scholarly journals Collecting egocentric network data with visual tools: A comparative study

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-250
Author(s):  
Betina Hollstein ◽  
Tom Töpfer ◽  
Jürgen Pfeffer
Keyword(s):  
Network Data ◽  
Thinking Aloud ◽  
Egocentric Networks ◽  
Visual Tool ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Egocentric Network ◽  
Data Validity ◽  
Concentric Circles ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWhen collecting egocentric network data, visual representations of networks can function as a cognitive aid for depicting relationships, helping to maintain an overview of the relationships, and keeping the attention of the interviewees. Additionally, network maps can serve as a narration generator in qualitative and in mixed-methods studies. While varying visual instruments are used for collecting egocentric network data, little is known about differences among visual tools concerning the influence on the resulting network data, the usability for interviewees, and data validity. The article provides an overview of existing visually oriented tools that are used to collect egocentric networks and discusses their functions, advantages, and limitations. Then, we present results of an experimental study where we compare four different visual tools with regard to networks elicited, manageability, and the impact of follow-up questions. In order to assess the manageability of the four tools, we used the thinking aloud method. The results provide evidence that the decision in favor of a specific visual tool (structured vs. unstructured) can affect the size and composition of the elicited networks. Follow-up questions greatly affect the elicited networks and follow-up cues can level out differences among tools. Respondents tend to prefer the concentric circles tool, with some differences in preferences and manageability of tools between participants with low and those with high socioeconomic status. Finally, assets and drawbacks of the four instruments are discussed with regard to data quality and crucial aspects of the data collection process when using visual tools.

Best Practices for Modeling Egocentric Social Network Data and Health Outcomes

2021 ◽  
pp. 193758672110137
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Burgette ◽  
Jacquelin Rankine ◽  
Alison J. Culyba ◽  
Kar-Hai Chu ◽  
Kathleen M. Carley
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Organizational Behavior ◽  
Network Data ◽  
Egocentric Networks ◽  
Covariate Selection ◽  
Social Network Modeling ◽  
Egocentric Network ◽  
The Impact

Objective/Aim: We describe best practices for modeling egocentric networks and health outcomes using a five-step guide. Background: Social network analysis (SNA) is common in social science fields and has more recently been used to study health-related topics including obesity, violence, substance use, health organizational behavior, and healthcare utilization. SNA, alone or in conjunction with spatial analysis, can be used to uniquely evaluate the impact of the physical or built environment on health. The environment can shape the presence, quality, and function of social relationships with spatial and network processes interacting to affect health outcomes. While there are some common measures frequently used in modeling the impact of social networks on health outcomes, there is no standard approach to social network modeling in health research, which impacts rigor and reproducibility. Methods: We provide an overview of social network concepts and terminology focused on egocentric network data. Egocentric, or personal networks, take the perspective of an individual who identifies their own connections (alters) and also the relationships between alters. Results: We describe best practices for modeling egocentric networks and health outcomes according to the following five-step guide: (1) model selection, (2) social network exposure variable and selection considerations, (3) covariate selection related to sociodemographic and health characteristics, (4) covariate selection related to social network characteristics, and (5) analytic considerations. We also present an example of SNA. Conclusions: SNA provides a powerful repertoire of techniques to examine how relationships impact attitudes, experiences, and behaviors—and subsequently health.

The role of egocentric networks in achieving resilience: a case study from the apparel sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (7) ◽  
pp. 682-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jyotirmoyee Bhattacharjya
Keyword(s):  
Supply Network ◽  
Financial Health ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Egocentric Networks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Egocentric Network ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the egocentric network-based strategies used by upstream firms to ensure their own resilience when the disruptions originate with downstream partners. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a case study approach as this is well-suited to the investigation of a complex phenomenon from multiple perspectives. Findings The study finds that the egocentric networks of upstream firms participating in the supply network of a retailer could ensure their own resilience even after the sudden demise of the downstream entity. Originality/value The study addresses the lack of adequate empirical research examining resilience from the perspectives of multiple entities in a supply network. It is also one of the few papers to address resilience from the perspective of upstream players in the context of a disruption originating with downstream partners. The findings suggest that the lack of visibility in relation to the financial health of more powerful downstream partners could be problematic from a supplier’s perspective. It identifies well-developed egocentric networks as being essential for minimizing consequences of limited downstream visibility and the impact on social capital.

Sound Production Treatment for Acquired Apraxia of Speech: An Examination of Dosage in Relation to Probe Performance

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Julie L. Wambaugh ◽  
Lydia Kallhoff ◽  
Christina Nessler
Keyword(s):  
Retrospective Analysis ◽  
Sound Production ◽  
Apraxia Of Speech ◽  
Practice Schedule ◽  
Practice Schedules ◽  
Baseline Performance ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Number Of Treatment ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study was designed to examine the association of dosage and effects of Sound Production Treatment (SPT) for acquired apraxia of speech. Method Treatment logs and probe data from 20 speakers with apraxia of speech and aphasia were submitted to a retrospective analysis. The number of treatment sessions and teaching episodes was examined relative to (a) change in articulation accuracy above baseline performance, (b) mastery of production, and (c) maintenance. The impact of practice schedule (SPT-Blocked vs. SPT-Random) was also examined. Results The average number of treatment sessions conducted prior to change was 5.4 for SPT-Blocked and 3.9 for SPT-Random. The mean number of teaching episodes preceding change was 334 for SPT-Blocked and 179 for SPT-Random. Mastery occurred within an average of 13.7 sessions (1,252 teaching episodes) and 12.4 sessions (1,082 teaching episodes) for SPT-Blocked and SPT-Random, respectively. Comparisons of dosage metric values across practice schedules did not reveal substantial differences. Significant negative correlations were found between follow-up probe performance and the dosage metrics. Conclusions Only a few treatment sessions were needed to achieve initial positive changes in articulation, with mastery occurring within 12–14 sessions for the majority of participants. Earlier occurrence of change or mastery was associated with better follow-up performance. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12592190

Research Participation Experiences of Informants of Suicide and Control Cases

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. C. Wong ◽  
Wincy S. C. Chan ◽  
Philip S. L. Beh ◽  
Fiona W. S. Yau ◽  
Paul S. F. Yip ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Research Participation ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Initial Contact ◽  
Psychological Autopsy ◽  
Autopsy Study ◽  
The People ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. Results: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. Limitations: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. Conclusions: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.

Coexistent Osteoarthritis and Parkinson’s Disease: Data from the Parkinson’s Foundation Outcomes Project

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1601-1610
Author(s):  
Jaimie A. Roper ◽  
Abigail C. Schmitt ◽  
Hanzhi Gao ◽  
Ying He ◽  
Samuel Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Functional Mobility ◽  
Quality Improvement Initiative ◽  
Timed Up And Go ◽  
Mobility Performance ◽  
Risk Of Mortality ◽  
The Impact

Background: The impact of concurrent osteoarthritis on mobility and mortality in individuals with Parkinson’s disease is unknown. Objective: We sought to understand to what extent osteoarthritis severity influenced mobility across time and how osteoarthritis severity could affect mortality in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Methods: In a retrospective observational longitudinal study, data from the Parkinson’s Foundation Quality Improvement Initiative was analyzed. We included 2,274 persons with Parkinson’s disease. The main outcomes were the effects of osteoarthritis severity on functional mobility and mortality. The Timed Up and Go test measured functional mobility performance. Mortality was measured as the osteoarthritis group effect on survival time in years. Results: More individuals with symptomatic osteoarthritis reported at least monthly falls compared to the other groups (14.5% vs. 7.2% without reported osteoarthritis and 8.4% asymptomatic/minimal osteoarthritis, p = 0.0004). The symptomatic group contained significantly more individuals with low functional mobility (TUG≥12 seconds) at baseline (51.5% vs. 29.0% and 36.1%, p < 0.0001). The odds of having low functional mobility for individuals with symptomatic osteoarthritis was 1.63 times compared to those without reported osteoarthritis (p < 0.0004); and was 1.57 times compared to those with asymptomatic/minimal osteoarthritis (p = 0.0026) after controlling pre-specified covariates. Similar results hold at the time of follow-up while changes in functional mobility were not significant across groups, suggesting that osteoarthritis likely does not accelerate the changes in functional mobility across time. Coexisting symptomatic osteoarthritis and Parkinson’s disease seem to additively increase the risk of mortality (p = 0.007). Conclusion: Our results highlight the impact and potential additive effects of symptomatic osteoarthritis in persons with Parkinson’s disease.

Assessment of parental knowledge, attitude and practice towards antibiotic use in children

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Thejaswini Karanth ◽  
Someswar Deb ◽  
Lal Ruatpuii Zadeng ◽  
Rajeswari Ramasamy ◽  
Teena Nazeem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parental Knowledge ◽  
Antibiotic Use ◽  
Case Report Form ◽  
Standard Case ◽  
Attitude And Practice ◽  
Validated Questionnaire ◽  
Antibiotics Use ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Knowledge Attitude And Practice

Objective to assess the impact of pharmacist assisted counselling in improving Parental Knowledge, Attitude and Practice [KAP] towards antibiotic use in children. A Prospective, Educational Interventional Study was conducted in 200 subjects, from the randomly chosen communities in Bangalore. The investigators did door to door visit. The primary demographics data of parents and their children were collected using standard Case Report Form (CRF), and the baseline towards antibiotic use in Children was obtained from parents using validated Questionnaire. In the presence of both parents, only one was supposed to answer the Questionnaire. Pharmacist assisted parent centred interventional counselling was provided with the help of Patient Information Leaflet1s (PIL). Follow-up and post interventional KAP assessment were done after two months from the baseline measurement. The changes in parental KAP towards antibiotics use in children were being assessed by comparing the Pretest and Posttest responses using statistical analysis. The knowledge of parents towards antibiotic use in children was medium to good in the baseline KAP assessment; however, in the majority of the participating parents it was not satisfactory in attitude and practice domains. A statistically significant improvement was seen in the KAP of parents towards antibiotic use in children after the pharmacist assisted interventional counselling. Thus, Investigators could bring excellent changes in the knowledge part; whereas the result for changes in the Attitude and Practice was good to medium respectively.

The impact of statin therapy after surgical or endovascular treatment of cerebral aneurysms

2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 182-189
Author(s):  
Tae-Jin Song ◽  
Seung-Hun Oh ◽  
Jinkwon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Statin Therapy ◽  
Coil Embolization ◽  
Primary Outcome ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Cerebral Aneurysms ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Lipid Lowering ◽  
Surgical Clipping ◽  
The Impact

OBJECTIVECerebral aneurysms represent the most common cause of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage. Statins are lipid-lowering agents that may expert multiple pleiotropic vascular protective effects. The authors hypothesized that statin therapy after coil embolization or surgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms might improve clinical outcomes.METHODSThis was a retrospective cohort study using the National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort Database in Korea. Patients who underwent coil embolization or surgical clipping for cerebral aneurysm between 2002 and 2013 were included. Based on prescription claims, the authors calculated the proportion of days covered (PDC) by statins during follow-up as a marker of statin therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of the development of stroke, myocardial infarction, and all-cause death. Multivariate time-dependent Cox regression analyses were performed.RESULTSA total of 1381 patients who underwent coil embolization (n = 542) or surgical clipping (n = 839) of cerebral aneurysms were included in this study. During the mean (± SD) follow-up period of 3.83 ± 3.35 years, 335 (24.3%) patients experienced the primary outcome. Adjustments were performed for sex, age (as a continuous variable), treatment modality, aneurysm rupture status (ruptured or unruptured aneurysm), hypertension, diabetes mellitus, household income level, and prior history of ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage as time-independent variables and statin therapy during follow-up as a time-dependent variable. Consistent statin therapy (PDC > 80%) was significantly associated with a lower risk of the primary outcome (adjusted hazard ratio 0.34, 95% CI 0.14–0.85).CONCLUSIONSConsistent statin therapy was significantly associated with better prognosis after coil embolization or surgical clipping of cerebral aneurysms.

Cognitive Impairment and Physical Activity in Old Age: The Impact on All-Cause Mortality in a 15-Year Follow-Up of the Bambuí Cohort Study of Aging

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erico Castro-Costa ◽  
Jerson Laks ◽  
Cecilia Godoi Campos ◽  
Josélia OA Firmo ◽  
Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Cohort Study ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Old Age ◽  
All Cause Mortality ◽  
The Impact

A form of Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults Named LADA – An Update on Essential Features and Controversies

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 172-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valdemar Grill ◽  
Bjørn O. Åsvold
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Background ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Autoimmune Diabetes ◽  
Classical Type ◽  
Phenotypic Characteristics ◽  
Latent Autoimmune Diabetes ◽  
The Impact

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in the Adult, LADA has been investigated less than “classical” type 1 and type 2 diabetes and the criteria for and the relevance of a LADA diagnosis has been challenged. Despite the absence of a genetic background that is exclusive to LADA, this form of diabetes displays phenotypic characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of diabetes. LADA is heterogeneous in terms of the impact of autoimmunity and lifestyle factors, something that poses problems as to therapy and follow-up perhaps particularly in those with marginal positivity. Yet, there appears to be clear clinical utility in classifying individuals as LADA.

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