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Social research
From a single project, the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research
has grown by leaps and bounds.
In the beginning, the Institute for Social and Behavioral Research (ISBR)
was established to conduct research and inform policy related to health
and health practices in rural Iowa.
The Institute's first project , "Iowa Youth and Families Project (IYFP)"
was conducted in the late 1980s in response to the farm crisis that Iowa
was experiencing.
The National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug
Abuse provided the primary funding for the project.
The IYFP studied 451 rural families in Iowa to investigate how families
and children respond to economic stress and the health consequences of economic
hardship.
Ron Simons, professor of sociology, and several other current and past Iowa
State faculty members were involved in that first ISBR study.
"We started out with one big research project," Simons recalls.
"Little by little more faculty came to the Institute and we had more
and bigger projects. Cross disciplinary collaboration began to take place
where none had existed before."
Over ten years later that initial ISBR project continues. But as Simons
says, there are numerous other activities ongoing with faculty from numerous
disciplines across campus.
Faculty currently involved in ISBR projects come from the Departments of
Psychology, Sociology, Statistics, and Human Development and Family Studies.
Three different colleges are involved including the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences.
But the involvement among other disciplines at Iowa State isn't the only
change since the ISBR was developed. Simons, who was named last year as
the director of the ISBR after serving several years as its associate director,
says the Institute has sought out faculty from other institutions of higher
learning as well.
"In recent years our studies have involved people at UCLA, the University
of North Carolina, the University of Georgia, just a wide variety of places,"
he said.
The research topics have also changed. Now instead of focusing only on rural
Iowa, the ISBR's mission is to improve the health of rural and urban people
through research and application of research. Projects focus on understanding
health risks, reducing those risks, and fostering effective health policies
and services.
Some of the current studies underway deal with risk factors for mental disorders
among homeless adolescents, a large-scale longitudinal study of family-
and school-based programs designed to prevent teen substance abuse and other
problem behaviors through youth and family skills training, and sibling
influences on delinquent behavior during adolescence.
A major study is investigating almost 900 African-American families. This
is the largest in-depth study ever conducted of this community of families
in the United States.
"We started out solely with an Iowa sample base," Simons said.
"Now we have samples from throughout the United States."
Other demographics have also changed.
"We're looking at diverse populations and not just rural white Iowans,"
Simons said. "We have studies involving African-Americans, Native Americans
and urban segments of the population.
"Many of the Institute's research projects look at child development
issues," he continued. "The processes do differ by ethnic group.
If we just look at white kids then we would be leaving something out."
The total level of funding received by the ISBR has also changed dramatically.
The initial grant was in the $1 million range.
During the 2000 calendar year, direct and indirect costs received by the
ISBR were over $6.2 million. Simons estimates that those figures will jump
to $8.7 million this year.
A majority of the funding comes from the National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), although ISBR does
receive grants from a variety of diverse organizations including the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, the Iowa Department of Corrections, the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the United Way, the Iowa Department
of Public Health, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The initial IYFP grant played several critical roles in the development
of the ISBR, including establishing funding bases with the NIMH and NIDA.
It also helped develop many of the methodological tools that have assisted
ISBR research over the years including a highly trained data collection
unit.
Simons said that the ISBR benefits from the exceptionally strong Department
of Statistics at Iowa State and an outstanding observational unit in its
office space.
"Put that all together and we have a very sophisticated research design
unit," he said. "The Institute has been able to complete some
large, complicated longitudinal studies because of that unit."
Simons and the Institute's associate director, Carolyn Cutrona, professor
of psychology, both say that faculty from throughout campus can utilize
the ISBR's services.
"The current faculty in the Institute are interested in similar issues,"
Simons said. "Issues like family, children, communities - that's what
brings us together. But anyone who wants to use the Institute can. It's
a resource that’s open to anyone on campus.
"We can help them with the research design, put together a budget and
with our data research unit. We can put together a much more sophisticated
research project that will ultimately produce a much better end result."
Ron Simons and Carolyn Cutrona
Around LAS
November 26 to December 3, 2001
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