Posted by Llurpsie_Noodle on January 12, 2007, at 7:47:08
In reply to Re: what research to work on, posted by Dr. Bob on January 12, 2007, at 2:09:25
> > I'd like to give people some more time to make suggestions, then to start trying to narrow down the options...
>
> OK, let's see if we can decide on a direction. Here are the proposals we have so far. Which would you all be willing to work on?
>
> 1. Group dynamics
>
> > a. all the different people and the way they get on
> > b. the interaction of personalities, the way likes and dislikes arise, the way people express difficult feelings, the formation of factions
>
> 2. Surveys
>
> > a. how people define their disorders or illnesses-psychological, biological, combination, neither etc.
> > b. left brain/right brain narratives
> > c. level of optimism etc. level of participation, measures of depression or anxiety
> > d. number of symptoms/level of functioning
> > e. the quality of medical advice
> > f. what factors cause people to post here rather than discuss med problems with their pdocs or other physicians
> > g. why people post on psychobabble
> > h. how babblers see their role on the site, who they feel are their closest companions
>
> 3. Correlations
>
> > a. how standardized measures of mental health relate to posting behavior, and self-reported accounts of current treatment
>
> 4. Differences between boards
>
> > a. any survey results
> > b. post-length, posters per week, thread-length
>
> 5. Differences over time
>
> > a. if measures become more similar as time went on, if the group becomes more homogenous or more diverse or neither
> > b. if people who begin further from the norm tend to leave early or grow more like the group or neither
> > c. if the group as a whole is changing
>
> 6. Outcomes
>
> > a. learn what healthy people do to maintain their health, try out the new ideas and report back to how they helped
> > b. or even just report on how reading/posting helps
>
> 7. Administration
>
> > a. the blocking system
> > b. other aspects
>
> Thanks,
>
> BobDr. Bob, what are you doing?!?! thinking about research at 2 in the morning?!? lol
I think I'd enjoy working on
1a
2abcfgh
3a (this is a big topic, but I think is very important to report to scientific community)
4a (4b is interesting to psychobabble community, but perhaps the community at large may find it less meaningful?)
5c (especially regarding things like outcome measures and survey results about 2c& 2d)
7a I can't work on it, unless someone gives me data to analyse, but I can't read the posts that surround blocking issues anymore. too much vitriol and strife.If I had to pick ONE topic to work on, It would be 3a. I think that we can figure out a way to use some kind of standardized measure (such as the CES-D or other self-report scales) and compare the posting behavior of those who score low vs. those who score high on some scale. We can come up with a little coding scale for how distressed they seem in a post vs. how confident/satisfied/happy they seem in a post.
I think that it will be important to separate support-seeking posts from support-giving posts. I know from my own behavior that I can write that I'm in agony, and then 5 minutes later, respond to someone else that I'm confident that they are going to feel better soon.
Positive psychology folks say that feeling good comes from doing good. I often "feel good" if I know that what I have written to another has helped them in some way. This may be one of the most important phenomena that sustains the psycho-babble community. The positive feeling we get from making a difference in someone else's life. For me it's important to have my questions answered about medication, or psychotherapy practices. It's helped me a lot to get pep talks when I'm feeling really low. On the average day, however, I get more positive feelings from supporting others rather than receiving support myself.
Now I go to work on my own research. whee...
-Ll
poster:Llurpsie_Noodle
thread:709392
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20061228/msgs/721580.html