The Behavioral Measurement Shared Resource (BMSR) provides OSUCCC – James investigators with a continuum of services that includes planning and developing research proposals and projects, data collection and behavioral data interpretation to help them integrate behavioral research into their studies. Director Michael Slater, PhD, MPA, is a member of the OSUCCC – James Cancer Control Program and a Social and Behavioral Sciences Distinguished Professor in Ohio State’s School of Communication. He has served as principal investigator on NIH-funded studies representing more than $11 million in research grants and has more than 100 publications, mostly in the areas of communication and health behavior and research methodology.
Associate Director Paul Reiter, PhD, is a member of the OSUCCC – James Cancer Control Program and an assistant professor in Ohio State’s College of Medicine, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. His research focuses largely on cancer prevention and control through screening and vaccination. The BMSR assists in designing and incorporating behavioral variables into proposed or ongoing research. The shared resource can help with the accrual of underserved groups into research studies, in designing and implementing assessment tools suited to the investigator’s aims and hypotheses, and in the interpretation of behavioral data for publication.
The BMSR offers services in:
- Research design
- Population-based data retrieval
- Recruitment and accrual, particularly with underserved and minority populations
- Behavioral assessment
- Data collection
The BMSR also collaborates with investigators at outside institutions, assisting in the design and development of data collection forms and processes, recruitment of study participants, interviewer training and data-analysis preparation.