Clinical Research Methods Flashcards
what do professionals who work in clinical practice, i.e., work directly with patient groups, have to register with?
the HCPC, which is a regulatory body designed to monitor and ensure professional standards relating to: character, health, proficiency, conduct, ethics and training
HCPC guidelines for character
registrants have to provide credible character references from people who have known them for at least 3 years to ensure suitability for the role and possession of appropriate character traits. Criminal convictions or cautions relevant to the profession and suitability to practise will also be considered
HCPC guidelines for health
health information must be provided every 2 years upon re-registration. professionals are required to provide information about any health issues that may affect their ability to practise safely, or impair their ability to perform their role. in these circumstances professionals are required to limit or stop their work and declare this to the HCPC
HCPC guidelines for standards of proficiency
specific, role related expectations regarding the ability of the practitioner to practise effectively, e.g., for psychologists: professional autonomy and accountability, e.g., accurate record keeping, carrying out psychological formulation, delivering plans and strategies to meet health and social care needs, understand how to manage the power imbalance between them and their clients, work autonomously and as part of a multi-disciplinary team
HCPC guidelines for standards of conduct, performance and ethics
a list of 14 guidelines that practitioners must adhere to: confidentiality, obtain informed consent, work in a non-discriminatory way, competence - working within the limits of their own knowledge and skills and referring onto others where necessary, respecting every service user
HCPC guidelines for standards of continuing professional development
continuous up-to-date record of continuing professional development (CPD). This will include evidence of training events attended, evidence of how they have changed their practise as a result and evaluation of the effectiveness of these changes. it is important for professionals to keep up-to-date with latest research and current trends in clinical practises that benefit the service user.
HCPC guidelines for standards of education and training
HCPC sets out minimum levels of qualification required for registration, e.g., master’s degree or PhD, as is the case with clinical psychologists. the HCPC also sets out standards for training courses to ensure that any registrants who attend will be able to meet the required standards for proficiency expected for their area of practise.
HCPC guidelines for standards of prescribing
standards are set out for the safe prescription of medication. this includes the required knowledge and training to be able to prescribe within professional practice
what is primary data?
1st hand direct data that a researcher collects themselves, e.g., data from experiments, interviews, observations, questionnaires, it can be qualitative or quantitative
what is secondary data?
data collected by someone other than the person currently using it in their research, it may even be used for a different purpose than that of the original research. it involves analysis of existing (primary) data.
5 strengths of primary data
- generally reliable as the procedure can be replicated to check the consistency of results by the researcher themselves
- more likely to be up-to-date. data gathered years previously less likely to be reliable, results may change over time.
- it is taken directly from the target population so is more likely to be valid (population validity)
- the data is being used for the purpose intended so is more likely to be relevant to the study compared to secondary data and so credible, i.e., operationalisation is done with the research aim in mind, so there is likely to be greater validity with regard to the aim
- primary data can be qualitative and quantitative allowing researchers to analyse results in various ways
4 weaknesses of primary data
- researchers may be subjective in what data they look for, i.e., data that ‘fits’ the hypothesis they are testing
- the data has to be gathered from scratch, which involves finding a large enough population (to make the sample credible and generalisable) and in turn glean a large volume of data
- primary data runs the risk of encountering ethical issues, manipulation etc. exposing participants to risk and manipulation as a result of their participation in research
- it is limited to the time, place and number of participants etc. whereas secondary data can come from different sources to give more range and detail
4 strengths of secondary data
- it saves time and expense that would otherwise be spent collecting data
- it can provide a larger database than an individual researcher can access, so might generate more detail
- in some cases, e.g., historical documents, secondary data is often the only resource and thus the only way to examine large-scale trends of the past
- it does not involve any manipulation of participants in any way and it refers to research that has already been done, so is more ethical than primary data - no new interference with participants is required
4 weaknesses of secondary data
- the researcher cannot personally check the data so its reliability and validity may be questioned, e.g., the data being used may be tainted or subjectively interpreted by the other researchers
- the researcher may have no knowledge of how the data was collected and has no control over it
- the data may be out-of-date and therefore not suitable for current research
- likely to be gathered to suit some other aim, so may not be valid for the purpose of the study
what are longitudinal designs?
longitudinal research is not a research method as such. it is a way of carrying out a study. longitudinal designs follow the same group of participants over a long period of time, weeks, months or even years, employing a variety of methods to study these individuals, e.g., experiments, surveys and observations.
a strength of longitudinal designs
they are very useful for reliably studying the progression of a mental health disorder, which is very important when considering whether a treatment has significantly improved a patient’s quality of life in the long term, as well as prognosis
a weakness of longitudinal designs
as the research takes place over a prolonged period it is very expensive and time consuming and full conclusions can be a long time in coming
what are cross-sectional designs?
a cross-sectional design is one where data is collected at one moment in time, over a short period rather than over a prolonged period - it provides a ‘snapshot’ of something
a strength of cross-sectional designs
results and conclusions are much quicker in arriving, which has lots of practical benefits, e.g., making the study cheaper and easier to carry out
a weakness of cross-sectional designs
as different participants are used participant variables can affect results
what are cross-cultural methods?
studying people’s behaviour and thoughts across different cultures to see what is common across cultures and what is culturally specific - to establish the extent of nature or nurture in the development, symptoms, causes, diagnosis and prognosis of MHDs
what do cross-cultural methods allow researchers to do?
enables researchers to gain insight into the extent culture plays a role in all aspects of MHDs - diagnosis, prognosis, treatment etc. Also, the role played by biological factors, i.e., if different cultures have the same epidemiology for a MHD, this suggests that the cause is biological, e.g., rates of schizophrenia, depression and anorexia globally
what should well-conducted cross-culture research reduce in research?
ethnocentric bias
what does ethnocentric bias assume?
that development and interaction are the same across cultures and races, i.e., it does not acknowledge - or at least underemphasises - the differences between cultures and how these can affect behaviour.
what is cultural relativism?
refers to the way that findings from research are often influenced by the understanding, knowledge, norms, values and beliefs of the culture they reflect
what is ethnocentrism?
a type of bias. if research is interpreted from the view of one culture it might not be appropriate for a different culture
