Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-02T13:52:48.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Conducting longitudinal, process-oriented research with conflict-affected youth: Solving the inevitable challenges

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2016

Eric F. Dubow*
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University University of Michigan
J. Lawrence Aber
Affiliation:
New York University
Theresa S. Betancourt
Affiliation:
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
E. Mark Cummings
Affiliation:
University of Notre Dame
L. Rowell Huesmann
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Eric F. Dubow, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248; E-mail: edubow@bgsu.edu.

Abstract

The reader might get the impression that the four projects described in this Special Section proceeded in a systematic and predictable way. Of course, those of us engaged in each research project encountered pitfalls and challenges along the way. A main goal of this Special Section is to provide pathways and encouragement for those who may be interested in advancing high-quality research on this topic. In this paper, we describe a set of practical and ethical challenges that we encountered in conducting our longitudinal, process-oriented, and translational research with conflict-affected youth, and we illustrate how problems can be solved with the goal of maintaining the internal and external validity of the research designs. We are hopeful that by describing the challenges of our work, and how we overcame them, which are seldom treated in this or any other literature on research on child development in high-risk contexts, we can offer a realistic and encouraging picture of conducting methodologically sound research in conflict-affected contexts.

Type
Special Section Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Betancourt, T. S., Simmons, S., Borisova, I., Brewer, S. E., Iweala, U., & de la Soudiere, M. (2008). High hopes, grim reality: Reintegration and the education of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone. Comparative Education Review, 52, 565587.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. T., & Stanley, J. C. (1966). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Cole, D. A., & Maxwell, S. E. (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: Questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112, 558.Google Scholar
Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (1979). Quasi-experimentation: Design and analysis for field settings. Chicago: Rand McNally.Google Scholar
Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116, 387411.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donnelly, J. (2011). How did Sierra Leone provide free health care? Lancet, 377, 13931396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dubow, E. F., Huesmann, L. R., & Boxer, P. (2009). A social-cognitive-ecological framework for understanding the impact of exposure to persistent ethnic-political violence on children's psychosocial adjustment. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12, 113126.Google Scholar
Huesmann, L. R. (1988). An information processing model for the development of aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 14, 1324.Google Scholar
Huesmann, L. R. (1998). The role of social information processing and cognitive schemas in the acquisition and maintenance of habitual aggressive behavior. In Geen, R. G. & Donnerstein, E. (Eds.), Human aggression: Theories, research, and implications for policy (pp. 73109). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huesmann, L. R., & Eron, L. D. (1984). Cognitive processes and the persistence of aggressive behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 10, 243251.3.0.CO;2-6>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huesmann, L. R., & Kirwil, L. (2007). Why observing violence increases the risk of violent behavior by the observer. In Flannery, D. J., Vazsonyi, A. T., & Waldman, I. D. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression (pp. 545570). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Israel, B. A., Schultz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of community based research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 19, 173202.Google Scholar
Krieger, J., Allen, C., Cheadle, A., Ciske, S., Schier, J. K., Senturia, K., & Sullivan, M. (2002). Using community-based participatory research to address social determinants of health: Lessons learned from Seattle Partners for Healthy Communities. Health Education & Behavior, 29, 361382.Google Scholar
Lovell, E. L., & Cummings, E. M. (2001). Conflict, conflict resolution and the children of Northern Ireland: Towards understanding the impact on children and families (Kroc Institute Occasional Paper Series 21: OP:1). South Bend, IN: University of Notre Dame, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.Google Scholar
Miller, R., & Hollist, C. (2007). Attrition bias. In N. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of measurement and statistics (Vol. 1, pp. 57–60). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Mowbray, C. T., Holter, M. C., Teague, G. B., & Bybee, D. (2003). Fidelity criteria: Development, measurement, and validation. American Journal of Evaluation, 24, 315340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar