SPR provides training opportunities in prevention science during pre-conference workshops scheduled for Tuesday, May 24, 2005. All workshops require registration.
Pre-Conference #1
DATE: Tuesday, May 24, 2005, Hyatt Regency Washington
TIME: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Lunch on your own)
Randomizing Groups to Evaluate Place-Based Programs
Presenters: Dr. Stephen W. Raudenbush, University of Michigan and Dr. Howard S. Bloom, MDRC
This workshop will introduce participants to the precedents, principles, pitfalls and prospects of field experiments that randomize intact groups to evaluate interventions that – for theoretical or practical reasons – are targeted on groups rather than on separate individuals. More details…
Pre-Conference #2
DATE: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Hyatt Regency Washington
TIME: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Lunch on your own)
Benefit-Cost Analysis of Prevention and Early Intervention Programs: Methods to Monetize Outcomes and Costs
Presenter: Dr. Steve Aos, Washington State Institute for Public Policy
This workshop will describe a set of economic procedures to attach monetary values to a number of important outcomes frequently evaluated in prevention and early intervention research. The workshop will also describe methods to calculate the costs of programs. Together, these two elements—monetized benefits and program costs—can describe the economic return from a program. Since pubic policy decision making involves choosing among competing options, and since there are many ways to perform benefit-cost analysis, the importance of conducting an internally-consistent approach to benefit-cost analysis will be stressed. More details…
Pre-Conference #3
DATE: Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Hyatt Regency Washington
TIME: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM (Lunch on your own)
Using Real Time Data Capture in Prevention Science
Presenters: Dr. Saul Shiffman, University of Pittsburg, Dr. Michael Hufford, invivodata, inc., Dr. Arthur Stone, Stony Brook University, Dr. Theodore Walls, University of Rhode Island, Dr. Brian Flay, University of Illinois, Chicago, and chair, Dr. Kathy Etz, National Institute on Drug Abuse
The use of data collection techniques that collect information on momentary experiences over time in a diversity of contexts has given rise to new research approaches of great relevance to prevention research. For example, this methodology, referred to as real time data capture (RTDC), allows for collection of data about experiences and events as they occur in participants’ natural environments, including less accessible contexts (friend’s houses, outdoor venues, etc.). By circumventing problems with recall data and ensuring ecological validity, these methods may provide a more accurate picture of behavior and experience over time, and of the influence of setting factors. In addition to collecting data on targeted behaviors, this methodology has promise for intervention delivery, in real time, in response to participants’ reports of current circumstances. We discuss these in the context of prevention science.
This workshop will review the state of the practice in design, implementation, analysis, and related issues for methods used to capture data in real time (referred to as EMA, ESM, RTDC, etc.). It will include discussion of technology and practical implementation issues as well as theoretical and methodological ones, and will use case study examples to facilitate “hands-on” knowledge. More Details…