Explore Our Broadly Applicable Resources and Tools.
CBSSM-based Research Staff are a unique resource to the CBSSM community. By having research project staff based and supervised at CBSSM, investigators maximize their ability to tap into CBSSM’s accumulated methodological expertise in areas such as survey methods (e.g., Internet samples, clinician surveys), deliberative democracy methods, implementation of shared decision making / patient education interventions, etc. The centralized administration of CBSSM staff also means that investigators may be able to secure staff effort on their projects in smaller units (e.g., 30% Full Time Effort (FTE)) than would normally be feasible. This allows optimization of project staffing to the needs of each project, investigator, and staff member.
CBSSM’s weekly Working Group meeting is a forum for investigators and fellows interested in CBSSM-related topics (e.g., patient communications, decision making, ethical dilemmas, etc.) to participate in the CBSSM community by sharing their ideas and receiving constructive feedback.
Hosted by Interim Co-Director Brian Zikmund-Fisher, these meetings provide an opportunity to receive feedback from a multidisciplinary group of faculty (usually including both clinicians and social scientists), staff, and trainees on research proposals, survey instruments, interview guides, drafts of papers, grant applications, or any other aspects of projects at any stage of development. Our goal is to provide an informal setting that can help to move a project forward, and repeat visits are allowed as appropriate.
Working Group has been a key part of the CBSSM community for as long as the Center has existed and is central to the training that CBSSM fellows receive. It has also served as a catalyst for creating new research collaborations (often between clinician investigators and social science experts) and ensuring that research proposals and designs reflect the methodological and clinical expertise represented in the CBSSM’s membership. We expect that all presenters who wish to receive feedback on their own research materials will reciprocate and "pay it forward" by also attending multiple other Working Group sessions. For many CBSSM members, it has proven to be even more valuable to have the opportunity to consider and provide constructive analysis and feedback on the wide variety of projects that are brought to Working Group as it is to receive feedback on one's own work.
Icon arrays are a type of risk communication graphic that shows a matrix of unique elements representing individual units (people) within the at-risk population.
Icon arrays combine some of the best elements of alternate communication formats such as tables or bar charts. Each array is made up of unique icons representing individual units (people) within the at-risk population. As a result, it accurately communicates exact percentages the way a table does. However, these images also convey “gist” impressions derived from the relative proportion of colored vs. uncolored area in the graph. As such, they are similar in effectiveness to bar graphs and other area or height-based graphics. Furthermore, icon arrays represent the entire risk denominator and hence visually show the part-to-whole relationship, unlike bar charts which focus attention primarily on the risk numerator.
CBSSM researchers have published extensively on the use of icon arrays in a variety of patient education and risk calculator contexts. To encourage broader use of pictographs in risk communication and medical decision-making in general, CBSSM maintains Iconarray.com, a free, web-based application that enables people to develop and download their own tailored icon array graphics.
