-
Title
-
Translational Sociology
-
Author
-
Wethington, Elaine
-
Research Area
-
Special Areas of Interdisciplinary Study
-
Topic
-
Applications of Social Science Knowledge to Policy
-
Abstract
-
Translational sociology is an emerging style of sociology that applies sociological theory to addressing real‐world problems using established scientific methods. Translational sociology is distinguished by working in collaboration with other disciplines and professions, including policymakers, consumers, and other community stakeholders in multidisciplinary teams. It is a method intended to increase the value of sociological scholarship by creating equitable problem‐solving groups between sociologists and practitioners and policymakers. A key characteristic of translational sociology is that it develops strategies to address and resolve social problems through evidence‐based interventions. This essay describes the emergence of translational sociology as a concept with a focus on my collaborative experience in the definition, practice, implementation, and evaluation of federally funded translational research in community and clinical settings.
-
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-
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Quantile Regression Methods (Methods), Bernd Fitzenberger and Ralf Andreas Wilke
-
Structural Equation Modeling and Latent Variable Approaches (Methods), Alex Liu
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The Role of Data in Research and Policy (Sociology), Barbara A. Anderson
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Identifier
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etrds0365
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extracted text
-
Translational Sociology
ELAINE WETHINGTON
Abstract
Translational sociology is an emerging style of sociology that applies sociological
theory to addressing real-world problems using established scientific methods.
Translational sociology is distinguished by working in collaboration with other
disciplines and professions, including policymakers, consumers, and other community stakeholders in multidisciplinary teams. It is a method intended to increase
the value of sociological scholarship by creating equitable problem-solving groups
between sociologists and practitioners and policymakers. A key characteristic of
translational sociology is that it develops strategies to address and resolve social
problems through evidence-based interventions. This essay describes the emergence
of translational sociology as a concept with a focus on my collaborative experience
in the definition, practice, implementation, and evaluation of federally funded
translational research in community and clinical settings.
TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Translational sociology is an emerging style of sociology that applies sociological theory to addressing real-world problems using established scientific
methods. Translational sociology is distinguished by working in collaboration with other disciplines and professions, including policymakers,
consumers, and other community stakeholders in multidisciplinary teams.
Although it may be broadly classified as a type of public sociology (Burawoy,
2005), translational sociology more clearly shares features with applied sociology (Nyden, Hossfeld, & Nyden, 2012). It is a method intended to increase
the value of sociological scholarship by creating equitable problem-solving
groups between sociologists and practitioners and policymakers. A key
characteristic of translational sociology is that it develops strategies to
address and resolve social problems through evidence-based interventions.
Translational sociology is a rigorous effort, a type of scientific sociology
described by Turner (2005): “a systematic effort to use theoretical principles
and models of social processes to intervene in a problematic situation . . . .It
is about building something useful or tearing something down which is not
Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Edited by Robert Scott and Stephen Kosslyn.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-1-118-90077-2.
1
2
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
useful” (Turner, 2005, p. 41).
In this essay, I describe the emergence of translational sociology as a
concept. I draw from my collaborative experience in the definition, practice,
implementation, and evaluation of federally funded translational research in
community and clinical settings where I have been involved as a sociologist
contributing to multidisciplinary research teams working with community
practitioners and local policymakers. I briefly review the definition of translational research in the medical literature, from which translational sociology
has developed. The term translational sociology has appeared in relatively
few sociological works (Krause, 2009; Nyden et al., 2012; Pescosolido, 2011);
however, its appearance in recent years is an important development.
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
An impetus of the contemporary translational research movement was a
report by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in
America (2001). This report documented the slow pace in which scientific
findings have been applied to develop effective treatments for disease and
general public benefit in the United States despite considerable government
investment in biomedical research.
Translational research was first defined by the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) as the application of scientific discoveries from basic science to treatment and prevention of human disease. Former NIH Director Elias Zerhouni
(2003) proposed two types of translational research. He defined Translation 1
(T1) as the application of basic scientific discoveries to developing innovative
clinical applications; Translation 2 (T2) is research intended to speed up the
application of the new evidence to improving human health. This two-part
definition appears in the goals for the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Centers initiative. These centers are expected to promote both T1 and
T2 research, engage researchers across multiple disciplines (e.g., medicine,
public health, nursing, social work, and basic science), and develop ways to
use findings from T2 research to inform priorities for basic research.
One key elaboration of the NIH definition is that translational research
should have an impact not only on clinical practice but also on health decision making at many different levels, including clinicians and other health
care professionals, the health care delivery system, industry, insurance
companies, research participation, and consumers of health care among the
general public (Sung et al., 2003). Using this more complex definition, T2
could range from research examining effectiveness of treatments in different
social groups, barriers to the implementation of health interventions by
clinicians and communities, variations in health practice across geographical
regions, dissemination of health innovations, and health policy. T2 could
Translational Sociology
3
be construed as including integration of diverse disciplinary perspectives
from the medical, behavioral, and social sciences, solving problems that
emerge when implementing evidence-based programs in more diverse communities, and disseminating new evidence-based programs to health care
professionals (Pescosolido, 2011; Wethington & Dunifon, 2012; Woolf, 2008).
Activities described as T2 are in the purview of medical and other areas of
sociology, as well as health and community psychology, health economics,
and public policy science (Sung et al., 2003; Woolf, 2008). The NIH has formally recognized the potential for social and behavioral disciplines, including sociology, to contribute to advances in human health research (e.g., Office
of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 2007) and in a series of requests
for proposals and program announcements.
ORIGINS OF TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Translational methods, however, have a longer history in research on health,
notably in research on cancer and HIV prevention (Perlstadt, 2009), well
before the IOM report. According to a comprehensive review by Perlstadt
(2009), social and behavioral scientists engaged in translational research
before the institution of translational research in the NIH Roadmap. Sociologists and other social scientists served as project leaders and investigators
in NIH-funded translational mental health and aging research centers. More
broadly, sociological research on crime prevention, educational reform,
and service delivery, which long predates the NIH Roadmap, can also be
categorized as translational research (at least in retrospect).
Documentation of sociologists engaged in multidisciplinary translational
research on health before the NIH Roadmap appears in a special issue of The
Gerontologist, flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America. This
issue featured key findings from the National Institute on Aging’s Edward
R. Roybal Centers (Pillemer, Czaja, Schulz, & Stahl, 2003). The Roybal
Centers were established in 1993 to facilitate the translation of theory and
basic research from the social and behavioral sciences into applied research,
interventions, and programs to improve quality of life, productivity, and
health of older people. In 2003, the Roybal Centers were explicitly refocused
on “translational research on aging” to emphasize connection to the NIH
Roadmp. A number of the Roybal Centers have been directed or codirected
by social and behavioral scientists (Perlstadt, 2009), including psychologists,
sociologists, and economists. In the previously noted issue of The Gerontologist, Pillemer, Czaja, et al. (2003) portrayed the translational research process
as an application of social and behavioral science theory to intervention
design and program development with the findings from the intervention
then “translating back” for the development of better theory and—even more
4
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
importantly—research more informed by the public and of demonstrated
public health impact (Pillemer, Suitor, & Wethington, 2003, p. 20).
One of the long-standing Roybal Centers (1993–present) is the Cornell
Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA); CITRA’s mission was
to disseminate and implement scientific sociological research into programs
to improve the health and well-being of older people. CITRA also aimed
to speed up the translation of relevant research where there were critical
needs in health and social service settings (Pillemer, Suitor et al., 2003).
In 2003, it developed a researcher–community practitioner partnership to
facilitate translation of research on social integration to address the concerns
of front-line staff and directors of agencies and centers that provide services
to older people living in New York City.
The major methods of translation used by CITRA were (i) a communitywide set of research priorities developed in partnership with representatives
and leaders from New York’s aging services; (ii) a pilot study program
that conducted studies directly addressing those community research
priorities; and (iii) outreach programs with front-line practitioners to
increase their interest in collaborating with researchers. To achieve these
translational goals, the CITRA investigators established an investigator
development program to train researchers in the methods of translational
research (intervention development, implementation, and dissemination);
an infrastructure of senior investigators and staff to support researchers in
the field; regular educational and capacity-building events for practitioners
to enhance their ability to collaborate as equal partners with researchers;
and methods for dissemination of evidence-based practices through existing practitioner networks. These steps are enumerated in more detail in
Wethington and Dunifon (2012). Examples of the 40 studies conducted to
this date by CITRA include the first study in New York of older adults’
satisfaction with home-delivered meals and changes in delivery methods;
development of a tool to identify older adults prone to self-neglect; oral
health care needs of low-income older adults; and small-scale preliminary
randomized controlled trials of exercise programs for low-income older
women and culturally tailored pain self-management programs through
senior centers serving minority populations.
THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
OF TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Although many groups of researchers are currently translating scientific
findings to community settings, including projects in education, public
health, and medicine, there are major gaps in the literature on the steps
that researchers must take to successfully implement their projects and the
Translational Sociology
5
structures that they establish to support research translation. There are many
opportunities for sociologists to make important contributions not only to
the translation projects themselves but also to the science of understanding
how research is translated.
The practice of translational sociology has four distinguishing characteristics that facilitate translation to community settings and promote greater
understanding of the process of translation. First, translational sociology
engages other disciplines and embraces multidisciplinary integration. It is
team science (Wuchty, Jones, & Uzzi, 2007) with other disciplines, a trend
evident across many scientific disciplines, and which is associated with
increasing impact of research in both academic and policy arenas. Second,
it employs the scientific method in order to engage other disciplines. The
scientific method is a bridge that engages biomedical and other behavioral
sciences concerned with the application of theory to real-world problems
and policy. Third, translational sociology engages social problems and issues
that are identified as important by consumers, policymakers, and the general
public. It promotes social and behavioral scientific literacy among consumers
of the research, service agencies, and ultimately the public. Fourth, translational sociology is designed to accomplish new and innovative research,
not just communicate with the public, although communicating effectively
with public audiences is a cornerstone of translational sociology. Although
it uses participatory techniques that are associated with community-based
participatory research and other types of sociological practice (Nyden et al.,
2012), the aim of translational sociology is to accomplish research.
Along with other sociologists who have commented on the evolution of
the translational research movement and opportunities for engaging social
and behavioral scientists in research directed at real-world problems (e.g.,
see Pescosolido, 2011), I believe that sociologists can play a vital role in
translational research. Theories of scientific communication, organizational
sociology, and diffusion of innovation through networks are highly relevant
to understanding how scientific communities can organize themselves to
promote the application of basic scientific findings. Social and behavioral
intervention science (Pillemer, Czaja, et al., 2003) and implementation science (e.g., Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005) can be applied
to design intervention trials and organizing and promoting diffusion to
practitioners (e.g., Bradley et al., 2009). Application of theories of behavioral
change and sociological theory can be utilized to assure that human intervention trials have an impact on individual behavior and subsequently lead
to evidence that will promote implementation into services. Community
partnership approaches (e.g., Israel, Schulz, Parker, & Becker, 1998) can be
used in order to test the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions in
6
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
diverse community groups (Warnecke et al., 2008). The methods of epidemiology, demography, and policy analysis can be used to assess population
impact and determine need for interventions. Translational sociology is
also a way to foster interaction between universities and communities, to
bring research to bear on large social problems, such as understanding
and mitigating health inequalities, while also using the strongest scientific
methods, such as randomized controlled trials, which will demonstrate the
scientific rigor of the discipline (Turner, 2005).
In sum, I argue that there are many opportunities for sociologists to
inform and take part in the process of research translation. Sociologists
should embrace the process. Although I have focused on examples from my
research areas in medical sociology and the sociology of aging, the reach
of translational sociology is much wider. A broader view of the continuum
of translation from basic scientific discovery to impact on human health
and well-being is a set of translational processes, in which sociology can
be included among the basic sciences that generate translational strategies
based on empirical evidence.
REFERENCES
Bradley, E. H., Curry, L. A., Ramanadhan, S., Rowe, R., Nembhard, I. M., &
Krumholz, H. M. (2009). Research in action: Using positive deviance to improve
quality of health care. Implementation Science, 4, 25. doi:10.1186/1748-5908-4.25
Burawoy, M. (2005). For public sociology. American Sociological Review, 70, 4–28.
Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M., & Wallace, F. (2005).
Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature. Tampa, FL: University of South
Florida, National Implementation Research Network.
Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in America (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC:
National Academies Press.
Israel, B. A., Schulz, A. J., Parker, E. A., & Becker, A. B. (1998). Review of communitybased research: Assessing partnership approaches to improve public health.
Annual Review of Public Health, 19, 173–202.
Krause, J. (2009). Taking it into the interactional field: Toward translational applied
sociology. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 32, 35–85.
Nyden, P., Hossfeld, L., & Nyden, G. (2012). Public sociology: Research, action, and
change. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE/Pine Forge.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (2007). The contributions of behavioral
and social sciences research to improving the health of the nation: A prospectus for the
future. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National
Institutes of Health.
Perlstadt, H. (2009). Translational research: Enabling the biomedical and social
behavioral sciences to benefit society. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 32(1),
4–34.
Translational Sociology
7
Pescosolido, B. (2011). Taking “The Promise” seriously: Medical sociology’s role in
health, illness, and healing in a time of social change. In B.A. Pescosolido et al.,
(Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of health, illness, and healing: A blueprint for the 21st
century, (pp. 3–20). New York, NY: Springer.
Pillemer, K., Czaja, S., Schulz, R., & Stahl, S. M. (2003). Finding the best ways to help:
Opportunities and challenges of intervention research on aging. The Gerontologist,
43 (Special Issue 1), 5–8.
Pillemer, K. A., Suitor, J. J., & Wethington, E. (2003). Integrating theory, basic research,
and intervention: Two case studies from caregiving research. The Gerontologist, 43
(Special Issue 1), 19–28.
Sung, N. S., Crowley, W. F., Genel, M., Salber, P., Sandy, L., Sherwood L. M., … ,
Rimoin, D. (2003). Central challenges facing the national clinical research enterprise. Journal of the American Medical Association, 289 (10), 1278–1287.
Turner, J. H. (2005). Is public sociology such a good idea? The American Sociologist,
36, 27–45.
Warnecke, R. B., Oh, A., Breen, N., Gehlert, S., Paskett, E., Tucker, K. L., … , Hiatt,
R. A. (2008). Approaching health disparities from a population perspective: The
National Institutes of Health Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 98, 1608–1615.
Wethington, E., & Dunifon, R. E. (Eds.) (2012). Research for the public good: Applying the
methods of translational research to improve human health and well-being. Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Woolf, S. H. (2008). The meaning of translational research and why it matters. Journal
of the American Medical Association, 299, 211–213.
Wuchty, S., Jones, B. F., & Uzzi, B. (2007). The increasing dominance of teams
in production of knowledge. Sciencexpress. doi:10.1126/science.1136099, www.
sciencexpress.org/12 April 2007/
Zerhouni, E. A. (2003). The NIH Roadmap. Science, 302, 63–72.
ELAINE WETHINGTON SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Elaine Wethington is a professor of Human Development and of Sociology
at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. She is also Professor of Gerontology
in Geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. She is a
specialist in the sociology of aging, mental health, and medical sociology.
Wethington is the co-principal investigator and pilot studies director for the
Cornell Edward R. Roybal Center for Translation Research in the Behavioral
and Social Sciences in Aging, supported by the National Institute on Aging.
The Cornell Roybal Center fosters the development of community-based
research on aging in New York City by engaging gerontologists, geriatricians, geropsychiatrists, and communication scientists at Cornell’s
geographically dispersed campuses in research projects that directly relate
to addressing the needs of aging people in New York City. Wethington
8
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
also collaborates with physicians, social psychologists, and nutritionists to
develop new interventions to prevent weight gain and obesity.
RELATED ESSAYS
Models of Nonlinear Growth (Methods), Patrick Coulombe and James P.
Selig
Quantile Regression Methods (Methods), Bernd Fitzenberger and Ralf
Andreas Wilke
Structural Equation Modeling and Latent Variable Approaches (Methods),
Alex Liu
The Role of Data in Research and Policy (Sociology), Barbara A. Anderson
Expertise (Sociology), Gil Eyal
The Evidence-Based Practice Movement (Sociology), Edward W. Gondolf
Why Do States Sign Alliances? (Political Science), Brett Ashley Leeds
Why Do Governments Abuse Human Rights? (Political Science), Will H.
Moore and Ryan M. Welch
Causation, Theory, and Policy in the Social Sciences (Sociology), Mark C.
Stafford and Daniel P. Mears
The Social Science of Sustainability (Political Science), Johannes Urpelainen
Trends in the Analysis of Interstate Rivalries (Political Science), William R.
Thompson
-
Translational Sociology
ELAINE WETHINGTON
Abstract
Translational sociology is an emerging style of sociology that applies sociological
theory to addressing real-world problems using established scientific methods.
Translational sociology is distinguished by working in collaboration with other
disciplines and professions, including policymakers, consumers, and other community stakeholders in multidisciplinary teams. It is a method intended to increase
the value of sociological scholarship by creating equitable problem-solving groups
between sociologists and practitioners and policymakers. A key characteristic of
translational sociology is that it develops strategies to address and resolve social
problems through evidence-based interventions. This essay describes the emergence
of translational sociology as a concept with a focus on my collaborative experience
in the definition, practice, implementation, and evaluation of federally funded
translational research in community and clinical settings.
TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Translational sociology is an emerging style of sociology that applies sociological theory to addressing real-world problems using established scientific
methods. Translational sociology is distinguished by working in collaboration with other disciplines and professions, including policymakers,
consumers, and other community stakeholders in multidisciplinary teams.
Although it may be broadly classified as a type of public sociology (Burawoy,
2005), translational sociology more clearly shares features with applied sociology (Nyden, Hossfeld, & Nyden, 2012). It is a method intended to increase
the value of sociological scholarship by creating equitable problem-solving
groups between sociologists and practitioners and policymakers. A key
characteristic of translational sociology is that it develops strategies to
address and resolve social problems through evidence-based interventions.
Translational sociology is a rigorous effort, a type of scientific sociology
described by Turner (2005): “a systematic effort to use theoretical principles
and models of social processes to intervene in a problematic situation . . . .It
is about building something useful or tearing something down which is not
Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Edited by Robert Scott and Stephen Kosslyn.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 978-1-118-90077-2.
1
2
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
useful” (Turner, 2005, p. 41).
In this essay, I describe the emergence of translational sociology as a
concept. I draw from my collaborative experience in the definition, practice,
implementation, and evaluation of federally funded translational research in
community and clinical settings where I have been involved as a sociologist
contributing to multidisciplinary research teams working with community
practitioners and local policymakers. I briefly review the definition of translational research in the medical literature, from which translational sociology
has developed. The term translational sociology has appeared in relatively
few sociological works (Krause, 2009; Nyden et al., 2012; Pescosolido, 2011);
however, its appearance in recent years is an important development.
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH
An impetus of the contemporary translational research movement was a
report by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in
America (2001). This report documented the slow pace in which scientific
findings have been applied to develop effective treatments for disease and
general public benefit in the United States despite considerable government
investment in biomedical research.
Translational research was first defined by the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) as the application of scientific discoveries from basic science to treatment and prevention of human disease. Former NIH Director Elias Zerhouni
(2003) proposed two types of translational research. He defined Translation 1
(T1) as the application of basic scientific discoveries to developing innovative
clinical applications; Translation 2 (T2) is research intended to speed up the
application of the new evidence to improving human health. This two-part
definition appears in the goals for the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Centers initiative. These centers are expected to promote both T1 and
T2 research, engage researchers across multiple disciplines (e.g., medicine,
public health, nursing, social work, and basic science), and develop ways to
use findings from T2 research to inform priorities for basic research.
One key elaboration of the NIH definition is that translational research
should have an impact not only on clinical practice but also on health decision making at many different levels, including clinicians and other health
care professionals, the health care delivery system, industry, insurance
companies, research participation, and consumers of health care among the
general public (Sung et al., 2003). Using this more complex definition, T2
could range from research examining effectiveness of treatments in different
social groups, barriers to the implementation of health interventions by
clinicians and communities, variations in health practice across geographical
regions, dissemination of health innovations, and health policy. T2 could
Translational Sociology
3
be construed as including integration of diverse disciplinary perspectives
from the medical, behavioral, and social sciences, solving problems that
emerge when implementing evidence-based programs in more diverse communities, and disseminating new evidence-based programs to health care
professionals (Pescosolido, 2011; Wethington & Dunifon, 2012; Woolf, 2008).
Activities described as T2 are in the purview of medical and other areas of
sociology, as well as health and community psychology, health economics,
and public policy science (Sung et al., 2003; Woolf, 2008). The NIH has formally recognized the potential for social and behavioral disciplines, including sociology, to contribute to advances in human health research (e.g., Office
of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, 2007) and in a series of requests
for proposals and program announcements.
ORIGINS OF TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Translational methods, however, have a longer history in research on health,
notably in research on cancer and HIV prevention (Perlstadt, 2009), well
before the IOM report. According to a comprehensive review by Perlstadt
(2009), social and behavioral scientists engaged in translational research
before the institution of translational research in the NIH Roadmap. Sociologists and other social scientists served as project leaders and investigators
in NIH-funded translational mental health and aging research centers. More
broadly, sociological research on crime prevention, educational reform,
and service delivery, which long predates the NIH Roadmap, can also be
categorized as translational research (at least in retrospect).
Documentation of sociologists engaged in multidisciplinary translational
research on health before the NIH Roadmap appears in a special issue of The
Gerontologist, flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America. This
issue featured key findings from the National Institute on Aging’s Edward
R. Roybal Centers (Pillemer, Czaja, Schulz, & Stahl, 2003). The Roybal
Centers were established in 1993 to facilitate the translation of theory and
basic research from the social and behavioral sciences into applied research,
interventions, and programs to improve quality of life, productivity, and
health of older people. In 2003, the Roybal Centers were explicitly refocused
on “translational research on aging” to emphasize connection to the NIH
Roadmp. A number of the Roybal Centers have been directed or codirected
by social and behavioral scientists (Perlstadt, 2009), including psychologists,
sociologists, and economists. In the previously noted issue of The Gerontologist, Pillemer, Czaja, et al. (2003) portrayed the translational research process
as an application of social and behavioral science theory to intervention
design and program development with the findings from the intervention
then “translating back” for the development of better theory and—even more
4
EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
importantly—research more informed by the public and of demonstrated
public health impact (Pillemer, Suitor, & Wethington, 2003, p. 20).
One of the long-standing Roybal Centers (1993–present) is the Cornell
Institute for Translational Research on Aging (CITRA); CITRA’s mission was
to disseminate and implement scientific sociological research into programs
to improve the health and well-being of older people. CITRA also aimed
to speed up the translation of relevant research where there were critical
needs in health and social service settings (Pillemer, Suitor et al., 2003).
In 2003, it developed a researcher–community practitioner partnership to
facilitate translation of research on social integration to address the concerns
of front-line staff and directors of agencies and centers that provide services
to older people living in New York City.
The major methods of translation used by CITRA were (i) a communitywide set of research priorities developed in partnership with representatives
and leaders from New York’s aging services; (ii) a pilot study program
that conducted studies directly addressing those community research
priorities; and (iii) outreach programs with front-line practitioners to
increase their interest in collaborating with researchers. To achieve these
translational goals, the CITRA investigators established an investigator
development program to train researchers in the methods of translational
research (intervention development, implementation, and dissemination);
an infrastructure of senior investigators and staff to support researchers in
the field; regular educational and capacity-building events for practitioners
to enhance their ability to collaborate as equal partners with researchers;
and methods for dissemination of evidence-based practices through existing practitioner networks. These steps are enumerated in more detail in
Wethington and Dunifon (2012). Examples of the 40 studies conducted to
this date by CITRA include the first study in New York of older adults’
satisfaction with home-delivered meals and changes in delivery methods;
development of a tool to identify older adults prone to self-neglect; oral
health care needs of low-income older adults; and small-scale preliminary
randomized controlled trials of exercise programs for low-income older
women and culturally tailored pain self-management programs through
senior centers serving minority populations.
THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
OF TRANSLATIONAL SOCIOLOGY
Although many groups of researchers are currently translating scientific
findings to community settings, including projects in education, public
health, and medicine, there are major gaps in the literature on the steps
that researchers must take to successfully implement their projects and the
Translational Sociology
5
structures that they establish to support research translation. There are many
opportunities for sociologists to make important contributions not only to
the translation projects themselves but also to the science of understanding
how research is translated.
The practice of translational sociology has four distinguishing characteristics that facilitate translation to community settings and promote greater
understanding of the process of translation. First, translational sociology
engages other disciplines and embraces multidisciplinary integration. It is
team science (Wuchty, Jones, & Uzzi, 2007) with other disciplines, a trend
evident across many scientific disciplines, and which is associated with
increasing impact of research in both academic and policy arenas. Second,
it employs the scientific method in order to engage other disciplines. The
scientific method is a bridge that engages biomedical and other behavioral
sciences concerned with the application of theory to real-world problems
and policy. Third, translational sociology engages social problems and issues
that are identified as important by consumers, policymakers, and the general
public. It promotes social and behavioral scientific literacy among consumers
of the research, service agencies, and ultimately the public. Fourth, translational sociology is designed to accomplish new and innovative research,
not just communicate with the public, although communicating effectively
with public audiences is a cornerstone of translational sociology. Although
it uses participatory techniques that are associated with community-based
participatory research and other types of sociological practice (Nyden et al.,
2012), the aim of translational sociology is to accomplish research.
Along with other sociologists who have commented on the evolution of
the translational research movement and opportunities for engaging social
and behavioral scientists in research directed at real-world problems (e.g.,
see Pescosolido, 2011), I believe that sociologists can play a vital role in
translational research. Theories of scientific communication, organizational
sociology, and diffusion of innovation through networks are highly relevant
to understanding how scientific communities can organize themselves to
promote the application of basic scientific findings. Social and behavioral
intervention science (Pillemer, Czaja, et al., 2003) and implementation science (e.g., Fixsen, Naoom, Blase, Friedman, & Wallace, 2005) can be applied
to design intervention trials and organizing and promoting diffusion to
practitioners (e.g., Bradley et al., 2009). Application of theories of behavioral
change and sociological theory can be utilized to assure that human intervention trials have an impact on individual behavior and subsequently lead
to evidence that will promote implementation into services. Community
partnership approaches (e.g., Israel, Schulz, Parker, & Becker, 1998) can be
used in order to test the effectiveness of evidence-based interventions in
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EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
diverse community groups (Warnecke et al., 2008). The methods of epidemiology, demography, and policy analysis can be used to assess population
impact and determine need for interventions. Translational sociology is
also a way to foster interaction between universities and communities, to
bring research to bear on large social problems, such as understanding
and mitigating health inequalities, while also using the strongest scientific
methods, such as randomized controlled trials, which will demonstrate the
scientific rigor of the discipline (Turner, 2005).
In sum, I argue that there are many opportunities for sociologists to
inform and take part in the process of research translation. Sociologists
should embrace the process. Although I have focused on examples from my
research areas in medical sociology and the sociology of aging, the reach
of translational sociology is much wider. A broader view of the continuum
of translation from basic scientific discovery to impact on human health
and well-being is a set of translational processes, in which sociology can
be included among the basic sciences that generate translational strategies
based on empirical evidence.
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Krumholz, H. M. (2009). Research in action: Using positive deviance to improve
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Burawoy, M. (2005). For public sociology. American Sociological Review, 70, 4–28.
Fixsen, D. L., Naoom, S. F., Blase, K. A., Friedman, R. M., & Wallace, F. (2005).
Implementation research: A synthesis of the literature. Tampa, FL: University of South
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Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in America (2001). Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC:
National Academies Press.
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sociology. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 32, 35–85.
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Pescosolido, B. (2011). Taking “The Promise” seriously: Medical sociology’s role in
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ELAINE WETHINGTON SHORT BIOGRAPHY
Elaine Wethington is a professor of Human Development and of Sociology
at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. She is also Professor of Gerontology
in Geriatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. She is a
specialist in the sociology of aging, mental health, and medical sociology.
Wethington is the co-principal investigator and pilot studies director for the
Cornell Edward R. Roybal Center for Translation Research in the Behavioral
and Social Sciences in Aging, supported by the National Institute on Aging.
The Cornell Roybal Center fosters the development of community-based
research on aging in New York City by engaging gerontologists, geriatricians, geropsychiatrists, and communication scientists at Cornell’s
geographically dispersed campuses in research projects that directly relate
to addressing the needs of aging people in New York City. Wethington
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EMERGING TRENDS IN THE SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
also collaborates with physicians, social psychologists, and nutritionists to
develop new interventions to prevent weight gain and obesity.
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