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Although the literature on positive adjustment following traumatic events is growing, only a few studies have examined this phenomenon in young refugees. Using the social-ecological framework, the aim of this study was to identify factors and processes that according to young refugees promote their resilience. A total of 16 treatment-seeking refugees aged 13–21 years, living in the Netherlands, were interviewed. Data analysis revealed four resilience strategies: (1) acting autonomously, (2) performing at school, (3) perceiving support from peers and parents, and (4) participating in the new society. These strategies interacted with one another and demonstrated the interrelatedness between individuals and their social context. Having to wait long for a residence permit and being older appeared to negatively influence participants’ resilience strategies. These findings suggest that resilience refers to a dynamic process that is context and time specific.

The authenticity of religious and spiritual experiences during mania is an important subject for bipolar patients. The exploration of such experience in bipolar disorder is the central point of this qualitative study. A psychiatrist and a hospital chaplain conducted 35 semi-structured interviews with recovered participants, recruited from mental health care institutions in the Netherlands, the patients’ association and via the internet, about their religious and spiritual experiences during illness episodes and in stable times. A variety in types (such as divine presence, unity, mission, meaningful synchronicity) during mania was reported, which were on a sliding scale with experiences/views in stable times in more than half of the interviews. During depression, absence of religious or spiritual experience was predominant. The reported experiences were viewed by most participants as both authentically religious or spiritual but also related to the disorder, requiring therefore language that transcended medical terminology. Also indicated is the relevance of the results for fundamental discussions about the nature or religious experience.

ObjectivesThe use of stakeholders in systematic reviews is increasingly valued, but their influence on the systematicity of the review is often unclear. The aim of this study was to describe some of the processes of involvement of stakeholders and to demonstrate a Tool for Recording and Accounting for Stakeholder Involvement (TRASI).MethodsWe demonstrate the TRASI in two worked examples. In one project, the reviewers collaborated with the end-user and an expert during the literature search. In the other project, experts were consulted to generate keywords before searching the literature.ResultsIn the first project, disagreements about keywords to identify studies for the research topic were solved by informal discussion. In the second project, difficulties arose in reaching agreement between experts and reviewers about the core construct and the meaningful keywords associated with it.DiscussionThe TRASI aids researchers to systematically and transparently account for the decisions taken. The TRASI supports information specialists and librarians to shape the search strategy to match the objectives of the review.ConclusionsWe propose the TRASI as a first step in resolving the challenges of detecting and reconstructing stakeholder influences. Potential new applications of the TRASI are discussed.

Social media are useful facilitators when recruiting hidden populations for research. In our research on youth and radicalization, we were able to find and contact young people with extreme ideals through Facebook. In this article, we discuss our experiences using Facebook as a tool for finding respondents who do not trust researchers. Facebook helped us recruit youths with extreme Islamic and extreme left-wing ideals. We conclude by discussing the benefits and limitations of using Facebook when searching for and approaching populations who are difficult to reach.

In social science research, hypotheses about group means are commonly tested using analysis of variance. While deemed to be formulated as specifically as possible to test social science theory, they are often defined in general terms. In this article we use two studies to explore the current practice concerning group mean hypotheses. The first study consists of a content analysis of published articles where the reconstructed reality of hypotheses use is explored. The second study is a qualitative interview study with researchers, adding information about daily practice. We argue that, at present, hypotheses are not used to their utmost potential and that progress can be made by using informative hypotheses instead of the current non-informative hypotheses. Informative hypotheses capitalize on knowledge that researchers already possess and enable them to focus in their proceeding projects. The substantive focus of our work is the case of applied psychology. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Children who experience some kind of traumatic event, such as losing a sibling, witnessing war, or being the victim of abuse or an accident, all have the need to process this event. Few theories exist about the development of posttraumatic stress disorder, specifically in traumatized children. Therefore, a synthesis of qualitative research is conducted in which the available qualitative studies on the children's perspective on traumatic experiences are integrated. A total of 17 English-language peer-reviewed articles were selected and a thematic synthesis was carried out. The core themes in the findings pertain to three domains: the individual, the family, and the community. We found a qualitative synthesis beneficial for creating a complete picture of children dealing with trauma and for strengthening the emerging theory. © 2011 American Psychological Association.

Objectives In a qualitative synthesis, primary qualitative studies are integrated to develop a theory or evidence-based interventions. Until now, the strength of the evidence in the primary studies has not been taken into account in the outcome of the qualitative synthesis. In this paper, a method is developed and evaluated to assign weights to the findings of the qualitative studies using both the frequency and the quality of the reported results. Method Seventeen qualitative studies were retrieved in an illustrative example project on children and trauma. Findings were extracted from the primary studies with the use of coding which resulted in 14 themes. The quality of the studies was appraised using both expert judgement and a quality checklist. These outcomes are used to calculate the weights. Results When the outcomes of the checklist appraisal are compared with those of the expert judgement, the effect on the strength of the evidence is virtually always in the same direction. We found that as the frequency with which a concept is studied is low, the strength of the evidence oftentimes decreases even further when using the quality of the results in the weighing process. Conclusions In the end, the outcomes of a critical appraisal affect the weight that is placed on particular studies. The use of a checklist is recommended because of its more distinguishing ability. The method that was developed for assigning weights to the evidence is discussed in light of both the quality appraisal in qualitative research and the objectives of qualitative synthesis. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

In this paper, two scales are examined for the measurement of self-regulation. The item content is evaluated for its specific usefulness for measuring self-regulation of obesity patients. Qualitative facet analysis (QFA), an application of Guttmann’s Facet Theory, is used to investigate whether item content sufficiently covers the intended content area. This form of content analysis constitutes a systematic, effective and critical tool for improving the content validity of questionnaires. It discovers topics that are underrepresented or overrepresented. The method offers a way to clarify the relationship between concrete item phrases and the desired content as defined by construct and theory. It allows the researcher to improve his or her understanding of the items as a stimulus and of the similarities of items, and allows the formulation of a possible structure for confirmative factor analysis. Various ways to improve the content of both scales are identified.

Onderzoeksmethoden is een multidisciplinaire inleiding in de methoden van fundamenteel en praktijkgericht sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek. Aan de hand van interessante en actuele voorbeeldonderzoeken besteden de auteurs aandacht aan het opstellen van een onderzoeksplan, uiteenlopende onderzoekstradities en onderzoeksontwerpen. Binnen elk van deze onderzoeksontwerpen komen operationaliseren, validiteit en betrouwbaarheid aan bod. Daarnaast schetsen de auteurs hoe de gegevens die zijn verzameld binnen zo'n onderzoeksontwerp, kunnen worden geanalyseerd en gerapporteerd. Aan de orde komen het grootschalig veldonderzoek, het experiment en quasi-experiment, het etnografisch veldonderzoek, de inhoudsanalyse en het gebruik van bestaande gegevens. Het boek is afgestemd op de didactiek van de methodenleer en bevat per hoofdstuk opgaven rond actuele thema's. Daarnaast is er veel aandacht voor het gebruik van internet. Op www.onderzoeksmethoden.nl staan gerichte opdrachten om de methodologische inzichten toe te passen en op een actieve manier te werken met de leerstof. Deze negende druk is geheel geactualiseerd en voorzien van meer voorbeelden uit verschillende onderzoeksdisciplines. Bovendien is er meer aandacht voor de relatie tussen de aard van de probleemstelling en de keuze voor het onderzoeksontwerp. Doelgroep: De verschillende onderzoeksontwerpen bestrijken onderwerpen die interessant zijn voor alle hbo- en wo-studenten in de maatschappij-, en gedragswetenschappen, maar ook voor studenten in gezondheidswetenschappen en bestuurs-, en managementwetenschappen.

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This paper addresses the methodological challenges that accompany the use of a combination of research methods to evaluate complex interventions. In evaluating complex interventions, the question about effectiveness is not the only question that needs to be answered. Of equal interest are questions about acceptability, feasibility, and implementation of the intervention and the evaluation study itself. Using qualitative research in conjunction with trials enables us to address this diversity of questions. The combination of methods results in a mixed methods intervention evaluation (MMIE). In this article we demonstrate the relevance of mixed methods evaluation studies and provide case studies from health care. Methodological challenges that need our attention are, among others, choosing appropriate designs for MMIEs, determining realistic expectations of both components, and assigning adequate resources to both components. Solving these methodological issues will improve our research designs and provide further insights into complex interventions.

Receiving adequate support seems to be crucial to the success of self-management. Although different empirical studies sepa-rately examined patients’ preferences for self-management support(SMS), an overview is lacking.

Combining the findings obtained by different research methods in mixed-research synthesis could potentially contribute to a broader, more diverse evidence base for interventions. In this article we focus on the methodological challenges involved in synthesizing various types of research findings. We propose a method that uses hypotheses to facilitate the comparison and integration of such different findings. The method consists of four steps: (1) synthesizing findings per source of evidence, (2) formulating a mono-method hypothesis for each source, (3) integrating the monomethod hypotheses into one overall hypothesis, and (4) evaluating, using empirical data, whether the overall hypothesis better fits the data than each of the mono-method hypotheses. Using quantitative studies, qualitative studies and experts’ views in the substantive case of children and trauma, we will illustrate the proposed method. We conclude that the method provides a viable perspective for constructing an elaborate model that captures the knowledge from complementary sources.

Purpose: To provide an overview of factors influencing the acceptance of electronic tech-nologies that support aging in place by community-dwelling older adults. Since technologyacceptance factors fluctuate over time, a distinction was made between factors in the pre-implementation stage and factors in the post-implementation stage. Methods: A systematic review of mixed studies. Seven major scientific databases (includingMEDLINE, Scopus and CINAHL) were searched. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) originaland peer-reviewed research, (2) qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods research, (3)research in which participants are community-dwelling older adults aged 60 years or older,and (4) research aimed at investigating factors that influence the intention to use or theactual use of electronic technology for aging in place. Three researchers each read the articlesand extracted factors. Results: Sixteen out of 2841 articles were included. Most articles investigated acceptance oftechnology that enhances safety or provides social interaction. The majority of data wasbased on qualitative research investigating factors in the pre-implementation stage. Accep-tance in this stage is influenced by 27 factors, divided into six themes: concerns regardingtechnology (e.g., high cost, privacy implications and usability factors); expected benefits oftechnology (e.g., increased safety and perceived usefulness); need for technology (e.g., per-ceived need and subjective health status); alternatives to technology (e.g., help by family orspouse), social influence (e.g., influence of family, friends and professional caregivers); andcharacteristics of older adults (e.g., desire to age in place). When comparing these results to qualitative results on post-implementation acceptance, our analysis showed that some factors are persistent while new factors also emerge. Quantitative results showed that a small number of variables have a significant influence in the pre-implementation stage. Fourteen out of the sixteen included articles did not use an existing technology acceptance framework or model. Conclusions: Acceptance of technology in the pre-implementation stage is influenced by multiple factors. However, post-implementation research on technology acceptance by community-dwelling older adults is scarce and most of the factors in this review have not been tested by using quantitative methods. Further research is needed to determine if and how the factors in this review are interrelated, and how they relate to existing models of technology acceptance.

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Based on the experiences of three research groups using and evaluating the Cognitive Interviewing Reporting Framework (CIRF), we draw conclusions about the utility of the CIRF as a guide to creating cognitive testing reports. Authors generally found the CIRF checklist to be usable, and that it led to a more complete description of key steps involved. However, despite the explicit direction by the CIRF to include a full explanation of major steps and features (e.g., research objectives and research design), the three cognitive testing reports tended to simply state what was done, without further justification. Authors varied in their judgments concerning whether the CIRF requires the appropriate level of detail. Overall, we believe that current cognitive interviewing practice will benefit from including, within cognitive testing reports, the 10 categories of information specified by the CIRF. Future use of the CIRF may serve to direct the overall research project from the start, and to further the goal of evaluation of specific cognitive interviewing procedures.

While studies on the consequences of trauma and forced migration on young refugees have focused mainly on their pathology, a focus on resilience in young refugees is needed to adequately represent their response to adversity and to help understand their needs. The aim of this article is to present a proposed study of resilience in young refugees which has been informed by an overview of achievements and challenges in the field of resilience. IN ORDER TO ADVANCE THE FIELD OF RESILIENCE, SEVERAL TOPICS NEED CLARIFICATION: definition and assessment of resilience, the relation of resilience to other constructs and the underlying biological and external factors influencing resilience. With respect to young refugees, the cross-cultural applicability of resilience has to be examined. Qualitative research, mixed method designs, comparative studies, and longitudinal studies seem especially promising in furthering this goal. The proposed study compares refugee adolescents with Dutch adolescents. Data from qualitative evidence synthesis, interviews, questionnaires, experiments, and DNA analysis will be combined to provide a multifaceted picture of factors contributing to resilience, resulting in a better understanding and efficient use of "resilience" to meet the needs of traumatised youth.

A primary objective of panel studies is to analyze change. The same questionnaire is used to compare data recorded at various times. Panel designs assume that the meaning of the questions and the concept of interest are stable over time. Analyses of measurement invariance often show the contrary. A qualitative part supplementing a panel survey can help us understand this phenomenon. In this study, 261 first-year psychology students completed questionnaires about their study motivation on two occasions; we interviewed some students as well. The survey showed that study motivation is not invariant over time. The qualitative data converged with the quantitative outcomes and explained the lack of invariance by the students’ overall transition during the first study year.We conclude that mixing quantitative and qualitative research methods for panel studies helps us understand change in constructs over time. We can study change at the macrolevel and better understand such change at the microlevel.

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In this paper, two scales are examined for the measurement of self-regulation. The item content is evaluated for its specific usefulness for measuring self-regulation of obesity patients. Qualitative facet analysis (QFA), an application of Guttmann’s Facet Theory, is used to investigate whether item content sufficiently covers the intended content area. This form of content analysis constitutes a systematic, effective and critical tool for improving the content validity of questionnaires. It discovers topics that are underrepresented or overrepresented. The method offers a way to clarify the relationship between concrete item phrases and the desired content as defined by construct and theory. It allows the researcher to improve his or her understanding of the items as a stimulus and of the similarities of items, and allows the formulation of a possible structure for confirmative factor analysis. Various ways to improve the content of both scales are identified.

Contains fulltext : 76692.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Objective: Not all morbidly obese patients attain sufficient weight loss after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB). We examined patients' explanations for unsuccessful weight loss and self-awareness regarding food intake. Methods: Interviews with 11 patients (10 female/1 male; mean age 46 years) with unsuccessful weight loss were transcribed and analyzed with the MAXqda2 program. Results: Interviewees were disappointed with the postoperative outcome. Some showed no awareness of their own role, while others were inefficacious to continue the actions needed to maintain weight loss, especially during times of stress. Typical statements that distinguished interviewees were: 'It didn’t work out', 'I don’t care anymore', 'I know I have to do it', 'I know I can do it'. Conclusion: Some patients with unsuccessful weight loss after LAGB are insufficiently aware that their own effort is needed to maintain weight loss. Others have self-awareness, but find it difficult to turn awareness into action. Practice implications: This group could perhaps be helped by tailoring postoperative guidance to the stage of change of an individual patient. Counseling could include increasing awareness of the need to self-control eating and offering assistance to turn intentions into action and to deal with stress, emotions and physical problems. 6 p.

In-depth interviews with Afghan refugees living in The Netherlands about their experience of healthcare, have led to a series of narratives. This article focuses on the relationship between the refugee-patients and their general practitioners (GPs) from the participants’ point of view. It was possible to distinguish four different types of narrative, by analysing the individual interviews into critical episodes. Building trust was identified as the crucial issue. A number of possible explanations are given for the differences found. Links are made to participant expectations in respect of health and healthcare and to their personal and social resources. The GP has a key role in the Dutch healthcare system, but is a novel phenomenon for refugees arriving from Afghanistan. The development of a relationship of trust is sometimes compromised by negative personal experience and also by stories relating such experiences circulating in the Afghan community. The elements that constituted positive and negative episodes and led to the development or undermining of trust were identified in the narratives. Negative experience tended to be interpreted as a sign of prejudice on the part of the healthcare professional. The findings of this study are discussed in the wider context of research into patient priorities in general practice.

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