INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL SECTION ON SEEKING NEW METHODS IN MENTAL-HEALTH-SERVICES RESEARCH

Mental health services research aims ultimately to improve the quality , impact, and cost-effectiveness of services. Experience during the pa st decade suggests that the goals and study conditions of mental healt h services research require special methods. This special section pres ents 7 articles that give a flavor of the issues addressed and some of the methods that characterize this emerging research area. Although t he series cannot explicate the full breadth or all the nuances of thes e methods, our goal is to entice colleagues to join us in developing m ethods for addressing services research questions.