Qualitative methods for health research , Qualitative methods for health research , کتابخانه مرکزی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی تهران

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Qualitative methods for health research

This paper will argue that research on disability has had little influence on policy and made no contribution to improving the lives of disabled people. In fact, up to now the process of research production has been alienating both for disabled people and for researchers themselves. Neither positivist nor interpretive paradigms are immune from the characterisation of research as alienation, and hence it is suggested that the only way to produce unalienated research is to change the social relations of research production. This change will require the development of an emancipatory research paradigm and both the development of and agenda for such a paradigm are briefly considered.

Changing the Social Relations of Research Production

This paper illustrates a new project developed by a cross-country team of researchers, with the aim of studying the hedonic and eudaimonic components of happiness through a mixed method approach combining both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Data were collected from 666 participants in Australia, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and South Africa. A major aim of the study was to examine definitions and experiences of happiness using open-ended questions. Among the components of well-being traditionally associated with the eudaimonic approach, meaning in particular was explored in terms of constituents, relevance, and subjective experience. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) was also administered to quantitatively assess the hedonic dimension of happiness. Results showed that happiness was primarily defined as a condition of psychological balance and harmony. Among the different life domains, family and social relations were prominently associated with happiness and meaningfulness. The quantitative analyses highlighted the relationship between happiness, meaningfulness, and satisfaction with life, as well as the different and complementary contributions of each component to well-being. At the theoretical and methodological levels, findings suggest the importance of jointly investigating happiness and its relationship with other dimensions of well-being, in order to detect differences and synergies among them.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/41476388.pdf

The eudaimonic and hedonic components of happiness: qualitative and quantitative findings

The purpose of this project was to review existing sources on multi-dimensional disadvantage or severe forms of social exclusion characterised as ‘deep exclusion’; to recommend possibilities for secondary analysis of existing data sets to explore the dynamics of ‘deep exclusion’; to identify any relevant gaps in the knowledge base; and to recommend research strategies for filling such gaps.

/pdf/the-multi-dimensional-analysis-of-social-exclusion-1t3hyjt5e0.pdf

The Multi-dimensional Analysis of Social Exclusion

The purpose of this paper is to trace the history of the social indicators or quality-of-life (QOL) research movement up to today, forecast future developments, and pave the way for future growth. Broadly speaking, we tried to review historical antecedents from the point of view of different disciplines, with specialists in each discipline preparing the basic text and co-authors helping to polish the material into a finished product. Briefly, we begin with an overview of the conceptual and philosophical foundations of our field of research. That is followed by a historical overview of the sociological roots of our field. In the third section, the main contributions from the discipline of economics are reviewed. Following that, the fourth section covers a historical overview of the literature on health-related quality of life is provided. Next, the history of QOL research from a marketing perspective is reviewed followed by a history from the perspectives of industrial/organizational psychology and management. Finally, we offer some forecasts for future QOL studies that are intended not only to predict what might happen, but to encourage, stimulate and motivate researchers to undertake new initiatives.

The quality-of-life (QOL) research movement : Past, present, and future

Four essential questions for the study of civility involve developing a definition of the term, determining its effects, establishing trends, and predicting the consequences of civility. A framework for studying it includes the actors, their gender, situations and settings, occupational role requirements, the cultural imperatives defining civility, and the processes through which it is learned. Objective measures of civility in the United States show its variability and change. Four items in the 1996 General Social Survey (GSS) are combined to form a scale of civility. Correlates of the scale show that civility does not differ by gender, color, or region. It is weakly associated with income but is significantly associated with education, occupation, and health. Age, education, and health provide a predictive model of civility. Anger, an emotional aspect of interpersonal exchange, reveals reactions characteristic of civil behavior: waiting for anger to pass before responding, trying to forget the incident, not thinking of revenge, not walking away from the situation, and not yelling or hitting. Hypotheses are proposed for further study that involves age, marital status, occupation, health, and emotional control.

Studying and Measuring Civility: A Framework, Trends and Scale

The demographic and social structure of the community/society provide the basis for interactions that lead to satisfactions, subjective well being and the quality of life. Studies are cited that employ elements of social structure in identifying satisfying aspects of the quality of life. Ten propositions are offered that identify theoretical relationships between social structural features and well-being. To improve the quality of life, suggestions for altering the social structure are presented.

A Theory of Social Structure and the Quality of Life

As statistical time series social indicators are used to monitor the social system helping to identify changes and guide interventions to alter the course of social change. Extending time series into the future while an imperfectly developed art enables more realistic planning. The geographic allocation of resources by governments through ecological indicators redistributes funds more equitably. Social indicators lend themselves to geographic disaggregation and analysis by successively smaller area units: nation region state subregion district or county. Cities are similarly into ecological areas. Such detail makes possible comparison of trends of ecological units and opens the analytical possibility of interrelating social with physical and biological indicators. This yields insights into the influences of population social organization technology and environmental effects upon a public problem or concern. By combining with programmatic activities to alter the rate and direction of change social indicators may play a role in social transformations. The social indicator "movement" has led to improvements in social measurement social reporting and social accounting and has stimulated measurement of the quality of life. By employing social indicators sociological research should include the time dimension ecological variables and should attempt forecasts of the furture.

The Uses of Social Indicators

An interdisciplinary concept, quality of life (QOL) has gained prominence in research in psychology, marketing, and several other disciplines. What is its status in sociology? Arising out of the social indicators“movement,” QOL has gained attention as both objective and subjective measures. Precursors of the concept figured in sociological research in the 1930s on level and plane of living. Now, it is recognized in one sociological encyclopedia, a textbook, and a few sociological monographs, but otherwise has gained little coinage in general sociology. One social problems text has adopted it as an organizing theme. With these modest inroads, the components of QOL, such as inequality, income, crime, the environment, etc., always have been prominent in sociology. When QOL is recognized in theory and when legislatures require its use in evaluation of public programs, the concept will become established in sociological research.

Abbott L. Ferriss

Papers

The quality-of-life (QOL) research movement : Past, present, and future

Studying and Measuring Civility: A Framework, Trends and Scale

A Theory of Social Structure and the Quality of Life

The Uses of Social Indicators

The Quality of Life Concept in Sociology