A key criteria for academic publications is that they make a novel contribution to their field. However, as Adam Arian argues the wide interpretation of novelty applied by editors and reviewers has le...

Quality in qualitative research is a much-debated topic, yet an important one. The aim of this one-day online training course is to introduce participants to quality criteria in qualitative research.

Has the fetishization of quantitative tools obscured the wider context and meaning of in political science?

This workshop introduces the Topological Data Analysis Ball Mapper algorithm as a model free tool for visualising data. By Dr Simon Rudkin.

The writing of history is a continuous process. Speculative methods like personae can aid us in enriching our understanding of history with the stories of the peoples without history, and allow us to ...

In July 2023, all 44 editors of the acclaimed Critical Public Health journal simultaneously resigned, citing concerns about Taylor and Francis' pricing system. They went to found a new independent

This episode reflects on how lived experience can engender insights, support the interpretative process and enhance the trustworthiness of qualitative research.

Background: The synthesis of evidence in healthcare is essential for informed decision-making and policy development. This study aims to validate The Umbrella Collaboration (TU), an innovative, semi-automatic tertiary evidence synthesis methodology, by comparing it with Traditional Umbrella Reviews (TUR), which are currently the gold standard. Objective: The primary objective of this study is to evaluate whether TU, an AI-assisted, software-driven system for tertiary evidence synthesis, can achieve comparable effectiveness to TURs, while offering a more timely, efficient, and comprehensive approach. Methods: This comparative study evaluated TU against TURs across eight matched projects in geriatrics. For each selected TUR, a parallel TU project was conducted using the same research question. Outcomes of interest (OoIs), effect sizes, certainty ratings, and execution times were systematically compared. Effect sizes were assessed both quantitatively, by transforming TUR metrics to Cohen’s d and correlating them with TU’s RTU metric, and qualitatively, through categorical classifications (trivial, small, moderate, large). Certainty levels were compared by mapping GRADE ratings and TU’s sentiment analysis scores onto a common 0–1 scale. Execution time was measured precisely in TU, while TUR durations were estimated from literature benchmarks. Statistical analyses included chi-squared tests and Spearman correlations. Results: Eight TURs in geriatrics were matched with parallel projects using TU. TU replicated 84.9% (73/86) of the OoIs identified by TURs and reported an additional 337 OoIs, representing a 4.77-fold increase in outcome identification. In the comparison of effect size classifications, full concordance was observed in 50.0% of cases and consistent concordance (full plus one-level deviation) in 93.8%, with a moderate strength of association (Cramér’s V = 0.339). The correlation of transformed certainty values between TU and GRADE yielded a statistically significant Spearman coefficient (ρ = 0.446; P = .025). The average execution time per TU project was 4 hours and 46 minutes, compared to estimated durations of 6–12 months for TURs. Conclusions: The Umbrella Collaboration demonstrated high concordance with TURs, replicating 84.9% of the outcomes identified by TURs and identifying nearly five times as many additional outcomes. The experimental effect size metric (RTU) showed moderate agreement with conventional measures, and the certainty ratings derived from sentiment analysis correlated acceptably with GRADE-based assessments. While further validation is needed, TU appears to be a valid and efficient approach for tertiary evidence synthesis, offering a scalable and time-efficient alternative when rapid results are required.

recision for addressing a singular research question, but case–cohort studies have broader efficiency and superior flexibility. Despite this, case–cohort designs are comparatively underutilized in the...

Join Professor Dev Dalal (University at Albany) for a one‑day online workshop designed for PhD students, academics, and professional researchers in the social and health sciences who work with latent variables: learn to ground measurement in clear construct theory and definition, build testable nomological networks, and translate definitions into items, tasks, and protocols that support rigorous validation. Across four integrated sessions—construct theory, writing construct definitions, nomological network building, and measurement elements—you’ll get conceptual lectures, guided demonstrations, and hands‑on critique to practice writing precise construct definitions, designing validation studies, and choosing appropriate psychometric analyses (factor analysis, IRT basics, reliability, model fit) that strengthen dissertations, grant proposals, and manuscripts. The seminar is livestreamed via Zoom, includes recordings and an expert‑moderated Q&A forum available for 30 days after the event, and awards a certificate of completion (ECTS equivalent where shown). #Management #Psychometrics #ResearchMethods #SocialSciences #SurveyDesign #Statistics #Education #SocialTheory #Psychology #Research #ResearchTraining #Instats

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ALT: a white cat is standing on its hind legs on a wooden floor .

Learn how to identify and fix survey bias in UX research to ensure accurate data and enhance user experiences.