Collaborative Research Project (collaborative + research_project)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Skeletal Estimation and Identification in American and East European Populations,

JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 3 2008
Erin H. Kimmerle Ph.D.
Abstract:, Forensic science is a fundamental transitional justice issue as it is imperative for providing physical evidence of crimes committed and a framework for interpreting evidence and prosecuting violations to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The evaluation of evidence presented in IHL trials and the outcomes various rulings by such courts have in regard to the accuracy or validity of methods applied in future investigations is necessary to ensure scientific quality. Accounting for biological and statistical variation in the methods applied across populations and the ways in which such evidence is used in varying judicial systems is important because of the increasing amount of international forensic casework being done globally. Population variation or the perceived effect of such variation on the accuracy and reliability of methods is important as it may alter trial outcomes, and debates about the scientific basis for human variation are now making their way into international courtrooms. Anthropological data on population size (i.e., the minimum number of individuals in a grave), demographic structure (i.e., the age and sex distribution of victims), individual methods applied for identification, and general methods of excavation and trauma analysis have provided key evidence in cases of IHL. More generally, the question of population variation and the applicability of demographic methods for estimating individual and population variables is important for American and International casework in the face of regional population variation, immigrant populations, ethnic diversity, and secular changes. The reliability of various skeletal aging methods has been questioned in trials prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Radislav Krsti, (Case No. IT-98-33, Trial Judgment) and again in the currently ongoing trial of The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Zdravko Tolimir, Radivolje Mileti,, Milan Gvero, Vinko Pandurevi,, Ljubisa Beara, Vujadin Popovi,, Drago Nikoli,, Milorad Trbi,, Ljubomir Borovcanin (IT-05-88-PT, Second Amended Indictment). Following the trial of General Krsti,, a collaborative research project was developed between the Forensic Anthropology Center at The University of Tennessee (UT) and the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Office of the Prosecutor (ICTY). The purpose of that collaboration was to investigate methods used for the demographic analysis of forensic evidence and where appropriate to recalibrate methods for individual estimation of age, sex, and stature for specific use in the regions of the former Yugoslavia. The question of "local standards" and challenges to the reliability of current anthropological methods for biological profiling in international trials of IHL, as well as the performance of such methods to meet the evidentiary standards used by international tribunals is investigated. Anthropological methods for estimating demographic parameters are reviewed. An overview of the ICTY-UT collaboration for research aimed at addressing specific legal issues is discussed and sample reliability for Balkan aging research is tested. The methods currently used throughout the Balkans are discussed and estimated demographic parameters obtained through medico-legal death investigations are compared with identified cases. Based on this investigation, recommendations for improving international protocols for evidence collection, presentation, and research are outlined. [source]


Developing tools for the safety specification in risk management plans: lessons learned from a pilot project,

PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 5 2008
Andrew J. P. Cooper BSc
Abstract Purpose Following the adoption of the ICH E2E guideline, risk management plans (RMP) defining the cumulative safety experience and identifying limitations in safety information are now required for marketing authorisation applications (MAA). A collaborative research project was conducted to gain experience with tools for presenting and evaluating data in the safety specification. This paper presents those tools found to be useful and the lessons learned from their use. Methods Archive data from a successful MAA were utilised. Methods were assessed for demonstrating the extent of clinical safety experience, evaluating the sensitivity of the clinical trial data to detect treatment differences and identifying safety signals from adverse event and laboratory data to define the extent of safety knowledge with the drug. Results The extent of clinical safety experience was demonstrated by plots of patient exposure over time. Adverse event data were presented using dot plots, which display the percentages of patients with the events of interest, the odds ratio, and 95% confidence interval. Power and confidence interval plots were utilised for evaluating the sensitivity of the clinical database to detect treatment differences. Box and whisker plots were used to display laboratory data. Conclusions This project enabled us to identify new evidence-based methods for presenting and evaluating clinical safety data. These methods represent an advance in the way safety data from clinical trials can be analysed and presented. This project emphasises the importance of early and comprehensive planning of the safety package, including evaluation of the use of epidemiology data. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Reflections on interviewing elites

AREA, Issue 1 2010
Gareth Rice
This paper presents one case of the particularities of power. Drawing upon interviews with UK-based elites, I unpack the general with the specific through discussing how I experienced power as a relational effect of social interaction. Within the parameters of a collaborative research project, this involved the challenge of gaining access to and interviewing elites as means to explore the role of a flagship shopping mall as part of a wider urban regeneration agenda. I conclude with some recommendations on how to negotiate the unequal power relations between elites and researchers. [source]


,It's just like another home, just another family, so it's nae different' Children's voices in kinship care: a research study about the experience of children in kinship care in Scotland

CHILD & FAMILY SOCIAL WORK, Issue 3 2010
Cheryl Burgess
ABSTRACT Growing acknowledgement of the importance of the role of kinship carers in caring and supporting children and young people in Scotland has led to a burgeoning of research on this topic. However, most research has tended to focus on the role of kinship carers. A significant gap has been direct studies into the views and experiences of children and young people living with relatives or friends. This paper seeks to address this by drawing on the findings from a small-scale qualitative collaborative research project with 12 children and young people living in informal and formal kinship care in the Northeast of Scotland. The literature on foster and kinship care is reviewed and key themes identified. The qualitative research data is outlined employing a thematic analysis approach. The key findings are analysed with a view to the potential implications for policy and practice. The paper concludes with proposals for potential future research. [source]


Feminist Research Management in Higher Education in Britain: Possibilities and Practices

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 5 2010
Natasha S. Mauthner
This article aims to explore the possibilities and ambivalent practices of feminist management in the context of research management in higher education in Britain. Drawing on a reflexive and critical analysis of our experiences of contract research and research management over the past 15 years, we discuss the challenges of putting feminist management principles into practice in team-based and collaborative research projects. By rendering academic cultures increasingly competitive, individualist and managerial, we argue, new managerialist reforms in higher education over the past two decades have intensified those very aspects of academic life that feminists have long struggled with. In particular, in creating the new subject position of research manager, with concomitant institutional expectations and obligations, new managerialism has exacerbated tensions between our identities as feminists, scholars and managers and between collective, individual and institutional needs and aspirations. We illustrate these tensions through a discussion of four related aspects of team research which, we suggest, undermine attempts at implementing the feminist ideals of intellectual equity and political equality: divisions of labour in research teams; divisions of intellectual status and the differential valuation of researchers and research labour; divisions of formal power and the management structure of research teams; and exertions of informal power and the micropolitics of research teams. We suggest that feminist research management and feminist management, more generally, need to recognize and accept differences and inequalities among feminists and work with these issues in reflexive, ethical and caring ways. [source]


Connecting what we do with what we know: building a community of research and practice

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 3 2009
Julianne Cheek PhD
How to think about, develop, maintain and optimize connections between research and practice remains a vexed and contested area in the increasingly complex multidisciplinary and inter-professional practice that constitutes contemporary healthcare and service delivery. A body of literature challenging linear and passive notions of research uptake has emerged which views research uptake as a dynamic, contextualized and active process. This paper explores the development of a successful and exciting community of research and practice involving a university and an aged care organization in Australia. The community of research and practice is premised on dynamic, contextual and active interaction between research and practice; where the categories of research and practice are not mutually exclusive or static; and where community is more than just a structure to facilitate collaborative research projects. It is proposed that the idea of a community of research and practice is a useful one in terms of seeking to better understand and provide strategies for knowledge translation between researchers and practitioners and those who are both. [source]


Priorities for Nursing Research in Korea

JOURNAL OF NURSING SCHOLARSHIP, Issue 4 2002
Mi Ja Kim
Purpose: To identify priorities for nursing research in Korea. Methods: A national sample of nurses in academic and clinical settings, representing varied clinical specialties, participated in two rounds of a Delphi survey. Participants listed five most important nursing research problems rated on three dimensions: the degree of nurses' lead role, contribution to nursing profession, and nurses' contribution to health and welfare of patients and clients. A total of 29 research areas were derived from 1,013 research problems identified from the Delphi surveys, and 26 expert panel members who participated in a 1-day workshop to determine the priority of these areas. Key words of 706 research articles published in the major nursing research journals in Korea were analyzed to identify priorities. Results: In the two rounds of Delphi surveys 347 of 1,047 nurses participated (31%,33% response rates respectively). Top three research areas common to both Delphi survey and literature analysis were: clinical nursing practice, nursing education, and nursing research. Cultural nursing was rated the lowest in the Delphi survey but was rated third by the expert panel members. Conclusions: In the clinical practice area, research on the advanced practice nursing system was the first priority research problem followed by development of nursing interventions, clinical competency, quality and effectiveness of nursing care, and standardized nursing tasks. Research on home health care, nursing education, utilization of nursing research, and geriatric nursing were other areas of priority. Nurses around the world are encouraged to develop collaborative research projects based on common priority areas. [source]


Doing interdisciplinarity: motivation and collaboration in research for sustainable agriculture in the UK

AREA, Issue 4 2009
Frances Harris
This paper studies knowledge production in complex, collaborative research projects that brought together academics from different disciplines, research users and agricultural businesses. It takes a comparative approach, studying the interactions within interdisciplinary research teams from ten case studies, considering the process of collaboration from initial idea through to publication. The research developed a typology of participants in these projects, and identified the motivations and challenges of each. Our results analyse the process of research teams coming together and the relationships that are built up during the research. A particular challenge identified was the building of cooperation and trust. This issue is explored alongside issues of communication, methodology, data analysis and the process of drawing and publicising conclusions. [source]