Phobic Ss were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: (1) a "conventional desensitization" group, which was treated by a therapist in the laboratory, or (2) a "do-it-yourself" group, which carried out the desensitization process at home. For the latter, the only therapist contact was an initial interview and a weekly progress-check phone call. According to Ss' reports of success, both gr...

High-frequency data is useful to measure volatility, reduce recall bias, and measure dynamic treatment effects. We conduct the first experimental evaluation of high-frequency phone surveys in a developing country or with microenterprises. We randomly assign microenterprise owners to monthly in-person, weekly inperson, or weekly phone interviews. We find high-frequency phone surveys are useful a...

Gratefully dedicated to my parents For giving me wings to pursue my dreams and roots to come back to iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most of all, I want to thank to my advisor and mentor, Dr. Michael Davis, for his immense support in making this work possible. For giving me the opportunity to pursue graduate school under his guidance based on a phone interview many years ago, thank you. I am especially gra...

BACKGROUND To illustrate multiple approaches and to assess participation rates adopted for a community based smoking cessation intervention programme in rural Kerala. MATERIALS AND METHODS Resident males in the age group 18-60 years who were 'current daily smokers' from 4 randomly allocated community development blocks of rural Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala (2 intervention and 2 control...

Past researchers have examined the impact of personality types on technology usage among students from varying angles. However, due to dearth of studies on personality types and smart phone addiction among students in the Nigerian environment, this study investigated the relationship between personality types, smart phone addiction and specific phone usages among University students. A sample s...

OBJECTIVE Examine the effect of including cell-phone numbers in a traditional landline random digit dial (RDD) telephone survey. DATA SOURCES The 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS). DATA COLLECTION METHODS CHIS 2007 is an RDD telephone survey supplementing a landline sample in California with a sample of cell-only (CO) adults. STUDY DESIGN We examined the degree of bias due to...

BACKGROUND Modern flexible multiple daily injection (MDI) therapy requires people with diabetes to manage complex mathematical calculations to determine insulin doses on a day to day basis. Automated bolus calculators assist with these calculations, add additional functionality to protect against hypoglycaemia and enhance the record keeping process, however uptake and use depends on the devices...

Background: Fatigue after acquired brain injury (ABI) leads to detrimental changes in ABI survivors’ daily activities and participation. There is a need capture individual’s experience of fatigue as it happens, better support self-management fatigue. Study aims: To investigate the usability real-time tracker activity (using ecological momentary assessment delivered by smartphone application) fe...