Ch 16/17 (Outcome Research & Accountability) Flashcards
Why is research important?
- maintains accountability
- ensures nonmaleficence
- validates/professionalizes counseling
What is the scientist-practitioner model?
View counseling as a formal research project
Clinical efficacy studies
tightly controlled experiments
Effectiveness research
more practical; examines what works and doesn’t in a variety of settings
Outcome research
measures effectiveness of treatment and/or counselor
What are the 3 main methods of research?
- Clinical trial
- Qualitative Analysis
- Meta-Analysis
Clinical Trial
single study of specific treatment/approach/client. Can be measured against comparison groups, outcome measures and standard protocols
Qualitative Analysis:
examine & summarize trends across clients, studies & contexts
Meta-Analysis
quantitative, amasses and summarizes results from numerous studies
Effect Size
the difference between control and treatment groups to determine effectiveness of treatment
What factors contribute to the positive outcomes of counseling compared to placebo & control groups?
- Brief/solution-focused (improvement by 8th session)
- Premature termination (avoiding)
- Patient-therapist match
- Therapeutic alliance
What are commonalities that predict premature termination?
lower SES, lower education, African American racial heritage
What can decrease likelihood of premature termination?
- relationship building
- skillful, trustworthy & competent
- convey respect, establish mutual goals/expectations
What is the MOST important predictor of positive counseling outcomes?
The therapeutic alliance/relationship
Group counseling is generally ___ effective as individual counseling for most conditions
AS
What factors contribute to positive group therapy outcomes?
- group planning (10 or less sessions)
- group structure (boundaries, trust, cohesion)
- pre-group training
- therapeutic factors
- leader characteristics
What are the duties and responsibilities of a school counselor?
Consultation, classroom guidance, peer mediation, personal issues, behavior modification, career interventions, etc
What are the 5 steps to ensure empirically based treatment?
- determine clinical question
- find empirical literature
- evaluate evidence
- use results to shape treatment
5, evaluate outcome of intervention
Needs Assessment
Process to identify needs of various sub populations in a community. Establishes priorities for a counseling program
What are the two types of needs assessments?
- Data-driven
2. Perceptions-based
What are the steps to conducting a needs assessment?
- identify guiding questions & goals
- identify populations to be assessed
- collect needs assessment data
- analyze and interpret data
Data-Driven Needs Assessment
Objectively identify needs of client populations by looking at existing data. Look at aggregated results of performance
Perceptions Based Needs Assessment
Content driven and subjective. Utilize surveys and focus groups to identify subjective needs.
Tips to develop a Needs Assessment
- Use sequencing questions
- Use wording questions
- Establish/keep rapport & cooperation
- Give instructions
Steps to convert Needs into program goals/objectives
- prioritize needs
- translate needs into goals
- operationalize goals into learning objectives
- write objectives &goals in ABCD model (Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Description)
ABCD model of converting needs into program goals and objectives
Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Description
Aggregated Outcomes
Combining results to globalize or generalize them
What are the designs for outcomes research?
- Non-experimental
- Quasi-experimental
- True experimental
Non-Experimental Designs
Can’t control nonmanipulated variable (ex age), little to no attempt to control internal validity
- Pretest-Posttest Single Group (only one group, can’t control for other factors affecting outcome)
- Case Study (can’t control for nonexperimental variables, no internal validity)
- Static Group Comparison (compare intervention group to non intervention group, no pretest/baseline or control over nonmanipulated variables)
Quasi-Experimental Designs
Can’t control nonmanipulated variable (ex age), some attempt to control internal validity
- Two Sample Pretest-Posttest (two groups but can’t be randomly assigned, ex grouped by personality, both get intervention)
- Nonequivalent Control Group (two groups but can’t be randomly assigned, ex grouped by personality, only one gets intervention)
- Time series (only one group; can’t control for other factors that may have co-occurred with intervention)
True Experimental
Can control nonmanipulated variables, attempts to control internal validity
- Randomized Pretest-Posttest Control Group (controls for individual differences, compares to normed group)
- Randomized Posttest Only (randomized group, but doesn’t account for differences before intervention)
What are the 3 questions you should ask yourself when deciding which research design to use?
- Has the treatment already been implemented?
- Can I randomly assign participants?
- Can I conduct one (or several) pretest, posttest, or both?
What are the most common Single Subject Research Designs?
- AB (observation before and after intervention)
2. ABAB (same as AB, but you remove the intervention and observe and then re-implement it and observe)
