Ch 4: Research Methods

Question 1

What is evidence-based practice and why is it important?

Answer 1

• based on scientific method
• scientist-practitioners trained to do research as well as to apply knowledge derived from research
• basing decisions on replicated research findings wherever possible

Question 2

What is eminence-based practice?

Answer 2

• practice based on tradition and authority

- is susceptible to common errors in thinking

Question 3

What are the common errors in thinking?

Answer 3

• faulty reasoning
• false dilemma
• golden mean fallacy
• straw person argument
• affirming the consequent
• appeal to ignorance

Question 4

What is faulty reasoning?

Answer 4

• inaccurate or misleading argument

Question 5

What is false dilemma?

Answer 5

• reducing range of options to two (often extreme) options

Question 6

What is golden mean fallacy?

Answer 6

• assuming the most valid conclusion is a compromise of two competing positions

Question 7

What is straw person argument?

Answer 7

• mischaracterizing a position to make it look absurd

Question 8

What is affirming the consequent?

Answer 8

• assuming a condition is present because its outcome is observed

Question 9

What is appeal to ignorance?

Answer 9

• if there is no refuting evidence, the position must be true

Question 10

What is an example of evidence vs eminence-based practice for treatment of OCD?

Answer 10

• eminence-based practice: thought stopping, yelling stop when intrusive thoughts occur
• evidence-based practice: exposure and response prevention by thinking about the thought cognitively or replace with physical behaviour such as tapping

Question 11

What is the scientific approach to problems?

Answer 11

• formulating a hypothesis by observations, theory and previous research
• testing the hypothesis by data and analysis
• acting on best evidence based on conclusions

Question 12

What is the difference between formulating a hypothesis through research/theory vs practice?

Answer 12

• research/theory: generally deductive and sourced from previous research and theory
• practice: generally inductive and sourced from everyday/professional experience and addresses applied problems/needs

Question 13

What are the steps in designing research studies?

Answer 13

• develop general research idea
• conduct search of published research
• formalize ideas into hypotheses
• consider cultural assumptions that will limit applicability
• consider ethical issues
• sketch out study procedure

Question 14

What are the APA Ethical Principles for Research and Publication?

Answer 14

• outline necessary considerations for conducting research integrity
• informed consent and deception
• humane care and use of animals
• reporting research results and sharing data
• Research Ethics Board approval is mandatory in Canada

Question 15

What factors does the research design depend on?

Answer 15

• state of knowledge
• question to be addressed (exploratory vs. confirmatory)
• frequency of the phenomenon under the study (a rare phenomenon will make it difficult to obtain a large sample for sufficient statistical power)

Question 16

What is internal validity?

Answer 16

• extent to which interpretations from a study can be justified and alternative explanations ruled out
• controlled, laboratory and experimental
• efficacy studies

Question 17

What is external validity?

Answer 17

• extent to which findings from a study can be generalized
• naturalistic, real-world, and confirmatory
• effectiveness studies

Question 18

What are efficacy studies?

Answer 18

• determine if an intervention produces an expected result under ideal circumstances

Question 19

What are effectiveness studies?

Answer 19

• measure the degree of beneficial effects under real world conditions

Question 20

What are the challenges in research?

Answer 20

• balancing internal and external validity
• managing threates to validity
• trying to resolve discrepancies
• openness to unexpected results

Question 21

What are the threats to internal validity?

Answer 21

• history
• maturation
• testing
• instrumentation
• statistical regression
• selection biases
• attrition

Question 22

What are the threats to external validity?

Answer 22

• sample characteristics
• stimulus characteristics and settings
• reactivity of research arrangements
• reactivity of assessment
• timing of measurement

Question 23

What are case studies important for? What kind of design is usually used?

Answer 23

• present individual to illustrate new observation or treatment
• initial testing ground for innovative assessment or intervention strategies
• AB or ABA design

Question 24

What is the most commonly used research design in clinical psychology?

Answer 24

• correlational design

- (which is not the same as correlational analysis)

Question 25

What is factor analysis?

Answer 25

• often used in developing measures to determine which items contribute meaningfully to the test

Question 26

What is a quasi-experimental design?

Answer 26

• involve manipulation but not random assignment
• may be confounding effects
• in most cases not ethical or feasible to randomly assign participants

Question 27

What are experimental designs referred to as?

Answer 27

• randomized controlled trials since participants are randomly assigned to conditions manipulated

Question 28

What are experimental designs?

Answer 28

• all participants are assessed before and after the intervention period
• most rigorous and greatest protection against threats to validity
• usually offer no-treatment group opportunity

Question 29

What is a moderator?

Answer 29

• variable that influences the strength of the relation between a predictor and criterion variable
• ex. strength of effect of treatment moderated by age
• like a volume dial

Question 30

What is a mediator?

Answer 30

• variable that explains the mechanism by which a predictor influences a criterion variable
• like a plug

Question 31

What is important to consider when selecting research participants?

Answer 31

• optimize fit between population and the sample

- important to describe characteristics of participants and how they were recruited

Question 32

What are probability and non-probability samples?

Answer 32

• probability: matching the same percentage of gender for example
• non-probability: more random

Question 33

What types of measures are there?

Answer 33

• self-report
• rating by someone else
• interviews
• performance on test
• projective measure
• archival data

Question 34

What are the psychometric properties?

Answer 34

• reliability

- validity

Question 35

What is clinical significance?

Answer 35

• results of a study are of a magnitude that there are changes in some aspects of participants’ daily functioning
• non-statistical
• qualitative and important

Question 36

What are systematic reviews?

Answer 36

• involve use of set of methods to identify, select and critically appraise research studies