The Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences (BCHS) recently established the BCHS Concept Mapping Institute and became a designated concept mapping center of practice by the Concept Systems Centers of Practice (CS COP) Program. Concept mapping is a participatory, mixed method research approach that yields a conceptual framework for how a group views a particular topic or aspect of a topic. A specific strength of the community health research method is that participants actively contribute to the research process through the generation of data, ensuring the final outcome is representative of their perspectives versus that of the researcher. Concept mapping has been used in public health to study issues such as intimate partner violence, birth outcomes, asthma, general community health, and barriers to breast cancer screening and treatment. It is a particularly appropriate method for gaining insights into how communities view and prioritize health topics. The BCHS Concept Mapping Institute is directed by Dr. Jessica Burke and has affiliated partners who are using the method in their own community health research.
The Institute provides access to the concept mapping software at discounted licensing rates, technical support for concept mapping research and basic and advanced trainings for those interested in using the method. Project license and technical support options are designed to fit the needs of each project. Each project requires the purchase of a license in order to use the software.Please contact
Jennifer Jones if you are interested in obtaining more information about the Institute and associated resources.
10/31/2012