Citation: Creswell JW, Klassen AC, Plano Clark VL, Smith KC for the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. Best practices for mixed methods research in the health sciences. August 2011. National Institutes of Health. Date retrieved. http://obssr.od.nih.gov/mixed_methods_research

The ISBN and publication date, July 2009, are the same on the first and second printing.

According to APA, they are only distributing the second printing now. If you buy from a bookstore you should check the copyright page. If you already own the first printing, you can get the corrections from the APA website.

Eric Widmer, University of Geneva, studies family networks. This useful article, below, introduces SNA to family scholars.

Widmer E. D., & La Farga L.A. (2000). Family networks: A sociometric method to study relationships in families. Field Methods, 12, 2, 108-128.

Peter Marsden has written many outstanding articles on Social Network Analysis. One useful article is:

Marsden, P. (1990). Network data and measurement. Annual Review of Sociology, 16, 435-463.

David Knoke, has a very popular Social Network Analysis course here at the University of Minnesota. There are terrific resources on his course website.

James Moody, Duke, offers a course on Social Network Analysis. You can refer to his course syllabus and more.

This website, analytictech.com, also has an Introduction to Network Analysis, including handouts arranged by topic.

"This blog makes public the hallway conversations about social science statistical methods and analysis from the Institute for Quantitative Social Science and related research groups. Expect to see posts on trends in methodological thought, questions and comments, paper and conference announcements, applied problems needing methodological solutions, and methodological techniques seeking applied problems. Also included are summaries of papers and comments from a popular weekly research workshop held here and billed as a tour of Harvard's statistical innovations and applications with weekly stops in different disciplines."

Official name:
Family Life Project: A Longitudinal Adoption Study, 1969-1989 by Chicago Child Care Society; Shireman, Joan; and Vroegh, Karen.

Citation:
Chicago Child Care Society; Shireman, Joan; and Vroegh, Karen, 1999, "Family Life Project: A Longitudinal Adoption Study, 1969-1989", hdl:1902.1/01610 Murray Research Archive [Distributor]

Study purpose:
To examines the influence of adoption on child and family development in intraracial, transracial, single-parent, and two-parent adoptive and biological families.

Principal investigators: Joan Shireman and Karen Vroegh.

Years of data collection:
1969-1970 (20-year longitudinal study).
Waves and ages of participants at each wave: continuous data collection (over 20 years):
1969-1972 across groups at Time I, (0-2 years old);
1973-1976 for all groups at Time II;
1977-1981 at Time III;
1982-1987 for Time IV;
1987-1989 for Time V.

Types of data:
interviews (child, parent, and family);
psychological tests (child),
questionnaires about racial and gender identity (e.g., Doll Puzzle, Doll Test, Semantic Differential Pictures, Toy Preferential Pictures, Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire), intelligence (e.g., Preschool Attainment Record, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Slosson Intelligence Test for Children and Adults), and social maturity (i.e., the Vineland Social Maturity Scale).

Strengths of the data set:
big sample size;
longitudinal (five-waves) kind of data;

Weaknesses of the data set:
originally only kids from birth to two age were included, thus a greater proportion of kids above the age two were not considered; only African-American children were represented in the sample, although by that time the Korean adoption was also on the rise.

Accessibility of the data:
One can get an access to the documentation overview (abstract, research methodology, publications, and other info) or to the detailed usage terms only after signing legal agreement between data depositor and Murray Archive.

Usefulness for family research:
The data may be useful for those who are interested in single-parent, transracial (White and African-Americans), and traditional adoptive placements. As well as for those who are focused on racial and gender adoptive identities, adopted child development (intelligence, social maturity) through the childhood to early adolescence and adoptive family development over 20 years.

Distributor Contact:
Murray Research Archive
mra_support@help.hmdc.harvard.edu

Study purpose
• The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of changes in classroom and family environments on adolescents' achievement-related beliefs, motives, values, and behaviors.

Principal investigator
• Jacquelynne S. Eccles

Years during which data were collected
• 1983 – 1985

Number of waves of data, and ages of participants at each wave
• Four waves of data were collected. The mean age of students at wave 1 was 11 years, 5 months.

Participants
• Wave I – 3,246 adolescents and their parents
• Wave II – 3,157 adolescents (97.2% of the original sample), their parents and teachers. This sample was augmented slightly as the study progressed due to attrition rates; 105 new students participated.
• Wave III – 2,705 adolescents (83.3% of the original sample) and their parents. Three-hundred and eighty-eight new students who moved into the 12 school districts during the course of the study joined.
• Wave IV – Seventy-percent of the original adolescent sample and their parents
Types of data
• Questionnaires and behavioral observations

Strengths and weaknesses of the data set:
Weakness
• The sample of students was homogeneous. Ninety-seven percent of the students were Caucasian and their schools were located in middle-income communities.

Strengths
• The data would be useful to family researchers
• Data were collected from children, parents and teachers using questionnaires and behavior observations

Accessibility of data to the research community
• The data can be downloaded at: http://www.murray.harvard.edu/

Usefulness of data set to family researchers
• The data would be useful to family researchers interested in studying adolescents’ transitions from elementary to junior high school.

Web site information
• On the web site (http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/msalt/home.htm) there is information regarding questionnaires, scales, and data; a list of articles and publications that have resulted from the study; a detailed explanation of the study for past participants; a form for past participants to submit new contact information if they are moving; and a list of family, education, and career web resources.

Gain access to the data
• Data can be acquired through Harvard-Radcliffe's Murray Research Center at: http://www.murray.harvard.edu/

Website: www.murray.harvard.edu

Principal investigators: Richard Jessor & Shirley L. Jessor

The data can be accessed through the Murray research archive that stores research data in different formats including audio, visual, written etc.

How to access data
Collections of data are classified according to subject. The socialization of problem behavior in youth data are grouped under the health subsection. The data in each section are arranged in either alphabetical order or identification number. Guidelines on what is available and how to access data are given through hot links.
The purpose: to examine problem behavior of youth and developmental processes of change and growth within a social-psychological and psychosocial context.

The study comprised of two phases:
1. Longitudinal study of high school and college study and one wave of family interview.
2. Young adult follow up study that included two samples from phase one.

Years and waves of data collection:

phase wave year participants
1 3 1969-1972 High school, 7th, 8th and 9th graders (N=589)
1 1 1970 Family interview study
(N=200 parents of participants in “high school study�
2 1 Young adult follow up study
Including two samples from wave 1
2 3 1970-1973 1951 birth cohort (N= 276 M&F)
2 1 1981 384 “high school study� and 184 “college study� participant

A 50-page questionnaire was administered to the participants of both the "High School Study" and the "College Study" during these four waves of data collection. The questionnaire contained a variety of subscales which focused on behavior, personality, and perceived environment.

Data gathered through a semi-structured interview with mothers covered aspects of parental beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and socialization practices. Mothers and fathers independently filled out a questionnaire consisting of personality and attitude measures.

Data: longitudinal, cross sectional & field study.

How to acces the data.
The study website provides reference terms for using the data and an on line application to be filled by potential users. A description of potential users’ project is required before one is granted permission to use the data which is also accessed online.

Purpose: to investigate factors related to marital stability in the early years of marriage.

Principal Investigators: Joseph Veroff, Shirley Hatchett, Elizabeth Ann Malcolm Douvan, and Terry Orbuch.

Years of Data Collection: 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989.

Participants: all had applied for a marriage license in Wayne County Michigan between April and June of 1986; wives had to be 35 years old or younger; this marriage was the first for both partners; most participants had beyond a high school education and had achieved an education level beyond their parents’ education levels; statistics varied by race, but most couples did not have children, most couples had one or both spouses employed, and incomes ranged from less than $10,000 a year to over $30,000 a year; the study began with 373 participants (199 African American and 174 White American) and 59 control participants (38 White American and 21 African American).

Waves:
Wave 1, 1986: 373 participants (199 African American and 174 White American) and 59 control (38 White American and 21 African American).
Wave 2, 1987: 347 of original 373 participants.
Wave 3, 1988: 264 of original 373 participants.
Wave 4, 1989: 252 of original 373 participants.

Types of Data:
Wave 1, 1986: individual interviews and an audio taped couple interview.
Wave 2, 1987: telephone interviews with each spouse.
Wave 3, 1988: individual interviews and audio taped couple interview.
Wave 4, 1989: individual phone interviews.

Investigation: combination of phone interviews, surveys, individual interviews and couple narratives were used and scored looking at premarital social status and family background, marital cognitions, interpersonal perceptions and attitudes, perceived and actual interactions, social networks, and marital feelings.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
- For some interviews for some waves (1, 2, and 4) the interviewers only surveyed the wives;
- I am curious about participant selection and using a broader sample or having more descriptive information on the existing sample (i.e., cohabitation, religious beliefs, etc.)
+ The investigators used both participant self-report and observed/coded couple
interactions as data;
-/+ The investigators used a control group to see what impact the study had on
marital life, but it was unclear how they felt the study could contribute to marital
instability.

Accessibility: Basic information on the study is available but without SPSS or library access further details are not available from the Murray Archive alone.

Usefulness to family research: This is a fascinating topic that is timely in light of the broad spectrum of stability and instability in marriage in the United States. Without more information beyond the archive, it is difficult to assess the usefulness of their results or methods, but the design is intriguing.

Website: www.murray.harvard.edu Searching by author and/or name of study and you will find the overview, the interview sheets, the data files and a list of publications.

Access: You can gain basic access to the data by affirming the online agreement not to distribute the information or identifying anyone in the study, etc. There is contact information to submit an application for further access.

• This longitudinal study investigated different aspects of gay and lesbian couples. Questions cover topics such as commitment, relationship satisfaction and values, communication, and partner annoyances.

• Principal investigator: Larry Kurdek

• There were three waves of data collection:
-Wave 1: 1986-89
-Wave 2: 1990-93
-Wave 3: 1994-97

• Participants:
-Wave 1: 80 gay and 53 lesbian couples who lived together without children
-Wave 2: 75 gay and 51 lesbian couples who lived together without children
-Wave 3: 57 gay and 54 lesbian couples who lived together without children

• Surveys were sent by mail in all waves

• Strengths of the study:
-Surveys cover a large range of relationship topics
-Gathers information for both partners of the couple

• Weaknesses of the study:
-Data is over ten years old
-Most questions are applicable to couples of all sexual orientations-it misses some factors specific to gay and lesbian couples

• The data is available through the Henry A. Murray Research Archive (www.murray.harvard.edu). There is an online subset of data and a downloadable full data set.

• This data is can be useful when looking closely at gay and lesbian couples, especially when looking how aspects of gay and lesbian relationships are similar and different to heterosexual relationships.

Principal investigators: Stuart T. Hauser; Alan M. Jacobson; Gil G. Noam; Sally I. Powers
According to the Murray archive (www.murray.harvard.edu), “The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent development and psychopathology within the context of the family environment. Three groups of adolescents and their parents were studied: insulin dependent diabetic adolescents; adolescents who were psychiatrically hospitalized in the first year of the study; and nonpatient high school students. “
• Years that data were collected: 1978 to 1982
• Type of data collected: “using a battery of instruments assessing personality and moral development. “
• Participants: “There were 57 participants in the diabetic sample, 70 in the psychiatric sample, and 76 in the nonpatient sample. All participants were 14 years old when first contacted.�
• Waves of data: 4 waves: “Interviews were conducted each year, focusing on changes, stresses, and familial and peer relationships. Direct observation of family interactions was also included each year.�
Accessibility of data and how to gain access: “The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study from all four years of the study Data are available for the psychiatric and nonpatient samples, but not for the diabetic sample. If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data.�
• Website: either search for “Adolescent and Family Development� through www.murray.harvard.edu or use the following link:
• http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/mra/faces/study/StudyPage.jsp?studyId=211&studyListingIndex=0_55377a855c73b4b879c6b0a3106b
• Citation: Stuart T. Hauser; Alan M. Jacobson; Gil G. Noam; Sally I. Powers, 1992, "Adolescent and Family Development Study, 1978-1982", hdl:1902.1/00945 UNF:3:gNtHUfeOlaVzXIvDvNBV4A== Murray Research Archive [Distributor]

In this reviewer’s opinion, the strengths of this data set include both a clinical and non-clinical sample as well as observational data in addition to self-report methods. This data set might be more useful for family research if it included assessments other than the adolescent, such as parent or sibling reports. This might actually be the case, but this information is not listed on the Murray archive. Other weaknesses include an accurate description of what kind of observational data was collected, of course these weaknesses are not necessarily of the study, but of the information that is currently available about the study. One criticism I have is that in order to use the data set, one must actually go to Harvard.

The purpose of this resource is to provide a public resource for data access and analysis.

The Principal Investigators are numerous, as there were more than 20 data sets represented, but the underwriters were:
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive (SAMHDA) is an initiative of the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Data collected from the following dates: 1975 to present, depending upon the study. Here is a selection of the most commonly requested sites. Some are the same study, redone on the same sample.
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2006
Monitoring the Future (MTF), 2006
National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 2006
Gambling Impact and Behavior Study
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 2005
Monitoring the Future (MTF), 2002
Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study (DATOS)
Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) Concatenated File, 1992-2005
Alcohol and Drug Services Study (ADSS)
National Comorbidity Survey: Baseline (NCS-1), 1990-1992
Drug Abuse Treatment Outcome Study: Adolescent (DATOS-A)
Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC), 1997-1998
Monitoring the Future (MTF), 1995
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 2001
Monitoring the Future (MTF), 2005
Number of waves of Data, and ages of participants at each wave:

The Archive covers basically three different research projects which all cover substance abuse and mental health variables for teens. The kids range from 12 to 18 years. Some of the data is about substance abuse treatment programs; most is on drug use patterns amongst teens within these age groups. One of the datasets has the same kids measured more than once within the 5 year period. Another does not test the same kids more than once.

The participants are kids themselves or treatment programs. I did not see multiple family members sampled. This is a limitation that seems to be true of all of the data sets on this site.

For the National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
Eight states, referred to as the large sample states, had a sample designed to yield 3,600 respondents per state for the 2006 survey. This sample size was considered adequate to support direct state estimates. The remaining 43 states (which include the District of Columbia) had a sample designed to yield 900 respondents per state in the 2006 survey. All told, this sample is comprised of over 70,000 kids!!

For the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), 17,000 treatment facilities were identified in the U. S. and 13,000 were surveyed.

The type of data received was mailed surveys for the treatment centers, questionnaires for some of the students, and computer assisted interviews and Audio CASI for some of the students on sensitive questions (wow).

Strengths and weaknesses: Amazing data collection effort. Incredible numbers of subjects. Hard to correlate the data between studies, however. Family aspects not included. This could be useful to family researchers in that variables of interest in kids (particularly sensitive variables) could be linked to family studies for estimates of reliability of the data in the family study.

Accessability seems wide open with agreement to terms of use. Able to access the data directly after agreement to terms of use.

Assessment of usefulness: Very useful. Important to be able to track adolescent patterns of risky behaviors as increased numbers of parents enter the work force and more and more kids are unsupervised at home. Still, we are left to wonder why or what correlates exist to the behavior observed in the kids. This would have to be undertaken in a family study.

Web site: links are provided to all of the individual studies providing data.

How to gain access? Agree to terms of use. Can be anonymous or not.

Study Purpose
To investigate how intergenerational relationships experienced social support and the impact on mental health. The purpose was also to look at how mental health of individual family members changed over time.

Principal Investigators
Vern L. Bengtson and Margaret Gatz

Waves of Data Collection
Wave One: 1971-72
Wave Two: 1984-85
Wave Three: 1988-90
Wave Four: 1991
Wave Five: 1994
Wave Six: 1997

Participants
Data were collected from 345 multigenerational families. Individual family members were participants. The first three waves included three generations. At wave 4, 5, and 6: 116 female and 82 male great grandchildren were included in the study to include four generations.

Wave One
Data were collected from 2,044 participants; Grandparents age 60, parents age early 40s, and grandchildren age 15 to 26

Wave Two
Data were collected for 1,331 participants; Grandparents age 72-74, parents age early 50s, and grandchildren age 27 to 42

Wave Three
Data were collected from 1,483 participants; Grandparents age 75, parents age mid-50s, and grandchildren age 30-43

Wave Four
Data were collected from 1, 734 participants; Grandparents age 78, parents age early 60s, and grandchildren age 33-46. A fourth generation of great-grandchildren was added and averaged age 20.

Wave Five
Data were collected from 1,682 participants; Grandparents age 81, parents age mid 60s, grandchildren age 36-49, great-grandchildren age 23

Wave Six
Data were collected from ___ participants (number not indicated in archives); Grandparents age 84, parents age early 70s, grandchildren age 39-52, great-grandchildren age 26

Types of Data
Survey/Questionnaire

Strengths
This study incorporates multiple family members’ perspectives so that family level analyses can be conducted. It encourages the study of family processes. Also, the study is longitudinal and this allows for researchers to examine how families change over time.

Weakness
As with any longitudinal study, attrition was an issue. The increase in participants in later waves is probably from the inclusion of fourth generation family members in the study.

Accessibility
The data are easily accessible at the Henry A. Murray Research Archive at Harvard University. An interested researcher need only complete an application for use of the data. The application primarily asks for a summary of the proposed project and the researcher’s affiliation. The researcher has the option to use the data set onsite (at the research center) or at a cost, have the files be made available online.

Usefulness
This data set appears to be extremely useful for the family field. It provides data on intergenerational relationships and the longitudinal factor may allow us to look at these family relationships over time. The other focus of the study was on mental health, so it would be interesting to see what types of questions were asked of these families. The data set may be limited to those individuals interested in families and mental health.

Website
http://dvn.iq.harvard.edu/dvn/faces/study/StudyPage.jsp At this website, there is general information about the data set, which includes information about the purpose of the study as well as information about how data was collected for each wave. This site also has a link to the application for use of the data.

Official Name of Study: National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)
Study Purpose: To use state-of-the-art theories, methods and data from the social and behavioral sciences to improve understanding of the origins, dynamics and social and psychological impacts of terrorism.
Principal Investigators:
Working Group 1 – Terrorist Group Formation and Recruitment – Arie Kruglanski
Working Group 2 – Terrorist Group Persistence and Dynamics – Clark McCauley
Working Group 3 – Societal Responses to Terrorist Threats and Attacks – Kathleen Tierney

Years Data Collected: Global Terrorism Database began in 2001, gathering data from 1970-2004, in 2008, data will be updated through 2007.

Number of Waves: N/A

Participants: N/A

Types of Data: Publicly available, open-source material: books, journals, legal documents, news archives.

Strengths: Information can be analyzed by up to 128 different variables: date, incident location, attack type, target type, perpetrator type, weapon type, casualties. Interactive world map. Enormous amount of information available.

Accessibility of Data: Very accessible through the use of a Codebook created by the Database Development Committee made up of terrorism and data collection experts. Codebook can be obtained from website.

Usefulness: Helpful for researchers looking at the impact of terrorism on families.

Website: http://www.start.umd.edu/

Data Access: Inter University Consortium for Political and Social Research – icprs.umich.edu/cocoon/NACJD/STUDY/04586.xml.