Conference on Innovations in Trauma Research Methods Seeks Nominations for Special Program Features
ISTSS
January 1, 2004
The first annual Conference on Innovations in Trauma Research Methods (CITRM) will be held November 17-18, 2004, in New Orleans, at the close of the ISTSS 20th Annual Meeting (November 14-17) and just before the opening of the annual meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT, November 18-21). The aims of CITRM are to enhance the methodological sophistication of trauma research, to develop creative solutions to trauma's unique methodological challenges, to enhance methods training for beginning trauma researchers, to enlighten the trauma research community with regard to strategies from other fields, and to examine ethical issues in the conduct of trauma research.
The theme for CITRM 2004 is "Methodological Issues in Addressing Mass Disaster and Terrorism." CITRM will present program content relevant to researchers at the novice, intermediate and advanced levels and will emphasize interaction among presenters and participants during a two-day period in a small, cohesive setting. The conference will include workshops in Advanced Design and Methods, Statistics, Manuscript Preparation, Research Career Planning, and Ethics. There will be networking opportunities integrated into the conference program.
CITRM also will feature two special sessions, borrowed from successful methods conferences in other disciplines and intended to highlight new and creative approaches to trauma research: the Methodological Think Tank and Dissection of Innovative Studies sessions. During the Methodological Think Tank, an invited researcher will present an important and problematic research situation to a panel of experts in design and quantitative methods, who, with audience participation, will then brainstorm and make recommendations. For the Dissection of Innovative Studies session, a methodologically innovative published study will be selected, and its chief author will be invited to speak at CITRM about how the investigators dealt with the study's methodological hurdles and arrived at an innovative solution.
CITRM's Executive Planning Committee invites nominations from the field regarding the content of the Methodological Think Tank and Dissection of Innovative Studies sessions. Being sought in particular are nominations for a design, statistics or measurement dilemma to be the topic of the Methodological Think Tank and a recently published innovative study to be the focus of the Dissection of Innovative Studies session-both preferably reflecting the theme of the 2004 CITRM conference. For details about the nomination and selection process and about conference content and registration, visit www.citrm.org.
To promote diverse perspectives from members of minority racial and ethnic groups, the physically challenged, and researchers from underdeveloped communities and nations, CITRM has travel and registration stipends for underrepresented novice researchers and expert scientists.
CITRM has been endorsed by the ISTSS leadership and is supported by an R13 Conference Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, with supplementary funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. Logistical and administrative arrangements are provided by the Boston VA Research Institute Inc. ISTSS members are invited to send suggestions for specific topics and speakers to any member of the CITRM Executive Planning Committee: Jeffrey Sonis, University of North Carolina Medical School, [email protected]; Elisa Triffleman, The Public Health Institute, Oakland, California, and Yale University School of Medicine, [email protected]; and Lynda King and Daniel King, the National Center for PTSD and Boston University, [email protected].