David J. Hartmann

Triangulated Research Designs – A Justification?

The use of triangulated research designs is becoming increasingly popular, particularly in applied sociology and evaluation research. There is a substantial amount of literature on triangulated research methods, particularly in the fields of social research methods and nursing. This paper examines the uses of the concept of triangulation in applied sociological research. It does so first by reviewing uses of the term in various applied contexts. We then turn to whether and how the information derived from multiple methods is actually integrated by the applied researcher. Finally, we discuss the importance of triangulation for the quality of work in the field of applied sociology.

Assessing Multisite Alcohol and Other Drug Dependency Treatment Programs

In many countries, there is a mounting body of research that supports the hypothesis that alcohol and other drug dependency treatment works. This view is further advanced when indicators for success extend beyond abstinence to other quality of life issues. Most of the studies that reach these conclusions are conducted in controlled, enriched, small, singlesite programs. This 2-year prospective study reports findings similar to these other studies, but the sample was drawn from a large, multisite, government funded system of programs. The authors conclude that government expenditures on alcohol and drug abuse treatment are well spent, but more focused scrutiny and accountability is appropriate.

Residential Crisis Services as an Alternative to Inpatient Care

The authors report the results from a study of a residential crisis program house in Missouri. Like other programs of its kind, the program is designed to provide a home-like atmosphere for consumers experiencing acute episodes. The study contributes to a quantitative comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of such programs; it suggests that a residential crisis program is a less expensive alternative to hospitalization and appears to serve the short-term stabilization needs of its clientele. Client self- reports confirm return to preadmission functioning and high levels of satisfaction.

Extending Recidivism Monitoring for Drug Courts Methods Issues and Policy Implications

A wealth of research has been amassed documenting the effectiveness of drug treatment courts in addressing the needs of substance-abusing individuals involved with the criminal justice system. However, there is a relative dearth of research that examines the long-term impact of these programs on recidivism rates for both drug treatment court graduates and those unsuccessfully discharged from the program. In this study, we examine which demographic and programmatic/legal factors influence program disposition and recidivism rates of participants (both graduates and those unsuccessfully discharged) across the 5 years following their discharge from a drug treatment court program located in a suburban city in the Midwest. The study sample consists of 249 (N = 249) male participants who have been out of the program for more than 5 years. Results from the univariate and multivariate analyses are provided, as well as policy implications, directions for future research, and study limitations.

The Potential of Social Science Theory for the Evaluation and Improvement of Drug Courts

As drug treatment courts developed over the past 20 years, they were increasingly and productively grounded in the philosophy of therapeutic jurisprudence and in the operational standards of the 10 key components. Both of these and particularly the growing literature on the efficacy of the key components offer guidance for the implementation and monitoring of programs and provide a logic for attributing outcomes to program operation. What then, if anything, might be gained by an explicit attention to what is generally called social science theory in understanding and modifying drug courts? This article addresses these questions and develops social learning theory as an example of the potential for this union of theoretical and practical concerns.

Differences by race in the health status of rural cognitively impaired Arkansans

Abstract Differences by Race in the Health Status of Rural Cognitively Impaired Arkansans Methods: Data collection involved telephone interviews with a random sample of 348 individuals who were 70 and older, had been screened for mild cognitive impairment and lived in one of the 64 Arkansas counties designated as nonmetropolitan Results: Multivariate analyses found that African American respondents had greater IADL disability, poorer self-rated health status, greater number of errors on the cognitive screener, and more chronic health conditions. Further multivariate analyses found that African American men and African Americans with less than a ninth grade education had poorer health status outcomes, except for ADL disability. Discussion: Clinicians and policy makers should consider racial discrepancies in functional health status in determining medical and social service needs for seniors who are cognitively impaired and reside in rural settings.

Locus of Control and Program Completion for State Funded Alcohol Clients

Abstract Client control orientation is modeled as a force on program completion in alcohol treatment programs. A representative sample of adult alcohol abusers entering all state-funded programs in Missouri was recruited into the study and administered a pre-treatment interview including a locus of control scale. Official program records of completion and reason for non-completion were also accessed. The theoretical advantage of internal control orientation on client outcomes post-treatment was mitigated by its inverse relationship to a desire to change and to program completion. Possible reasons for an effect of locus of control on retention in program are explored.

Coding Ethical Decision-Making in Research.

This paper presents methods and challenges attendant on the use of protocol analysis to develop a model of heuristic processing applied to research ethics. Participants are exposed to ethically complex scenarios and asked to verbalize their thoughts as they formulate a requested decision. The model identifies functional parts of the decision-making task: interpretation, retrieval, judgment and editing and seeks to reliably code participant verbalizations to those tasks as well as to a set of cognitive tools generally useful in such work. Important difficulties in the reliability and external validity of measurement are evaluated and a small set of illustrative data is used in support of that discussion. Results indicate that both intuitive emotional but also more deliberative cognition is present which is consistent with work in related literatures in expertise and in neuropsychology. Finally, the theoretical and practical potential of the approach is elaborated, particularly through links to a framing in Aristotelian ethics.

Ethical Actions: A Comparison of Individual and Group Recommendations

In order to examine the way ethical decisions are made, we asked ethicists, regulatory officials, and experienced researchers to review a set of scenarios that depict important ethical tensions in research. The method employed was “protocol analysis,” a talk-aloud technique pioneered by cognitive scientists. Each individual was asked to make recommendations for courses of action. Later, we held a focus group of university faculty and staff with either institutional review board experience or research ethics training. They too were asked to recommend actions. The results show there are areas where the two data collection approaches agree, as well as areas of considerable difference. Implications for training in the responsible conduct of research are discussed.

Heuristic Patterns of Ethical Decision Making

This article describes the context of ethical decision making in research and suggests that direct attention to the ways in which decisions are actually made in such environments is needed. A decision-making model based on the literature on heuristic processing is proposed and is followed by a review of the method, data, and results of the authors’ research on this model. The implications of the research are developed, and a research agenda is outlined. Key findings were that competent actors do indeed process ethics problems heuristically and in ways that interweave intuitive, affective, and more rational phases. This processing does not typically follow a simple progressive pattern but evidences a sort of trial-and-error processing that is consistent with the logic of heuristic processing more generally. Finally, while diverse, participant-level processing attempts appear to follow patterns which are associated with the experience and training of the actors.