www.ibr.tcu.edu/
intro/
aboutIBR.html

Questions
and Additional
Information:
ibr@tcu.edu

Site Comments:
Webmaster

Updated:
April 29, 2008

by Dr. Dwayne Simpson, IBR Director

The Institute of Behavioral Research (IBR) was established in 1962 by Saul B. Sells to conduct research on personality structure, personnel selection, social interactions, and organizational functioning.  This work included pioneering research using first-generation computers for integrating personality theories through large-scale factor analysis, development of performance-based criterion selection strategies for airline pilots, and formulation of personal distance needs for humans during long-duration space missions.  In 1968, the IBR was selected to develop and conduct the first federally-funded national evaluation of the newly formed community-based system for treating heroin addiction in the U.S.  This work helped define methodological standards for addiction treatment process and follow-up outcome studies in natural field settings, and the IBR has participated in three major national treatment effectiveness studies funded by the National Institutes of Health.  Conceptual frameworks emerging from this research for evaluating treatment dynamics, outcomes, and change—both at the individual client and organizational functioning levels— have yielded assessment and intervention resources as well as implementation strategies now being used internationally.

Texas Christian University (TCU)

TCU was founded in 1873 as an independent and self-governing institution and is located on 268 acres five miles from downtown Fort Worth.  It is associated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) from which it receives a commitment to open-minded inquiry into all scientific and intellectual issues, with students and faculty representing Christian as well as Jewish and Muslim faiths.  Research conducted at TCU is not bound by any code of religious perspectives or principles in its pursuit of knowledge and applications that address world needs.   The University enrolls over 7000 undergraduate students in 102 majors and over 1500 graduate students in 20 fields (12 doctoral programs).  It employs approximately 1700 faculty and staff and has an operating budget of almost $300 million.  Additional information about TCU is available at www.tcu.edu.

Download IBR Annual Report

Our 2007 Annual Report is available in Adobe(R) PDF format.  The report is designed as an electronic document.  It features “Web markers” to sections in the IBR Web site and internal links that download specific IBR Web resources, such as intervention manuals and evaluation assessments.

IBR 2007 Annual Report: (PDF; 630KB / 34 pages)

Adobe Reader is required to download IBR’s Annual Report.  Information for downloading the Reader application is available at the Adobe site.

IBR Mission

To evaluate and improve the effectiveness of programs for reducing drug abuse and related problems.  
  

Focus

For many years, research staff at the IBR have given special attention to addictions and the evaluation of cognitive and behavioral interventions provided by community-based programs.  Emphasis has been on the use of natural designs for studies in real-world settings and the use of advanced multivariate methodologies.  Research interests in recent years have broadened to include related areas of significant public concern—especially addiction treatments for criminal justice populations as well as the spread of AIDS and related infections among drug users.  Other major areas of interest include organizational functioning and process research for improving field-based implementation strategies of science-based innovations.

Objectives

Research conducted at the IBR is intended to (1) generate and disseminate knowledge that impacts state and national policy decisions in the addictions field, (2) provide critical methodological and substantive research training for graduate students, (3) help IBR scientists achieve their highest scholarly potential, and (4) raise the research reputation and visibility of Texas Christian University (TCU) through scientific and public health contributions.
      

Scientific Strategy

Science is intended to be programmatic and incremental, thereby requiring a strategy to help maintain focus and build a systematized knowledge base. In the addiction treatment field, the emphasis on “evidence-based” interventions and procedures for quality control and improvement dictate scientific discipline—both in the short- and long-run—when seeking grants and publishing findings.  The IBR therefore strives to be strategic and deliberate, emphasizing its heritage in evaluation research, staff strengths, and knowledge gaps that need to be filled.  A key operational principle has been to be scientifically selective in requests and commitments for research funding.  The IBR scientific strategy is organized around conceptual frameworks synthesized from existing knowledge and represented by the TCU treatment process and outcome model and the TCU program change model.  These frameworks help staff visualize the foundations of our treatment and organizational research protocols, identify emerging issues that deserve attention, and integrate new findings with existing knowledge.

Implementation of field-based studies and the innovations they produce relies on establishing reliable partnerships with treatment systems and honoring commitments to address their needs.  Providing useful and valid feedback to research partners, funding agencies, policy makers, and other researchers is an important element of science.  In particular, scientific publications are strategically planned at the IBR, integrated with other studies from the appropriate literature, and structured to effectively communicate salient findings.  Finally, “products” from funded research—including intervention manuals, assessments, presentations, and integrative summaries—are expected to be prepared in a user-friendly format and made available without cost to treatment providers, interested researchers, and the general public.  Dissemination and sustained implementation of scientific-supported innovations deserve as much attention as “discovery.”
  

IBR History

Following establishment of the IBR in 1962 (PDF: 263KB / 5 pages), Dr. Saul B. Sells served as its Director until his retirement from this role 20 years later.  Dr. Sells was a 1936 Ph.D. from Columbia University who trained under Robert S. Woodworth and Edward L. Thorndike.  Robert I. Watson and Phillip H. Dubois served as members of his first IBR Advisory Council (PDF: 1.4MB / 11 pages).  Dr. D. Dwayne Simpson, a student of Dr. Sells beginning in 1966 and a member of the IBR faculty since 1970, became IBR Director in 1982 when he temporarily moved the Institute to Texas A&M University.  Reestablished at TCU in 1989, the IBR’s mission and role in the University has remained essentially unchanged since it was founded.  In 1996, it was designated as a “Center of Excellence” at TCU and has provided valuable training opportunities in graduate and postgraduate education, contributing to the professional success of many former students and staff members in academic and applied research leadership positions.
  

Organization

The IBR operates as a separate academic unit of the University, but through common research training goals and interests it is closely affiliated with the Department of Psychology.  Research Scientists in the IBR function much like other University faculty members; they may hold Adjunct Professor and Graduate Faculty appointments, serve on student thesis and dissertation committees, and teach formal courses when time and opportunities permit.  Their special skills in advanced data management and multivariate analytic techniques provide the foundation for graduate training in health services evaluation research at TCU.
   

Graduate Student Opportunities

Research training is an integral part of the Institute’s commitment to conducting quality behavioral research.  Graduate and postgraduate training is carried out in close collaboration with the Department of Psychology and other departments at TCU.  Since IBR does not award academic degrees, its students must meet all requirements of the department in which an advanced degree is to be awarded.

IBR’s training program emphasizes:

• Health services research, especially evaluation of drug abuse interventions
• Formulating original research plans and appropriate data collection instrumentation
• Collecting and editing data, and management of large data systems
• Use of sophisticated analytic techniques, and publication of findings
• Combining theory with practice, and communicating applications of results

A limited number of stipends are awarded on a competitive basis.

“Graduate Program” Applications

Interested students are encouraged to contact the “Graduate Program” at TCU’s Department of Psychology for application information.   The applications are available in PDF format (for the Department of Psychology and the School of Science and Engineering) and can be downloaded.  Specific interest in the IBR and its emphasis on applied evaluation research in the drug abuse field should be noted at the time of the contact.  Based on this information, the IBR Director and faculty will be notified of the application and its status. 
(Texas Christian University does not discriminate on the basis of personal status, individual characteristics or group affiliation, including but not limited to classes protected under state and federal law.)
  

Home | Manuals | Forms | Evidence |
Publications | Newsletters | Presentations |
Staff | Projects | About IBR |
What's New | Other Links | Downloads
Search | Contents | Site Map |

Copyright and Terms of Use
Privacy Policy