Clinical Data-Mining: Integrating Practice and Research

Clinical Data-Mining: Integrating Practice and Research
Irwin Epstein | 2009-01-01 00:00:00 | Oxford | 240 | Medicine
Clinical Data-Mining: Integrating Practice and Research (Pocket Guides to Social Work Research Methods)
By Irwin Epstein


* Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
* Number Of Pages: 240
* Publication Date: 2009-11-02
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 019533552X
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780195335521



Product Description:

Clinical Data-Mining (CDM) involves the conceptualization, extraction, analysis, and interpretation of available clinical data for practice knowledge-building, clinical decision-making and practitioner reflection. Depending upon the type of data mined, CDM can be qualitative or quantitative; it is generally retrospective, but may be meaningfully combined with original data collection.

Any research method that relies on the contents of case records or information systems data inevitably has limitations, but with proper safeguards these can be minimized. Among CDM's strengths however, are that it is unobtrusive, inexpensive, presents little risk to research subjects, and is ethically compatible with practitioner value commitments. When conducted by practitioners, CDM yields conceptual as well as data-driven insight into their own practice- and program-generated questions.
This pocket guide, from a seasoned practice-based researcher, covers all the basics of conducting practitioner-initiated CDM studies or CDM doctoral dissertations, drawing extensively on published CDM studies and completed CDM dissertations from multiple social work settings in the United States, Australia, Israel, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. In addition, it describes consulting principles for researchers interested in forging collaborative university-agency CDM partnerships, making it a practical tool for novice practitioner-researchers and veteran academic-researchers alike.

As such, this book is an exceptional guide both for professionals conducting practice-based research as well as for social work faculty seeking an evidence-informed approach to practice-research integration.



Summary: A Most Important (and Enjoyable) Addition to Your Research Library
Rating: 5

In Moliere's ballet-play, Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme," a comedic element involves the discovery by the main character that he was speaking prose, but didn't know it. Similarly, social work clinicians have long been producing informational "ore" in the practices, but may have been unaware of the extent to which this was valuable research data needing to be "prospected" and "mined."
Fortunately, for the readers of this very informative and entertaining book, Clinical Data-Mining feels like a substantive and enjoyable conversation with the author in either his or the reader's living room.
Professor Epstein has written an innovative book that can serve as a research strategy for those contemplating a doctoral dissertation, as well as a research tool for agency-based and independent social work clinicians interested in conducting and integrating research into their clinical practices. If it is not already there, it is easy to imagine that faculty in schools of social work will find it a valuable new tool in their research curriculum kits.
The "mining" metaphor is cleverly used throughout the volume and simultaneously serves to unify the conceptual material and arouse the reader's interest in the utilization of CDM. It also provides additional levity to a book that already succeeds in being fun-to-read...no small achievement for a research text.
Dr. Epstein has managed to do in this book with CDM what he has been long known to achieve in the classroom and in his workshops and lectures: make research and related concepts thought-provoking and engaging, give the reader a tour of the research possibilities in front of them, and give instruction and guidance to the ways in which clinical data is research worthy and how mined data can inform and enhance clinical practice in all settings.
His CDM fluency and the comprehensive tour of his subject offered in this tight informational package make it an important book for research-oriented practitioners, students, and academics both in and out of social work.


Summary: A must read for CDM researchers
Rating: 5

I am a doctoral student in social work and found this book to be a breath of fresh air. It has always been a personal challenge to pick up and read a book about social work research. Due to the relevance of the material in this book for my research purpose, I decided to read the book while waiting at the doctor's office as I was 'stuck' in one place. I was thrilled to find that it was an easy read (ie: I did not need a strong cup of coffee to keep me awake!) and I appreciated the humor. The content is very clear and the chapters are well laid out. A great book to add to my social work research collection. This is a must read for students who are considering or carrying out Clinical Data - Mining for their research/dissertations.


Summary: Expanding Your Social Work Research Worlview
Rating: 5

Clinical Data-Mining: Integrating Practice and Research, is a must read for social work researchers and educators, particularly those who teach research. Dr. Epstein demonstrates to the reader in a concise, candid, and humorous manner, the strengths of CDM for social work faculty and practitioners. In his discussion of CDM, Dr. Epstein provides a historical context which illuminates the challenges that he and other researchers have experienced in the acceptance of this approach as valid and useful. At the same time,he offers examples of original CDM research measuring program effectiveness, fidelity, as well as treatment outcomes. These examples provide validation that CDM is a valuable, practical, and useful research method for practitioners,faculty, and researchers of social work. An enriching and practical guide that will expand your social work research worldview.


Summary: Little book; big job
Rating: 5

This little book does a big job--and does it very well. As a teacher of social work, I know how crucial it is for practitioners to believe that what they learn from their work has value to their profession. Unfortunately, until books like Dr. Epstein's (which are almost non-existent)came on the scene, practitioners had little way to demonstrate to a wider audience the importance of what they were doing and learning. Quantitative researchers had the field pretty much convinced that they, and they alone, could draw meaning from data.

Not so, say I, and many of my colleagues; and Dr. Epstein shows us and our students how to prove that. In a clear, accessible, and engaging book, he gives social work practitioners specific tools--and examples of their use--for drawing meaningful, usable information from the many forms of data that they create and have ready at hand. The data can be handled quantitatively, or qualitatively; what is most important is that it is there, waiting to be used.

Nine times out of ten, I would opt for root canal work before reading a book on social work research. This is the tenth time. This is not your typical bloodless, formulaic, statistic-strangled research text. This is a book written by a person: a person with a sense of humor, and a sense of humility; a person who knows what social work practice is; who knows what research is, and who shows how practitioners can bring them together.


Summary: Timely and Relevant
Rating: 5

Dr. Epstein's concise and convincing argument for CDM is an important and timely work. As a practioner with over thirty years experience in children's services, Dr. Epstein has a clear and insightful understanding of practice and the powerful data that is available that can be utilized to better understand clients and interventions. CDM is a timely work in light of the advent of an explosion of available data in the electronic age of health and mental health records. Well done.....
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