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 ixAcknowledgements xiii1 Introduction 1Peter G. Miller, John Strang and Peter M. Miller1.1 Introduction 11.2 Where to start? 11.3 Does theory matter? 21.4 The literature review 31.5 Which method suits my question – is a screwdriver better than a saw? 41.6 Focus and structure of the book 51.7 Terminology 61.8 The need for a wider perspective and more careful selection of study design 8Section I: Research Fundamentals2 Reliability and validity 11Gerhard Bühringer and Monika Sassen2.1 Introduction 112.2 Background: Reliability and validity in addiction research 112.3 Reliability and validity in addiction research 162.4 Strengthening the quality of your results and conclusions: A brief checklist to improve reliability and validity 192.5 Summary 243 Sampling strategies for addiction research 27Lisa Kakinami and Kenneth R. Conner3.1 Introduction 273.2 Probability sampling 273.3 Non-probability sampling 323.4 Qualitative sampling 363.5 Selecting your sampling approach 373.6 Technical considerations 373.7 Conclusion 404 Experimental design issues in addiction research 43Robert West4.1 Introduction 434.2 What constitutes an experiment? 434.3 Is an experiment appropriate? 444.4 What kind of experimental design? 444.5 What intervention and comparison conditions? 484.6 What target population and recruitment strategy? 504.7 What sample size? 524.8 What outcome measures? 534.9 What statistical analyses? 554.10 Conclusions 565 Qualitative methods and theory in addictions research 59Tim Rhodes and Ross Coomber5.1 Introduction 595.2 Theory 595.3 A recurring debate 625.4 Principles for practice 635.5 Data generation 645.6 Analysis 705.7 Conclusions 736 Ethical issues in alcohol, other drugs and addiction-related research 79Peter G. Miller, Adrian Carter and Wayne Hall6.1 Introduction 796.2 Key concepts 796.3 Major ethical frameworks 806.4 Addiction-specific ethical issues 836.5 Writing an ethics application 876.6 Ethical processes in different countries 876.7 Influence of funding body 886.8 Ethical dissemination 896.9 Conclusion 89Section II: Basic Toolbox7 Surveys and questionnaire design 97Lorraine T. Midanik and Krista Drescher-Burke7.1 Introduction 977.2 Brief history 977.3 Survey research designs 987.4 Advantages and limitations of survey research designs 997.5 Modes of data collection 1007.6 Questionnaire design 1017.7 Piloting the questionnaire 1047.8 Technological assistance 1057.9 Common challenges 1068 Interviews 109Barbara S. McCrady, Benjamin Ladd, Leah Vermont and Julie Steele8.1 Introduction 1098.2 Why interviews? 1098.3 Reliability and validity of self-reported information 1108.4 Interviewing skills 1128.5 Types of interviews 1168.6 Types of interview data 1188.7 Technological resources 1208.8 Summary 1209 Scales for research in the addictions 127Shane Darke9.1 Introduction 1279.2 Screening instruments 1289.3 Frequency of substance use 1309.4 Multi-dimensional scales 1339.5 Dependence 1359.6 Psychopathology 1399.7 Summary 14310 Biomarkers of alcohol and other drug use 147Scott H. Stewart, Anton Goldmann, Tim Neumann and Claudia Spies10.1 Introduction 14710.2 Uses of state biomarkers in research 14710.3 General principles when considering biomarkers 14910.4 Summary 15611 Quantitative data analysis 163Jim Lemon, Louisa Degenhardt, Tim Slade and Katherine Mills11.1 Introduction 16311.2 Imagining data – planning the study 16311.3 Collecting data – gathering the measurements 16511.4 Organising data – structuring the measurements 16611.5 Describing data – what do the data look like? 16711.6 Manipulating data 17111.7 Relationships within the data 17311.8 Interpreting relationships within the data 17711.9 Conclusion and exercises 178Section III: Real World Research Methods12 Applied research methods 187David Best and Ed Day12.1 Introduction 18712.2 Auditing clinical activity in the city 18912.3 Needs assessment 19012.4 Qualitative research approaches 19212.5 Evaluation research 19312.6 The audit cycle 19712.7 Measuring outcomes in applied settings 19712.8 Overview and conclusions 19813 Conducting clinical research 201Jalie A. Tucker and Cathy A. Simpson13.1 Conducting clinical research 20113.2 Discussion and conclusions: The role of the practitioner-researcher 211Section IV: Biological Methods14 Psychopharmacology 223Jason White and Nick Lintzeris14.1 Introduction 22314.2 Psychopharmacology: drugs, behaviour, physiology and the brain 22314.3 Measuring drug effects 22614.4 Human drug self-administration 22914.5 Drug withdrawal and craving 23114.6 Summary 23215 Imaging 235Alastair Reid and David Nutt15.1 Introduction 23515.2 Introduction to neuroimaging 23515.3 Imaging techniques 23515.4 Image analysis 24115.5 Some considerations when setting up an imaging study 24416 Genes, genetics, genomics and epigenetics 249David Ball and Irene Guerrini16.1 Introduction 24916.2 Animal studies 25216.3 Quantitative genetics 25416.4 Molecular genetics 25616.5 Why bother? 26316.6 An addiction gene 26316.7 Ethics 26416.8 Concluding remarks 26417 Animal models 269Leigh V. Panlilio, Charles W. Schindler and Steven R. Goldberg17.1 Introduction 26917.2 Basic principles of behaviour: Reinforcement 26917.3 Basic principles of behaviour: Effects of environmental cues 27017.4 Drug self-administration: Simple schedules 27017.5 Drug self-administration: Using dose–effect curves to assess the effects of treatments 27117.6 Drug self-administration: Measuring the reinforcing effects of drugs 27117.7 Drug self-administration: Modelling the effects of environmental cues with second-order schedules 27317.8 Drug self-administration: Reinstatement 27517.9 Drug self-administration: Modelling the uncontrolled and compulsive nature of addiction 27517.10 Intracranial drug self-administration and intracranial electrical self-stimulation 27617.11 Drug self-administration: Advantages and disadvantages 27817.12 Conditioned place preference 27817.13 Drug discrimination 27917.14 Locomotor activity 27917.15 Adjunct procedures 28117.16 Integration of behavioural and neuroscience techniques 281Section V: Specialist Methods18 Understanding contexts: Methods and analysis in ethnographic research on drugs 287Jeremy Northcote and David Moore18.1 Introduction 28718.2 Tracing the history of ethnographic drug research 28818.3 Designing ethnographic research 28918.4 Getting started 29018.5 Collecting data 29218.6 Analysing ethnographic data 29318.7 Producing ethnographic texts 29418.8 Conclusion 29519 Epidemiology 299Mark Stoov´e and Paul Dietze19.1 Introduction 29919.2 Origins of epidemiology 29919.3 Definitions and uses of epidemiology in alcohol and other drug research 29919.4 Descriptive epidemiology 30019.5 Epidemiological research designs 30119.6 Analysis of case-control and cohort studies 30819.7 Experimental study designs 31019.8 Potential sources of error in epidemiology 31119.9 Summary 31420 Meta-analysis: Summarising findings on addiction intervention effects 319John W. Finney and Anne Moyer20.1 Introduction 31920.2 Overview of meta-analytic methods 31920.3 Issues in meta-analyses of addiction interventions 32720.4 Limitations 33120.5 Conclusion 33121 Drug trend monitoring 337Paul Griffiths and Jane Mounteney21.1 Introduction 33721.2 Point of departure – divergent policy perspectives, difficulties in definition and temporal relevance 33721.3 International, national and local drug monitoring mechanisms 33821.4 Challenges in monitoring illicit drug use 33921.5 An overview of common information sources and some of their limitations 34121.6 Issues for the interpretation and analysis of data 34521.7 Mixed methods 34721.8 Triangulation 34721.9 Reliability and validity 34821.10 Reflections in a broken mirror: Pragmatic and imperfect solutions to an intractable problem 34922 Drug policy research 355Jonathan P. Caulkins and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula22.1 Introduction 35522.2 Methods for quantitatively comparing an intervention’s benefits and costs 35622.3 Issues that arise in quantifying an intervention’s benefits and costs 36022.4 Methods for estimating an intervention’s effects 36222.5 Modelling methods 36522.6 Summary 366Section VI: Beyond Research23 Concluding remarks 375Peter G. Miller, John Strang and Peter M. Miller23.1 Publishing addiction science 37523.2 Final thoughts 376Index 377