Doctoral Dissertation Research: Local-level Effects of Centrally Mandated Change

博士论文研究：中央授权变革的地方影响

• 批准号: 1424052
• 负责人: Marcia Inhorn
• 金额: $ 2.25万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1424052&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Local; level

Social scientists contribute to understanding the complex dynamics of particular areas of social behavior by attending to the larger contexts in which they occur. Currently, one potentially fruitful arena for developing new theory of mandated change is the worldwide concern about the causes of differential health outcomes. Observers have noted that unprecedented resources are being poured into funding healthcare initiatives, yet serious disparities persist. Efforts to alter this situation give social scientists valuable opportunities for investigating the causal relationships in social systems at multiple interacting levels of scale. Findings from such investigations have important implications for developing new social science theory as well application in many social spheres.In this research project, Yale University doctoral student Gabriela E. Morales, with the guidance of Dr. P. Sean Brotherton, will undertake research on one such natural experiment of planned, top-down change. It is occurring in Bolivia where the government has proposed to end health inequalities by creating an expansive new national health policy. The new policy increases low-cost, rural primary healthcare that also incorporates indigenous worldviews, including an unusual holistic model of health and well being, community decision-making, and intercultural care. This is a fascinating opportunity for social science investigation. The changes are only now underway and the smaller-scale of the Bolivian context makes intensive research feasible. The researcher will first study policy making and the training of health care providers in the capital city and then investigate local implementation of the new program in a rural district. Data will be collected using a range of social science methodologies including: semi-structured interviews, oral histories, therapeutic narratives, participant-observation, archival investigations, and document analysis. By drawing on these ethnographic methodologies, this research links large-scale processes of social change with a fine-grained analysis of implementation and on-the-ground effects. Lessons learned will useful for those concerned with many areas of planned social intervention.

社会科学家通过参与其发生的较大环境，为了解社会行为特定领域的复杂动态做出了贡献。 当前，发展新的强制性变革理论的一个潜在富有成果的领域是全球对差异健康结果的原因的关注。观察家指出，前所未有的资源正在涌入资金医疗计划，但严重的差异仍然存在。改变这种情况的努力为社会科学家带来了重要的机会，以调查社会系统中多种相互作用水平的因果关系。 这些调查的发现对发展新的社会科学理论以及在许多社会领域的应用都具有重要意义。在这项研究项目中，耶鲁大学博士生Gabriela E. Morales在P. Sean Brotherton博士的指导下，将对一项这种自然计划的自然实验进行研究。它发生在玻利维亚，政府提议通过制定广泛的新国家卫生政策来消除健康不平等。新政策增加了低成本，农村的主要医疗保健，还融合了土著世界观，包括健康与福祉，社区决策和跨文化护理的非同寻常的整体模型。这是社会科学调查的迷人机会。这些变化直到现在正在进行中，玻利维亚环境的较小规模使深入的研究可行。研究人员将首先研究首都在首都的医疗保健提供者的培训，然后调查在农村地区的新计划的当地实施。将使用一系列社会科学方法来收集数据，包括：半结构化访谈，口述历史，治疗叙事，参与者观察，档案调查和文档分析。通过利用这些民族志方法，这项研究将社会变革的大规模过程与对实施和现场效应的细粒度分析联系起来。经验教训对于与许多计划的社会干预领域有关的人有用。