Center for Public Health Systems Science, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States of America.
Office of Community Engagement and Health Equity, University of Illinois Cancer Center, University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2023 Dec 14;18(12):e0285236. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285236. eCollection 2023.
The overall goal of this work is to produce a set of recommendations (SoNHR-Social Networks in Health Research) that will improve the reporting and dissemination of social network concepts, methods, data, and analytic results within health sciences research.
This study used a modified-Delphi approach for recommendation development consistent with best practices suggested by the EQUATOR health sciences reporting guidelines network. An initial set of 28 reporting recommendations was developed by the author team. A group of 67 (of 147 surveyed) experienced network and health scientists participated in an online feedback survey. They rated the clarity and importance of the individual recommendations, and provided qualitative feedback on the coverage, usability, and dissemination opportunities of the full set of recommendations. After examining the feedback, a final set of 18 recommendations was produced.
The final SoNHR reporting guidelines are comprised of 18 recommendations organized within five domains: conceptualization (how study research questions are linked to network conceptions or theories), operationalization (how network science portions of the study are defined and operationalized), data collection & management (how network data are collected and managed), analyses & results (how network results are analyzed, visualized, and reported), and ethics & equity (how network-specific human subjects, equity, and social justice concerns are reported). We also present a set of exemplar published network studies which can be helpful for seeing how to apply the SoNHR recommendations in research papers. Finally, we discuss how different audiences can use these reporting guidelines.
These are the first set of formal reporting recommendations of network methods in the health sciences. Consistent with EQUATOR goals, these network reporting recommendations may in time improve the quality, consistency, and replicability of network science across a wide variety of important health research areas.
这项工作的总体目标是制定一套建议（SoNHR-健康研究中的社交网络），以提高健康科学研究中社交网络概念、方法、数据和分析结果的报告和传播。
本研究采用改良的德尔菲法制定建议，符合 EQUATOR 健康科学报告指南网络建议的最佳实践。作者团队最初制定了 28 项报告建议。一组 67 名（在接受调查的 147 名中）经验丰富的网络和健康科学家参与了在线反馈调查。他们对个别建议的清晰度和重要性进行了评分，并对整套建议的涵盖范围、可用性和传播机会提供了定性反馈。在审查反馈后，最终制定了 18 项建议。
最终的 SoNHR 报告指南由五个领域的 18 项建议组成：概念化（研究问题如何与网络概念或理论联系起来）、操作化（如何定义和操作网络科学部分的研究）、数据收集和管理（如何收集和管理网络数据）、分析和结果（如何分析、可视化和报告网络结果）以及伦理和公平（如何报告网络特定的人类受试者、公平和社会正义问题）。我们还提供了一组范例发表的网络研究，这些研究可以帮助了解如何在研究论文中应用 SoNHR 建议。最后，我们讨论了不同受众如何使用这些报告指南。
这些是健康科学中社交网络方法的第一套正式报告建议。与 EQUATOR 的目标一致，这些网络报告建议可能会随着时间的推移提高网络科学在广泛的重要健康研究领域的质量、一致性和可重复性。
