Addiction Research Methods

Peter G Miller is NHMRC Howard Florey Fellow in the School of Psychology at Deakin University, Australia. He is Commissioning Editor for the journal, Addiction. John Strang is Professor of the Addictions and Director of the National Addiction Centre, University of London. He is also Clinical Director of the addictions treatment services at the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. Peter M Miller is Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Addictive Behaviors.

List of contributors 1 Introduction Peter G. Miller, John Strang and Peter M. Miller 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Where to start? 1.3 Does theory matter? 1.4 The literature review 1.5 Which method suits my question - is a screwdriver better than a saw? 1.6 Focus and structure of the book 1.7 Terminology 1.8 The need for a wider perspective and more careful selection of study design Section I: Research Fundamentals 2 Reliability and validity Gerhard Buhringer and Monika Sassen 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Background: Reliability and validity in addiction research 2.3 Reliability and validity in addiction research 2.4 Strengthening the quality of your results and conclusions: A brief checklist to improve reliability and validity 2.5 Summary 3 Sampling strategies for addiction research Lisa Kakinami and Kenneth R. Conner 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Probability sampling 3.3 Non-probability sampling 3.4 Qualitative sampling 3.5 Selecting your sampling approach 3.6 Technical considerations 3.7 Conclusion 4 Experimental design issues in addiction research Robert West 4.1 Introduction 4.2 What constitutes an experiment? 4.3 Is an experiment appropriate? 4.4 What kind of experimental design 4.5 What intervention and comparison conditions? 4.6 What target population and recruitment strategy? 4.7 What sample size? 4.8 What outcome measures? 4.9 What statistical analyses? 4.10 Conclusions 5 Qualitative methods and theory in addictions research Tim Rhodes and Ross Coomber 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Theory 5.3 A recurring debate 5.4 Principles for practice 5.5 Data generation 5.6 Analysis 5.7 Conclusions 6 Ethical issues in alcohol, other drugs and addiction-related research Peter G. Miller, Adrian Carter and Wayne Hall 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Key concepts 6.3 Major ethical frameworks 6.4 Addiction-specific ethical issues 6.5 Writing an ethics application 6.6 Ethical processes in different countries 6.7 Influence of funding body 6.8 Ethical dissemination 6.9 Conclusion Section II: Basic Toolbox 7 Surveys and questionnaire design Lorraine T. Midanik and Krista Drescher-Burke 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Brief history 7.3 Survey research designs 7.4 Advantages and limitations of survey research designs 7.5 Modes of data collection 7.6 Questionnaire design 7.7 Piloting the questionnaire 7.8 Technological assistance 7.9 Common challenges 8 Interviews Barbara S. McCrady, Benjamin Ladd, Leah Vermont and Julie Steele 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Why interviews? 8.3 Reliability and validity of self-reported information 8.4 Interviewing skills 8.5 Types of interviews 8.6 Types of interview data 8.7 Technological resources 8.8 Summary 9 Scales for research in the addictions Shane Darke 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Screening instruments 9.3 Frequency of substance use 9.4 Multi-dimensional scales 9.5 Dependence 9.6 Psychopathology 9.7 Summary 10 Biomarkers of alcohol and other drug use Scott H. Stewart, Anton Goldmann, Tim Neumann and Claudia Spies 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Uses of state biomarkers in research 10.3 General principles when considering biomarkers 10.4 Summary 11 Quantitative data analysis Jim Lemon, Louisa Degenhardt, Tim Slade and Katherine Mills 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Imagining data - planning the study 11.3 Collecting data - gathering the measurements 11.4 Organising data - structuring the measurements 11.5 Describing data - what do the data look like? 11.6 Manipulating data 11.7 Relationships within the data 11.8 Interpreting relationships within the data 11.9 Conclusion and exercises Section III: Real World Research Methods 12 Applied research methods David Best and Ed Day 12.1 Introduction 12.2 Auditing clinical activity in the city 12.3 Needs assessment 12.4 Qualitative research approaches 12.5 Evaluation research 12.6 The audit cycle 12.7 Measuring outcomes in applied settings 12.8 Overview and conclusions 13 Conducting clinical research Jalie A. Tucker and Cathy A. Simpson 13.1 Conducting clinical research 13.2 Discussion and conclusions: The role of the practitioner-researcher Section IV: Biological Methods 14 Psychopharmacology Jason White and Nick Lintzeris 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Psychopharmacology: drugs, behaviour, physiology and the brain 14.3 Measuring drug effects 14.4 Human drug self-administration 14.5 Drug withdrawal and craving 14.6 Summary 15 Imaging Alastair Reid and David Nutt 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Introduction to neuroimaging 15.3 Imaging techniques 235 15.4 Image analysis 241 15.5 Some considerations when setting up an imaging study 16 Genes, genetics, genomics and epigenetics David Ball and Irene Guerrini 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Animal studies 16.3 Quantitative genetics 16.4 Molecular genetics 16.5 Why bother? 263 16.6 An addiction gene 16.7 Ethics 16.8 Concluding remarks 17 Animal models Leigh V. Panlilio, Charles W. Schindler and Steven R. Goldberg 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Basic principles of behaviour: Reinforcement 17.3 Basic principles of behaviour: Effects of environmental cues 17.4 Drug self-administration: Simple schedules 17.5 Drug self-administration: Using dose-effect curves to assess the effects of treatments 17.6 Drug self-administration: Measuring the reinforcing effects of drugs 17.7 Drug self-administration: Modelling the effects of environmental cues with second-order schedules 17.8 Drug self-administration: Reinstatement 17.9 Drug self-administration: Modelling the uncontrolled and compulsive nature of addiction 17.10 Intracranial drug self-administration and intracranial electrical self-stimulation 17.11 Drug self-administration: Advantages and disadvantages 17.12 Conditioned place preference 17.13 Drug discrimination 17.14 Locomotor activity 17.15 Adjunct procedures 17.16 Integration of behavioural and neuroscience techniques Section V: Specialist Methods 18 Understanding contexts: Methods and analysis in ethnographic research on drugs Jeremy Northcote and David Moore 18.1 Introduction 18.2 Tracing the history of ethnographic drug research 18.3 Designing ethnographic research 18.4 Getting started 18.5 Collecting data 18.6 Analysing ethnographic data 18.7 Producing ethnographic texts 18.8 Conclusion 19 Epidemiology Mark Stoove and Paul Dietze 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Origins of epidemiology 19.3 Definitions and uses of epidemiology in alcohol and other drug research 19.4 Descriptive epidemiology 19.5 Epidemiological research designs 19.6 Analysis of case-control and cohort studies 19.7 Experimental study designs 19.8 Potential sources of error in epidemiology 19.9 Summary 20 Meta-analysis: Summarising findings on addiction intervention effects John W. Finney and Anne Moyer 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Overview of meta-analytic methods 20.3 Issues in meta-analyses of addiction interventions 20.4 Limitations 20.5 Conclusion 21 Drug trend monitoring Paul Griffiths and Jane Mounteney 21.1 Introduction 21.2 Point of departure - divergent policy perspectives, difficulties in definition and temporal relevance 21.3 International, national and local drug monitoring mechanisms 21.4 Challenges in monitoring illicit drug use 21.5 An overview of common information sources and some of their limitations 21.6 Issues for the interpretation and analysis of data 21.7 Mixed methods 21.8 Triangulation 21.9 Reliability and validity 21.10 Reflections in a broken mirror: Pragmatic and imperfect solutions to an intractable problem 22 Drug policy research Jonathan P. Caulkins and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Methods for quantitatively comparing an intervention's benefits and costs 22.3 Issues that arise in quantifying an intervention's benefits and costs 22.4 Methods for estimating an intervention's effects 22.5 Modelling methods 22.6 Summary Section VI: Beyond Research 23 Concluding remarks Peter G. Miller, John Strang and Peter M. Miller 23.1 Publishing addiction science 23.2 Final thoughts Index