Technology | Economic Factors Document Number: 330569 |
4.  Title: Emergence of the Indian National Family Planning Program. Author: Harkavy O; Roy K Source: In: The global family planning revolution: three decades of population policies and programs, edited by Warren C. Robinson and John A. Ross. Washington, D.C., World Bank, 2007. :301-323. Abstract: In comparison with neighboring Pakistan and other developing countries, India's rate of population growth was not particularly high. Its overall annual rate of population increase was about 2.2 percent in 1961 and 2.5 percent in 1971, with substantial differences from region to region. Relatively high mortality, together with a high prevalence of widowhood and a cultural taboo on remarriage by widows, prevented extremely high levels of population growth. Nonetheless, more than a million people were added to India's population each month. Furthermore, 2.4 percent of the world's area, which contained about 15 percent of the world's population, accounted for a population density of 300 or more people per square kilometer. Govind Narain, Secretary of the Ministry of Health's Family Planning and Urban Development Department in the late 1960s, expressed the prevailing government outlook: "The high growth rate of this large population . . . poses tremendous socio-economic problems not only for the maintenance of minimal standards of living but also for raising them. Already a vast development by way of large increases in agricultural and industrial production has been neutralized by population growth. . . . The manifold expansion of employment, housing, educational and other facilities has been almost entirely swallowed by the fast growing population". (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | HISTORICAL REVIEW | CENSUS | POPULATION GROWTH | POPULATION GROWTH ESTIMATION | POPULATION POLICY | POPULATION PRESSURE | MALTHUSIANISM | FAMINE | FOOD SUPPLY | INCENTIVES | CONTRACEPTIVE METHODS | MEASUREMENT | SOCIAL SCIENCES | FOREIGN AID | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Population Statistics | Research Methodology | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Estimation Techniques | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Carrying Capacity | Natural Resources | Environment | Population Theory | Demography | Science | Contraception | Family Planning | Financial Activities | Economic Factors Document Number: 321993 |
| 5. Peer Reviewed Title: HIV / AIDS, gender, agency and empowerment issues in Africa. Author: Kalipeni E; Oppong J; Zerai A Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2007 Mar;64(5):1015-1018. Abstract: This special issue of Social Science and Medicine contains a set of papers that were presented at the 30th Annual Spring Colloquium of the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and held on April 24, 2004. Focusing on gender, agency and empowerment, the colloquium brought together an interdisciplinary group of researchers to interrogate issues concerning HIV/AIDS in Africa. Together, the papers elucidate the role of poverty and economic deprivation in HIV transmission as complex, regionally specific, involving different scales (global to local), and manifesting through migration, gender and cultural politics. It has long been recognized that differences in health levels across gender and socioeconomic standing are mainly a result of inequality resulting from social and economic health determinants. As such the social, cultural, economic, political, ethnic, gender and environmental factors are just as important as the biological factors when attempting to find solutions or devise strategies to combat disease. Consequently, linking both the biomedical sciences with the social sciences in our approaches to public health is critically important. Incorporating integrated, cross-disciplinary and multi-scalar approaches may allow for better comprehension of disease dynamics and produce more effective intervention strategies. The papers in this volume highlight the social science aspects of HIV/AIDS and emphasize that solutions based on the natural sciences alone are inadequate to stem the tide. AIDS in Africa represents a crucial arena where there is a need for the natural and social sciences to come together, join forces, and effectively tackle this disease. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA | AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | AFRICA, NORTH | SUMMARY REPORT | GENDER ISSUES | HIV | AIDS | WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT | CULTURE | SOCIAL SCIENCES | INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES | Developing Countries | Sociocultural Factors | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Women's Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Science | Organizations | Political Factors Document Number: 312039 |
| 6. Title: Science, social science and pseudo-science in the HIV / AIDS debate in southern Africa. Author: Marks S Source: Journal of Southern African Studies. 2007 Dec;33(4):862-874. Abstract: 2006 marked the 25th anniversary of the recognition of the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus in Los Angeles as the cause of a disease which led to a series of baffling illnesses. It was first noticed in Kinshasa in 1975, then cut a swathe through the gay community of California, and has swept with devastating effect across sub-Saharan Africa. If many uncertainties remain in the biomedical field, the past quarter-century has seen quite remarkable advances in the scientific understanding of the constantly changing virus, and in the development of therapeutic innovations. It has also seen the growth of a voluminous if often unsatisfactory social science literature. Much of this literature has been bedevilled with what Tony Barnett and Gwyn Prins have recently dubbed 'factoids' - 'the intellectual viruses of quick and dirty synthetic studies' - information based on 'soft opinions' and a very narrow evidential base that get transformed into 'fact' through constant citation, especially in speculations about the disease's future impact. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SOUTHERN | LITERATURE REVIEW | PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS | GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS | TRADITIONAL HEALERS | HIV INFECTIONS | AIDS | PREVENTION AND CONTROL | SCIENCE | SOCIAL SCIENCES | SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS | TRADITIONAL MEDICINE | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health Document Number: 322711 |
| 7. Peer Reviewed Title: Assisting or compromising intervention? The concept of "culture' in biomedical and social research on HIV / AIDS. Author: Taylor JJ Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2007 Feb;64(4):965-975. Abstract: This paper addresses how the notion of 'culture' has been understood and employed by both epidemiologists and anthropologists with respect to the literature on HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. It examines the shift towards nonbiomedical understandings of the epidemic. The concept of 'culture' has been 'bandied about' [Schoepf, B.G. (2004). AIDS, history and struggles over meaning. In E. Kalipeni, S. Craddock, J.R. Oppong, & J. Ghosh (Eds.), HIV and AIDS in Africa: Beyond epidemiology. Oxford: Blackwell.], and yet no authors in the literature reviewed here attempt a more systematic account of the 'bandying about' itself. This paper thus attempts to address and close this gap. For biomedical researchers and epidemiologists, broadly speaking, 'culture' appears to compromise intervention, whilst for medical anthropologists, 'culture' is often seen as having the potential to assist intervention. 'Culture' comes to be multifaceted and laden with varying assumptions, which range from 'culture' being bounded and timeless, to 'culture' being linked to macroprocesses, historically shaped, and contested. In turn, 'culture' has variously been understood as both the cause of, and solution to, the epidemic. It is also understood as having structured local interpretations of, and responses to, the epidemic. At the same time as noting the apparent dichotomy between the biomedical and social approaches, however, the models may inadvertently share certain assumptions about 'culture' as an essentializing signifier of difference. To this extent HIV/ AIDS research could be improved by incorporating wider anthropological debates about the problems of the 'culture' concept. (author's) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | RESEARCH REPORT | INTERVENTIONS | EPIDEMIOLOGY | CULTURE | ANTHROPOLOGY | HIV | AIDS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Africa | Developing Countries | Programs | Organization and Administration | Public Health | Health | Sociocultural Factors | Science | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases Document Number: 312037 |
| 8. Title: Introduction: Why Islam, health and body? Author: Tober DM; Budiani D Source: Body and Society. 2007;13(3):1-13. Abstract: This special issue of Body & Society was initiated to: (1) provide a deeper understanding of how medical technologies, health and the body are navigated in Muslim settings, (2) stimulate discussion among Muslim scholars, social scientists, bioethicists, public health and medical professionals about how technologies are negotiated and incorporated in the Muslim world, and (3) examine how social science literature on the body can provide a theoretical framework from which to examine health, healing and technological innovations from Islamic perspectives - to explore Islamic systems of logic and how these operate in the corporeal world. Here, we emphasize the plurality of Muslim perspectives, rather than an overarching, singular 'Muslim viewpoint'. This issue broadly focuses on topics related to health and the body in Muslim countries, exploring the relationship between Islamic discourse and metaphors surrounding the body, perceptions and practices of the body, and the challenges of medicine and modernity. Differences and similarities in Sunni and Shi'a responses - including adaptations in medical law and Islamic bioethics - are discussed. Cultural and religious idioms surrounding the body are also significant in contextualizing current perceptions of body and health. Ultimately, this volume addresses how the dynamics between Islamic perceptions and practices surrounding health, illness and the body are negotiated in the face of advancing medical technologies. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | CRITIQUE | ISLAM | MEDICINE | TECHNOLOGY | KNOWLEDGE | PERCEPTION | ETHICS | REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Religion | Sociocultural Factors | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Economic Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Reproduction | Science Document Number: 322234 |
| 9. Peer Reviewed Title: Demography as a spatial social science. Author: Voss PR Source: Population Research and Policy Review. 2007 Dec;26(5-6):457-476. Abstract: Scholars in many social science disciplines have taken note of the reemerging interest in issues concerning social processes embedded within a spatial context. While some argue that this awakening is refreshing and new and, in fact, long overdue, I demonstrate that spatially focused demographic theories and research agendas clearly predate contemporary interest in these topics. I assert that recent methodological advancements have merely encouraged and brought refinement to the expanding body of spatially oriented population research-research strongly rooted in demographic tradition and practice. Indeed, I make the claim that, until roughly the mid-20th century, virtually all demography in the United States (and elsewhere, but not specifically examined here) was spatial demography. Then, shortly after mid-century, a paradigm shift occurred, and the scientific study of population quickly came to be dominated by attention to the individual as the agent of demographic action. Traditional spatial demography - macro-demography - gave way to micro-demography, and, I argue, most demographers simply abandoned the data and approach of spatial demography. In closing the paper I include a brief discussion of the recent awakening that has come to spatial demographers from developments in other disciplines, principally geography, regional science, and spatial econometrics. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | LITERATURE REVIEW | RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | POPULATION DISTRIBUTION | DEMOGRAPHY | SOCIAL SCIENCES | MIGRATION | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Geographic Factors | Population | Science | Sociocultural Factors | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors Document Number: 322081 |
| 10. Peer Reviewed Title: HIV / AIDS and the construction of sub-Saharan Africa: Heuristic lessons from the social sciences for policy. Author: Yeboah IE Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2007 Mar;64(5):1128-1150. Abstract: There is no doubt that Sub-Saharan African countries face major problems due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has ravaged the region. Yet the Eurocentric construction of the region as the source of the virus not only creates negative stereotypes in social science disciplines like geography, but also glosses over the potential of social science disciplines to provide knowledge and influence policy about HIV/AIDS. This oppositional construction of the region has unfortunately contributed to a glossing over of many aspects of Sub-Saharan Africa's people, their environment, culture, history, politics, economics, gender relations, and the region's global status that would provide important input for policy aimed at curbing the devastating spread of HIV in the region. This paper argues that once we recognize that HIV is a global virus with transcultural implications, social science disciplines, such as geography, can reveal certain attributes about the region and its HIV/AIDS pandemic that can be used in policy formulation to combat the spread of the virus. (author's) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | RESEARCH REPORT | EPIDEMIOLOGY | SOCIAL SCIENCES | HEALTH POLICY | GEOGRAPHY | HIV TRANSMISSION | Africa | Developing Countries | Public Health | Health | Science | Sociocultural Factors | Policy | Political Factors | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases Document Number: 312049 |
| 11. Title: Communication, choice and freedom with reference to risk in aspects of communication on HIV / AIDS. Author: Chasi C; de Wet G Source: Communicatio. 2006;31(2):119-136. Abstract: Where analysis concludes that a context is characterised by high risk, as in the case given HIV/AIDS in South Africa, individual choice and freedom are often negated, for instance, by social scientists when they resort to the statistical logic of large numbers. Ironically, given that knowledge and rationality are arguably related, the choice and freedom of the individual deemed not to have knowledge about a given issue, is questioned and soon negated. By focusing on the black people in South Africa, as a key example, it is argued that such analyses and solutions deny the existential possibilities of the people. The aim of this article is to affirm an individual's possibilities. The situation of the individual who communicates is recalled to argue against approaches that variously seek to blame the individual. In the time of HIV/AIDS, ideas such as those of Seren Kiekegaard should be engaged to advance understanding of the limitations and possibilities of the individual who communicates. In the transition from understanding to acting on information on HIV/AIDS, the individual has the freedom to choose. This is humbling for communication scientists and practioners who seek to prevent the further spread of HIV/AIDS. (author's) Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS | BLACKS | COMMUNICATION | INFORMED CHOICE | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | KNOWLEDGE | RISK ASSESSMENT | HIV PREVENTION | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Ethnic Groups | Cultural Background | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Contraceptive Usage | Contraception | Family Planning | Sociocultural Factors | Science | Evaluation Document Number: 318441 |
| 12. Peer Reviewed Title: HIV medication adherence: the intersection of biomedical, behavioral, and social science research and clinical practice. Author: Friedland GH Source: JAIDS. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. 2006 Dec 1;43 Suppl 1:S3-S9. Abstract: The unique nature of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the needs of people living with HIV disease have required the expertise of clinicians and biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social scientists. The successes achieved in the past 25 years are the collective product of committed individuals from within all these disciplines. This is particularly true in HIV care and therapeutics and, specifically, in medication adherence, where biologic, clinical, behavioral, and social issues converge and each has been critically important in achieving the stunning therapeutic benefit for individuals and populations with HIV disease. There has been growing acceptance and success of interdisciplinary collaboration to address HIV medication adherence in the past 2 decades. Nevertheless, there remain real and perceived impediments obstructing collaboration among biomedical, behavioral, and social scientists and important differences between all these research domains and clinical practice. Differences in training and expertise, perceived mission, orientation, culture, and personal and professional skills can thwart meaningful collaboration or be used synergistically to move understanding and improvement of HIV medication adherence forward. This article explores these relations and differences from the perspective of an HIV clinician and clinical researcher with a background in biology and an inclination toward behavioral and social science and suggests some approaches for their resolution. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS | PROVIDERS WITH CLIENTS | ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY | USER COMPLIANCE | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | STIGMA | BEHAVIOR | PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONS | RESEARCH ACTIVITIES | SOCIAL SCIENCES | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Persons Living With HIV/AIDS | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | HIV | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Interpersonal Relations | Research Methodology | Science Document Number: 310472 |
| 13. Peer Reviewed Title: AIDS in 2006 -- moving toward One World, One Hope? Author: Kim JY; Farmer P Source: New England Journal of Medicine. 2006 Aug 17;355(7):645-647. Abstract: For the past two decades, AIDS experts -- clinicians, epidemiologists, policymakers, activists, and scientists -- have gathered every two years to confer about what is now the world's leading infectious cause of death among young adults. This year, the International AIDS Society is hosting the meeting in Toronto from August 13 through 18. The last time the conference was held in Canada, in 1996, its theme was "One World, One Hope." But it was evident to conferees from the poorer reaches of the world that the price tag of the era's great hope -- combination antiretroviral therapy -- rendered it out of their reach. Indeed, some African participants that year made a banner reading "One World, No Hope." Today, the global picture is quite different. The claims that have been made for the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy have proved to be well founded: in the United States, such therapy has prolonged life by an estimated 13 years -- a success rate that would compare favorably with that of almost any treatment for cancer or complications of coronary artery disease. In addition, a number of lessons, with implications for policy and action, have emerged from efforts that are well under way in the developing world. During the past decade, we have gleaned these lessons from our work in setting global AIDS policies at the World Health Organization in Geneva and in implementing integrated programs for AIDS prevention and care in places such as rural Haiti and Rwanda. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: CANADA | CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES | GROUP MEETING | POLICYMAKERS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | HIV PREVENTION | AIDS PREVENTION | POVERTY | FOOD SUPPLY | North America, Northern | Americas | Developed Countries | Communication | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Science | Sociocultural Factors | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | AIDS | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Natural Resources | Environment Document Number: 306379 |
| 14. Title: Introduction: Gender and the politics of scale. Author: Mahon R Source: Social Politics. 2006 Winter;13(4):457-461. Abstract: Much of contemporary social science betrays its roots in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, an era when the national state form, pioneered in Europe, spread across the globe, becoming the normal way of organizing social and political life. The centrality of the national scale thus operates as an assumption deeply embedded in social science theory and analysis. This also applies to much of the work on gender and social politics, not the least because welfare regimes, and more broadly gender regimes, had come to be consolidated at the national scale. To be sure, feminist politics had long transcended national boundaries, and an important strand of feminist research questioned the focus on (national) states. Nevertheless, feminist research frequently conformed to the methodological nationalism that characterized mainstream research. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: CANADA | MEXICO | GERMANY | THEORETICAL STUDIES | WOMEN'S GROUPS | GOVERNMENT | GENDER ISSUES | POLITICAL FACTORS | FEMINISM | SOCIAL SCIENCES | SOCIAL POLICY | SOCIAL CHANGE | Developed Countries | North America, Northern | Americas | North America | Developing Countries | Europe, Central | Europe | Interest Groups | Sociocultural Factors | Science | Policy Document Number: 316002 |
| 15. Title: When HIV clinicians prevent social scientists from accessing "their" patients: Some ethical concerns. Author: Nattrass N Source: Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine. 2006 Mar;(22):16-18. Abstract: There is an understandable tension between medical researchers and social scientists when it comes to AIDS-related research at clinic level. Clinics offering antiretroviral treatment exist primarily to assist patients - but many of them also provide 'data' for medical researchers. This may involve a randomised controlled trial, or simply the collection of data on adherence. A social scientist wishing to access patients to conduct interviews or focus groups thus (inevitably) appears to the HIV clinician as at best a disruption to an already over-stretched operation, and at worst a potentially confounding factor in his or her own research. Given that the medical practitioner/researchers effectively control the clinics, the temptation to deny social scientists access to patients must be strong. As discussed below, this was the case with regard to two Cape Town clinics that prevented a clinical psychologist (working in my research unit) from conducting social science research. Although understandable, such unaccountable exercise of power denies patients the opportunity to participate in other research projects that may be of benefit to them (or society) in ways that HIV clinicians do not necessarily appreciate. As such, it violates the principle of informed consent. It is also problematic in that it restricts the AIDS research agenda to biomedical concerns. This is particularly worrying with regard to AIDS, where it is widely accepted (by social scientists and HIV clinicians alike) that social and psychological factors matter a great deal for HIV prevention and treatment interventions. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | RESEARCH ACTIVITIES | CASE STUDIES | PROVIDERS WITH CLIENTS | HIV PREVENTION | AIDS PREVENTION | ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY | USER COMPLIANCE | ETHICS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Studies | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | AIDS | HIV | Behavior | Sociocultural Factors | Science Document Number: 318478 |
| 16. Title: The use of implementation research networks on orphans and vulnerable children to encourage research - driven policies: The case of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Author: Shisana O; Simbayi LC; Magome K; Skinner D; Mkabela B Source: Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies. 2006 Dec;1(3):230-245. Abstract: There is a growing need for applied social sciences research to provide scientific evidence for use in both policy and programme development in the health sector to match the strides made in clinical medicine over the past few decades. This article presents an account of the development, implementation and progress as well as lessons learnt to date from a 5-year programme for the care of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe that began in 2002. The project is being conducted by the Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research Alliance (SAHARA) under the auspices of the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa. The main objective of the project is to provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of various OVC interventions with a view to identifying best practices for scaling-up in the Southern African region, which is most heavily burdened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The initiative, which is funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation, brought together six organizations in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the blessing of their respective governments - one national implementation grant maker to coordinate the delivery of various child, family and community-centred OVC interventions and one research organization in each country. The project is currently being implemented in various sites in each of the three countries. Some previously existing OVC interventions are being supported in a number of sites in each country, which are receiving process evaluations, while both qualitative and quantitative baseline studies have been completed in two new sites in each country. Newly developed interventions developed or described by the project that are felt to reflect a best practice approach will be implemented in these new sites and will be evaluated, using a summative evaluation approach in the next phase of the project, which is expected to last another 3-5 years. Although there have been many challenges experienced in the project, some excellent progress has alsobeen accomplished, especially in terms of various research outputs that have been completed to date which lay a strong foundation for the next phase of the project beginning in 2006. These lessons, together with the implications for the use of implementation research networks to conduct multi-country and multi-site projects, and on OVC policy in particular, are discussed. (author's) Language: English Keywords: ZIMBABWE | SOUTH AFRICA | BOTSWANA | RESEARCH REPORT | IMPLEMENTATION | RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN | INTERVENTIONS | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | HIV INFECTIONS | AIDS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | EVALUATION | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Programs | Organization and Administration | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Behavior | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Science Document Number: 326527 |
| 17. Title: Communication and normative influence: An introduction to the special issue. Author: Yanovitzky I; Rimal RN Source: Communication Theory. 2006;:1-6. Abstract: In recent years, we have witnessed a resurgence of interest in the study of normative influences. The multitude of scholars who approach the topic from a variety of disciplinary perspectives widely share the convention, backed by strong empirical evidence, that social norms exert a great deal of influence on human behavior and that processes of normative influence exist in a variety of contexts and situations that people encounter in their everyday lives. Still, despite several efforts to link norms to behavior more explicitly, much about the actual mechanisms and processes through which normative influence is exerted remains unclear. Much more work also needs to be done in specifying the role that human communication processes play in how norms are understood and disseminated in a social group. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | ADULTS | INFLUENTIALS | SOCIAL BEHAVIOR | INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION | MASS MEDIA | SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS | INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | SOCIOMETRICS | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Knowledge Sources | Communication | Behavior | Science | Measurement | Research Methodology Document Number: 308337 |
| 18. Title: Politicizing dominant discursive constructions about teenage pregnancy: re-locating the subject as social. Author: Cherrington J; Breheny M Source: Health. 2005 Jan;9(1):89-111. Abstract: Authors of research examining the issue of teenage pregnancy represent authoritative social voices, in strong positions of warrant that participate in shaping dominant social attitudes towards the subject. Their research projects are used to develop policies, information, service provision and practices that are major forces in shaping the actual experience of being pregnant as a teenager. This article examines local examples of such research and locates interpretation of these alongside other international studies. Prevalent in the research is the taken for granted assumption that pregnancy in adolescence is undesirable, and that research knowledge can, and should be, applied to reduce rates of teenage pregnancy. Despite clear indications of social issues being a major source of negative impacts of being pregnant in adolescence, the dominant theme is of teenage pregnancy as an individual health or behavioral problem in need of a psychological solution. This article would like to draw attention to and make visible the contingent, political and potentially problematic nature of those constructions. The suggestion is made that future work could benefit from genuine attention to: 1) social issues, especially in relation to resources and access; 2) work that explores meanings around pregnancy for young people, and 3) the application of politically engaged reflexivity in research. (author's) Language: English Keywords: NEW ZEALAND | LITERATURE REVIEW | CRITIQUE | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY | POLITICAL FACTORS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | SOCIAL POLICY | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | Oceania | Developed Countries | Adolescents | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproductive Behavior | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Policy | Economic Factors | Social Problems Document Number: 283241 |
| 19. Title: Impact of health education on knowledge about HIV / AIDS among students of social sciences. Author: Khadilkar HA; Warkari PD; Yadav VB; Soundale SG Source: Indian Journal of Community Medicine. 2005 Oct-Dec;30(4):[3] p.. Abstract: Acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has emerged as a devastatingly fatal disease assuming pandemic proportions. As more people become Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected and as those already fall ill, the pandemic will wreck an ever more devastating demographic, social and economic havoc. The vicious cycle of fear, prejudice and ignorance has increased the spread of AIDS, to an alarming level. Due to fear and prejudice, many still do not want to listen, after all AIDS is a killer. Therefore awareness regarding HIV/AIDS is crucial for HIV/ AIDS prevention and control. The present study seeks to know the effect of health education on knowledge of the students of college of social sciences regarding HIV/AIDS. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | INTERVIEWS | QUESTIONNAIRES | STUDENTS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | HEALTH EDUCATION | KNOWLEDGE | HIV PREVENTION | HIV TRANSMISSION | EXAMINATIONS AND DIAGNOSES | TREATMENT | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Data Collection | Research Methodology | Education | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases Document Number: 292836 |
| 20. Title: Sex on TV 4, 2005: a Kaiser Family Foundation report. Author: Kunkel D; Eyal K; Finnerty K; Biely E; Donnerstein E Source: Menlo Park, California, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005 Nov. 79 p. Abstract: One of the critical challenges facing young people today is developing a healthy understanding of their sexuality. The U.S. Surgeon General has underscored the importance of this task as one of the nation's leading public health concerns. Such knowledge developed in the formative years builds the foundation for beliefs and attitudes about sex that can influence each individual's life-long pattern of sexual behavior. Parents, peers, and schools play a central role in the process of sexual socialization today, just as they have long in the past. Yet in contemporary society, young people also encounter another important element likely to contribute to their sexual socialization: the mass media, and in particular, television. Indeed, some have labeled the media a "sexual super peer" because of its role in establishing norms and expectations for young people in this area. Television's treatment of sexual content in recent years has grown increasingly frequent and prominent, raising important societal concerns in an era when decisions about sexual behavior inevitably involve public health issues. Each year in the U.S., one of every four sexually active teens is diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (Institute of Medicine, 1997). From a broader perspective, approximately 19 million STD infections are diagnosed annually, with nearly half of them afflicting teens and young adults between 15-24 years of age. In addition, the rate of unplanned teen pregnancy in the U.S. remains among the highest of all industrialized countries despite recent declines, driven by the fact that one-third (34%) of young women become pregnant at least once before reaching their 20th birthday. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | SUMMARY REPORT | WOMEN | MASS MEDIA | TELEVISION PROGRAM | MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT | SEX BEHAVIOR | SEXUAL INTERCOURSE | AGE FACTORS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Demographic Factors | Population | Communication | Television | Broadcast Media | Behavior | Reproduction | Population Characteristics | Science | Sociocultural Factors Document Number: 309691 |
| 21. Title: UNESCO Bangkok and HIV / AIDS. Author: UNESCO Bangkok. HIV / AIDS Coordination and School Health Unit Source: Bangkok, Thailand, UNESCO Bangkok, HIV / AIDS Coordination and School Health Unit, 2004. 12 p. (TH/2004/HI/PI/1) Abstract: In line with the new global initiative taken by the Director General, UNESCO Bangkok, in the wider context of the UNAIDS partnership, is playing a strong coordinating role in enhancing financial and technical support for Ministries of Education to respond to HIV/AIDS across the region. While particular focus is put on HIV prevention, linking the potential of the Education Sector to enhance care and support responses (i.e., WHO's 3x5 initiative) is also emphasised, as well as interventions to decrease stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (including teachers and students) and children affected by the pandemic. One strategy to improve coordination is the establishment of Partner Fora on HIV/AIDS and Education both at country and regional levels. As part of ongoing technical assistance to Ministries of Education and UNESCO field offices, UNESCO's Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education has developed two generic teacher training manuals: One manual focuses on how teachers can integrate HIV prevention into existing subjects in secondary schools. It has been used in several countries in South and Southeast Asia, supported by JFIT (Japanese Funds-in-Trust), UNAIDS and GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit). The other manual focuses on HIV/AIDS in the broader context of school health. This manual was developed in Uzbekistan and will be adapted for use in Kazakhstan and other low prevalence countries (supported by UNAIDS). (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: THAILAND | PROGRESS REPORT | HIV INFECTIONS | AIDS | UNESCO | SEX EDUCATION | ADVOCACY | GENDER RELATIONS | CULTURE | CAMPAIGNS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | INFORMATION SERVICES | Developing Countries | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Viral Diseases | Diseases | UN | International Agencies | Organizations | Education | Communication | Gender Issues | Communication Programs | Information Document Number: 282113 |
| 22. Title: Women's and gender studies in english-speaking sub-Saharan Africa: A review of research in the social sciences. Author: Ampofo AA; Beoku-Betts J; Njambi WN; Osirim M Source: Gender and Society. 2004 Dec;18(6):685-714. Abstract: This article seeks to broaden understanding of issues and controversies addressed in social science research on women's and gender studies by researchers and activists based in English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. The topics covered were selected from those ratified by African women in the Africa Platform for Action in 1995 as well as from current debates on the politics of identify. The common feminist issues the authors identified were health; gender-based violence; sexuality, education, globalization and work; and politics, the state, and nongovernmental organizations. In addition, the authors address theoretical and methodological trends. All four coauthors are feminist sociologists: One scholar is based in an African academic institution, two are Africans based in U.S. academic institutions, and one is an African American based in a U.S. academic institution. (author's) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA, SUB SAHARAN | CRITIQUE | RESEARCH ACTIVITIES | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | GENDER ISSUES | POLITICAL FACTORS | FEMINISM | WOMEN'S HEALTH | EDUCATION | EMPLOYMENT | SEXUALITY | VIOLENCE | Developing Countries | Africa | Research Methodology | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Science | Health | Macroeconomic Factors | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 299063 |
| 23. Peer Reviewed Title: Improving the state of health programming by using diffusion theory. Author: Dearing JW Source: Journal of Health Communication. 2004 Jun;9 Suppl 1:21-36. Abstract: Year by year, the gaps between what is known about behavior change and what is actually practiced in social programs grow larger, especially for community-based programs intended to help minority populations, the poor, and those living in inner-city and rural areas. Internationally, such gaps between the state of knowledge and the state of practice lead to disparities in health, education, and development among societal groups, demographic sub-populations, communities, and countries. Data about disparities are used as evidence of inequality. Here, I discuss uses of certain diffusion of innovation theory-based concepts to systematically redress problems of inequality and disparity by reducing the differences between evidence and practice in social programs that are implemented by intermediaries (practitioners) and communicated by them to needy populations. The emphasis here is on the integrated application of knowledge about innovation attributes, opinion leadership, and clustering from diffusion theory to achieve the objective of more extensive and more rapid diffusion of especially effective programs. A set of implementation steps are offered for researchers, funders of international health programs, and the intermediaries who implement health programs. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | TEACHING MATERIALS | POLICYMAKERS | DIFFUSION | COMMUNICATION | DECISION MAKING | ACCEPTANCE PROCESS | PUBLIC HEALTH | PROGRAM DESIGN | PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT | BEHAVIOR | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Health | Programs Document Number: 190728 |
| 24. Title: International perspectives on gender and disaster: differences and possibilities. [Perspectivas internacionales sobre género en contextos de desastre: diferencias y posibilidades] Author: Enarson E; Meyreles L Source: International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 2004;24(10-11):49-93. Abstract: This article provides an introduction and assessment of the English and Spanish literatures on gender relations in disaster contexts. We analyze regional patterns of differences and similarities in women's disaster experiences and the differing research questions raised by these patterns in the scholarly and practice-based literature. The analysis supports the claim that how gender is theorized makes a difference in public policy and practical approaches to disaster risk management. We propose new directions in the field of disaster social science and contribute a current bibliography in the emerging gender and disaster field. (author's) Spanish Abstract: Este artículo presenta la introducción y evaluación de documentos en inglés y en espańol sobre las relaciones de género en contextos de desastre. Se analizan los modelos regionales de diferencias y similitudes en las experiencias de las mujeres en contextos de desastres y las diversas preguntas de investigación suscitadas por dichos modelos en trabajos tanto académicos como basados en la práctica. El análisis avala el criterio que sostiene que el modo de teorizar sobre el género marca una diferencia en las políticas públicas y los métodos prácticos en la gestión de los riesgos de desastre. Se proponen nuevas pautas en el área de las ciencias sociales que estudian los desastres y se aporta documentación actual en el campo emergente de género en contextos de desastre. (del autor) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | LATIN AMERICA | LITERATURE REVIEW | WOMEN | GENDER ISSUES | NATURAL DISASTERS | SOCIAL POLICY | SOCIAL SCIENCES | DISASTER RELIEF | Developing Countries | Americas | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Environment | Policy | Political Factors | Science | Financial Activities | Economic Factors Document Number: 299210 |
| 25. Peer Reviewed Title: The origins and demise of the concept of race. Author: Hirschman C Source: Population and Development Review. 2004 Sep;30(3):385-415. Abstract: To MODERN EYES, especially American ones, the reality of race is self-evident. Peoples whose ancestors originated from Africa, Asia, and Europe typically have different appearances in terms of skin color, hair texture, and other superficial features. Although racial differences may be only skin deep, it is widely assumed that races have been a primordial source of identity and intergroup antagonism from the earliest societies to the present, with ancient hatreds, exploitation, and discrimination among the most common patterns. Even in modern societies, which have exposed the myth of racism, race remains a widely used term for socially defined groups in popular discourse- and, in some countries, also in scholarly research, and public policy. A basic problem with this perspective is that it is increasingly difficult to define and measure race as a social category. Are Jews a race? What about Muslims in Europe or Koreans in Japan? If Filipinos and Samoans are official races listed in the US census form, why can't Arab Americans or Middle Easterners be included? And how might the golfer Tiger Woods respond to the standard question about his racial identity? (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | ETHNIC GROUPS | RACE RELATIONS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | ANTHROPOLOGY | BEHAVIOR | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | RELIGION | HUMAN RIGHTS | CULTURAL BACKGROUND | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Political Factors | Social Problems Document Number: 276980 |
| 26. Peer Reviewed Title: From innovation to social norm: bounded normative influence. Author: Kincaid DL Source: Journal of Health Communication. 2004 Jun;9 Suppl 1:37-57. Abstract: Every innovation begins as a deviation from existing social norms. Given the strong effect of social norms and pressure, how can any innovation ever diffuse to the point where it becomes a new social norm? The seeming paradox of how a minority can influence the majority has not been explained well by prevailing social science theory. Computer simulations of the diffusion of a new behavior within the social network of a Bangladesh village led to the discovery of a new principle of social change that resolves this paradox. The results revealed the important but overlooked role played by boundaries that emerge within a social network and how such local boundaries affect the creation of a new social norm. A minority position can become the social norm by means of the process of bounded normative influence. As long as a minority maintains its majority status within its own, locally bounded portion of the network, then it can survive, recruit converts in the near surround, and establish its behavior as the norm for the network as a whole. The process is accelerated when the minority subgroup is centrally located in the network and communicates more frequently and persuasively than the majority. (author's) Language: English Keywords: BANGLADESH | RESEARCH REPORT | THEORETICAL MODELS | POPULATION | FAMILY PLANNING SURVEYS | DIFFUSION | SOCIAL BEHAVIOR | SOCIAL SCIENCES | MINORITY GROUPS | PUBLIC OPINION | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | SOCIAL NETWORKS | INFORMATION NETWORKS | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Family Planning | Communication | Behavior | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Attitudes | Psychological Factors | Friends and Relatives | Family and Household Document Number: 190730 |
| 27. Peer Reviewed Title: Diffusion methodology: time to innovate? Author: Meyer G Source: Journal of Health Communication. 2004 Jun;9 Suppl 1:59-69. Abstract: Over the past 60 years, thousands of diffusion studies have been conducted in numerous disciplines of study including sociology, education, communication, marketing, and pubic health. With few exceptions, these studies have been driven by a methodological approach that has become institutionalized in diffusion research. This approach is characterized by the collection of quantitative data about one innovation gathered from adopters at a single point in time after widespread diffusion has occurred. This dominant approach is examined here in terms of both its strengths and weaknesses and with regard to its contribution to the collective base of understanding the diffusion of innovations. Alternative methodological approaches are proposed and reviewed with consideration for the means by which they may expand the knowledge base. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | METHODOLOGICAL STUDIES | RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | POPULATION | DIFFUSION | SOCIAL BEHAVIOR | SOCIAL SCIENCES | INEQUALITIES | MEASUREMENT | DATA COLLECTION | STUDY DESIGN | QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Communication | Behavior | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 190731 |
| 28. Peer Reviewed Title: Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory: it's utility and value in public health. Author: Moseley ST Source: Journal of Health Communication. 2004 Jun;9 Suppl 1:149-151. Abstract: One of the reasons that the Diffusion of Innovations is one of the most cited books in the social sciences is that Ev has been constantly reworking and expanding the framework, moving his thinking in different directions. One direction has been in the application of the framework. He has taken diffusion of innovations concepts and profitably put them to work in international development, with fertility and family planning as one of the more prominent areas where he and his thinking have made important contributions. More recently he has been working in the applied fields of nutrition education and substance abuse. But the diffusion of innovation framework has also evolved and expanded theoretically, from early models of communication process that tended to be linear and ‘‘individual,’’ to more interactive models of communication in which participants create and share information to arrive at mutual understandings of new values, new concepts, and new practices. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | HISTORICAL REVIEW | FACULTY | STUDENTS | PUBLIC HEALTH | DIFFUSION | COMMUNICATION | SOCIAL SCIENCES | EDUCATION | EDUCATIONAL METHODS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Health | Educational Activities Document Number: 190727 |
| 29. Peer Reviewed Title: Equity, efficiency, and identity: grounding the debate over population and sustainability. Author: Ratner BD Source: Population Research and Policy Review. 2004 Feb;23(1):55-71. Abstract: If social scientists are to provide a more useful contribution to international debates over population and environment, we must find ways to combine the insights of our competing theoretical traditions. Political economy, rational choice, and cultural institutionalist perspectives are each associated with a different assessment and characterization of the population “problem”, as well as divergent strategies of response, prioritizing in turn the goals of equity, efficiency, and cultural identity. The principal argument of this paper is that these three perspectives, and the goals which they embody, are like the three legs of a stool; none is sufficient and each is necessary to uphold socially acceptable responses to population growth in the context of broader challenges of sustainability. Each perspective is reviewed in turn, distinguishing narrow and polarizing applications that trivialize the way social and economic systems rely on the natural environment from applications that are useful in fashioning a more integrated approach. The paper concludes with reflections on how this approach may support and enrich a focus on sustainable livelihoods in development planning. (author's) Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | CRITIQUE | POPULATION GROWTH | DEVELOPMENT POLICY | POPULATION POLICY | SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT | ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION | NATURAL RESOURCES | INEQUALITIES | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Policy | Social Policy | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Environment | Socioeconomic Factors Document Number: 191285 |
| 30. Title: "Hanging out" with forced migrants: methodological and ethical challenges. Author: Rodgers G Source: Forced Migration Review. 2004 Sep;(21):48-49. Abstract: Recent reflections on the study of forced migration urge researches to take a step back from the forced migrants whose plight we seek to describe and analyse. Stephen Castles has outlined a 'sociology of forced migration' situated in a 'context of global social transformation' and cautions against an overemphasis on the 'subjective and cultural aspects of forced migration [which] neglect its structural dimensions'. For Castles, the global forced migration crisis is largely the results of an international failure to manage global relations of inequality. Understanding and solutions need to be sought at this global level, beyond the localised experiences of force migrants themselves. In line with this suggestion Karen Jacobsen and Loren Landau have expressed concern over a prevalence of small-scale, qualitative studies in the literature on forced migration. Such research, they argue, is often produced on the basis of poor designs, conducted over short time periods and drawn from small, haphazard and unrepresentative samples. They urge researchers to produce data that strives to be more representative, more objectively scientific and collected in ways that can be analyzed more quantitatively. This article re-asserts the continued relevance and importance of modest and small-scale qualitative approaches, generated largely through intensive informal and interpersonal interactions between researches and the forced migrants. I refer to this approaches 'hanging out', as a kind of shorthand for participatory approaches but also as a reminder of the informal and everyday nature of the interactions and processes that allows us to generate information. Such research can be conducted in ways that are methodologically sound. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | CRITIQUE | METHODOLOGICAL STUDIES | QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | MIGRANTS | REFUGEES | SOCIAL WORKERS | ETHICS | SOCIAL SCIENCES | Research Methodology | Migration | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Social Problems Document Number: 280181 |
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