Campbell D
Can J Psychiatry. 1986 Nov;31(8):746-9. doi: 10.1177/070674378603100810.
Setting research priorities becomes necessary when the demand for research funds outstrips the supply; because it is impossible to do everything some topics must be chosen as more promising and pertinent than others. This paper proposes a scheme for estimating the relative merits of different branches of research within the whole field of mental health. The scheme for assessing the claims of each area is based upon three factors: the need for research in a particular topic (using data about prevalence of disorders; the costs attributable to disorders; and the like); the possibilities of doing good science; the estimated time to a clinical payoff. It is argued that reasonable assessments of these three factors can be combined to give a relative weight to any particular research area. The judgements of relative weight can be progressively improved as more data becomes available. The argument is put that one way to obtain more funds for mental health research overall is to improve the ordering of the different areas within the field of mental health. Once mental health has its house in order it will be better equipped to make the case for mental health research.
当研究资金的需求超过供给时，确定研究重点就变得必要了；因为不可能面面俱到，所以必须选择一些比其他主题更有前景和相关性的主题。本文提出了一种方案，用于评估心理健康整个领域内不同研究分支的相对价值。评估每个领域诉求的方案基于三个因素：特定主题的研究需求（使用关于疾病患病率、疾病所致成本等数据）；开展优秀科学研究的可能性；估计获得临床回报的时间。有人认为，对这三个因素进行合理评估，可以综合起来为任何特定研究领域赋予相对权重。随着更多数据的可得，对相对权重的判断可以逐步改进。有人提出，为心理健康研究总体上获得更多资金的一种方法是改善心理健康领域内不同领域的排序。一旦心理健康领域井井有条，它将更有能力为心理健康研究争取支持。
