Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, Snekkersten, Denmark.
Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linnaeus Centre HEAD, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Ear Hear. 2020 Nov/Dec;41 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):5S-19S. doi: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000944.
Ecological validity is a relatively new concept in hearing science. It has been cited as relevant with increasing frequency in publications over the past 20 years, but without any formal conceptual basis or clear motive. The sixth Eriksholm Workshop was convened to develop a deeper understanding of the concept for the purpose of applying it in hearing research in a consistent and productive manner. Inspired by relevant debate within the field of psychology, and taking into account the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health framework, the attendees at the workshop reached a consensus on the following definition: "In hearing science, ecological validity refers to the degree to which research findings reflect real-life hearing-related function, activity, or participation." Four broad purposes for striving for greater ecological validity in hearing research were determined: A (Understanding) better understanding the role of hearing in everyday life; B (Development) supporting the development of improved procedures and interventions; C (Assessment) facilitating improved methods for assessing and predicting ability to accomplish real-world tasks; and D (Integration and Individualization) enabling more integrated and individualized care. Discussions considered the effects of variables and phenomena commonly present in hearing-related research on the level of ecological validity of outcomes, supported by examples from a few selected outcome domains and for different types of studies. Illustrated with examples, potential strategies were offered for promoting a high level of ecological validity in a study and for how to evaluate the level of ecological validity of a study. Areas in particular that could benefit from more research to advance ecological validity in hearing science include: (1) understanding the processes of hearing and communication in everyday listening situations, and specifically the factors that make listening difficult in everyday situations; (2) developing new test paradigms that include more than one person (e.g., to encompass the interactive nature of everyday communication) and that are integrative of other factors that interact with hearing in real-life function; (3) integrating new and emerging technologies (e.g., virtual reality) with established test methods; and (4) identifying the key variables and phenomena affecting the level of ecological validity to develop verifiable ways to increase ecological validity and derive a set of benchmarks to strive for.
生态效度是听力科学中的一个相对较新的概念。在过去的 20 年中，它在出版物中被越来越频繁地引用，但没有任何正式的概念基础或明确的动机。第六届 Eriksholm 研讨会的召开是为了更深入地了解这一概念，以便在听力研究中以一致和富有成效的方式应用它。受心理学领域相关辩论的启发，并考虑到世界卫生组织的《国际功能、残疾和健康分类》框架，研讨会的与会者就以下定义达成了共识：“在听力科学中，生态效度是指研究结果反映真实听力相关功能、活动或参与的程度。”确定了在听力研究中追求更高生态效度的四个广泛目的：A（理解）更好地理解听力在日常生活中的作用；B（发展）支持改进程序和干预措施的发展；C（评估）促进评估和预测完成真实任务能力的改进方法；D（整合和个体化）实现更综合和个体化的护理。讨论考虑了变量和现象对研究结果生态效度的影响，这些变量和现象在听力相关研究中很常见，并通过一些选定的结果领域和不同类型的研究提供了实例。讨论还举例说明了在研究中促进高生态效度的潜在策略，以及如何评估研究的生态效度水平。特别需要更多研究来提高听力科学中生态效度的领域包括：（1）理解日常聆听环境中听力和沟通的过程，特别是使日常环境中的聆听变得困难的因素；（2）开发新的测试范式，包括不止一个人（例如，包含日常沟通的互动性质），并将与真实生活功能中的听力相互作用的其他因素综合起来；（3）将新兴技术（例如虚拟现实）与成熟的测试方法相结合；（4）确定影响生态效度水平的关键变量和现象，以开发可验证的方法来提高生态效度，并制定一套基准来努力实现。
