Research First Exam Flashcards
What does the ASHA code of ethics say that validates the need for EBP?
- individuals shall evaluate the effectiveness of services rendered
Why do clinicians need research experiences?
- So they learn to critically evaluate what they read - print doesn’t equal scholarly
- To improve/modify clinical practice
- To collect data to evaluate the effectiveness of their own therapy
Who found that clinicians felt like research findings weren’t very applicable? Why? What has this caused?
- Kent
- it dealt with causes, normal physiological processes, etc.
- a recent push toward more applied research (therapy outcomes, treatment efficacy)
True or false: The opinions of expert authorities, singly or in groups such as consensus panels, should be viewed with skepticism and discounted entirely when they contradict evidence from rigorous scientific studies.
True
Progress in clinical practice ultimately requires moving beyond _____ to _____
- opinions
- more stringent levels of evidence
Basic research into underlying mechanisms is a ____ but _____ guide to clinical practice
necessary, insufficient
For EBP we need what 4 things?
- to find relevant research studies and summaries
- to critically evaluate relevant research studies and summaries
- to use this information to guide our clinical decision making
- to systematically evaluate our clinical choices and their effectiveness for individual clients
A definition of EBP?
- the conscientious use of current best evidence
- in decisions about care of individual patients
- by integrating clinical expertise
- with best available external evidence from research
Explain what Class I Evidence is
- evidence from at least one well-designed, randomized controlled clinical trial
- randomized: randomly choose who gets therapy and who is in control
- controlled clinical trial: group research where there’s a treatment group and a control group
Explain what Class II evidence is
- evidence from at least one well-designed, observational, clinical study with concurrent controls
- Controls, but NOT randomized: control group formed based on conveniences
Explain what Class III evidence is
- expert opinion, case studies, and studies with historical controls
- historical controls: not going on at same time as past controls
- case studies: no controls at all
We use evidence to _____ IN CONTRAST to _____
- guide our clinical decision making
- only justifying our clinical decisions
Evidence-based practice includes what 3 types of decisions?
- Assessment decisions (what to assess/how)
- Goal setting decisions
- what to treat, how many, what order - Treatment decisions
- type of service, intensity, setting, grouping
What are some examples of other extraneous factors that could make it seem like our therapy is working when it’s really something else causing the change?
- test/task practice
- familiarity
- bias
- maturity
EBP Mindset article: up to half of what we and other experts “know” is ____
- must find out: _____
- wrong
- “what we know isn’t so”
The worst research article has been much more rigorously reviewed than any book or presentation.
- give an example
- stuttering prediction instrument
- aims to predict who will outgrow stuttering
- “predictive usefulness of the instrument was not met”
What are the 2 main types of research?
- Descriptive
- experimental
Explain descriptive research
- examines group differences and relationships among variables through observations
- Goal: to DESCRIBE. NOT to interfere/change anything.
Explain experimental research
- looks at cause-effect through MANIPULATION of certain variables on measures under controlled conditions
Experimental studies have ____ mechanisms? Explain
- control mechanisms: to show that one factor really is the cause of another. Random assignment to control groups in group studies is the strongest type of controls. Takes care of extraneous variables (ex/ hopefully super parents in both groups)
Can you have experimental studies where there aren’t groups? explain
- single subject experimental design
- can still put some control mechanisms in place
go back to slide 18 if i forget
slide 18
Experimental studies ______ while using _____ to ______
- manipulate one or more variables
- control mechanisms
- to evaluate change in behavior/outcome measure
What are two different types of experimental designs? Explain what they are and general types of control mechanisms used
- Single Subject Experimental Designs
* small # of participants: usually 10
* control mechanism: control group (random best)
What are the 4 main categories of descriptive designs?
- Comparative Group descriptive
- Developmental (longitudinal or cross-sectional)
- Correlational study
- Case study
which descriptive designs use a large number of participants, and which use a small number?
- large: comparative group descriptive, developmental, correlational
- case study
With comparative group descriptive design, what is the IV? Explain
- disorder classification
- usually compare normal vs. disordered, or 2 different disorder groups
- ex/ typical kids vs. kids with SLI phono skills.
- IV: presence of SLI
- DV: expressive phonology skills
In developmental studies, what is the IV?
Time
Explain longitudinal vs. cross-sectional developmental designs
- longitudinal: measure SAME GROUP of kids over time
- cross-sectional: measure different kids of different ages (gets done quicker)
example of longitudinal vs. cross-sectional
- Looking at phono kids in SLI kids at 2 yo, 4 yo, 8 yo
- longitudinal: measure same kids when they’re 2, 4, 8 (takes 6 years_
- cross-sectional: measure a bunch of 2 yo, 4 yo, 8 yos
is longitudinal or cross-sectional more reliable?
longitudinal
what’s a DV?
- the effect you MEASURE (measure that answers your research question)
ways to measure a DV?
- Need to control for ___ during measurement. Explain
- instrument, formal test, informal test, observer judgement
- extraneous variables (what things might effect how subject performs on task, need to hold constant across subjects/conditions)
examples of things you need to control for in a single subject design
- level of cueing, motivation of client
examples of things you need to control for in a group design in a school
- background noise/distractions, time of day, prompts/cues, enthusiasm of testers
What is the IV? explain the two types
- the “cause” or factors that influence the measure/DV
- Active IV: manipulated by investigator
- Assigned IV: inherent characteristics of subjects, not manipulated by investigator, presumed to effect DV
Which types of IVs descriptive vs. experimental designs have?
- descriptive: assigned
- Experimental: ALWAYS has Active. Can have assigned too.
Ex/ Group of stutterers who you do treatment on. RQ: is there a difference between control subjects and treatment subjects on their number of dysfluencies at the end of treatment? And is there a difference in how well the treatment worked for mild stuttereres vs. severe stutterers?
- DV: number of dysfluencies
- Active IV: stuttering treatment
- Assigned IV: level of severity
Characteristics/subject inclusion criteria only becomes an assigned IV when?
if you’re looking at how it affects the DV
See slide 23 of U1-EBP basics PP foe some examples
Practice with them
Components of introduction (4)
- Broad background of topic (history of problem/topic, importance of topic, definitions)
- Directly related investigations (more detail)
- Summary/Need for current study (overview and inadequacy of past research/knowledge on topic)
- Purpose of study/RQs
Know how to outline an introduction
see slide 16 on
know how to critique LR
slide 20
List the parts of a research paper
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Discussion
What’s the abstract do?
states purpose of study, identifies subjects, methods, results, and implications
How is related research organized in the intro?
like a funnel/inerted triangle
- as LR progresses, the articles discussed are increasingly relevant to the specific problem being addressed in the current study
What should methods include?
- possibly research design
- description of subjects/groups
- description of instrumentation, materias used in measurement and intervention
- arrangement made in gathering, grouping, and analysis of data
- measuring techniques and reliability
what do we need to know about subjects?
- sample size
- inclusion criteria
- impt group characteristics
- show groups are similar on important factors
methods for equating groups
- random assignement: strongest for large groups
2. matching on impt characteristics
factors that can impact external validity
see NB
factors that can impact internal validity
see NB
types of measurement devices to measure DV
- instrumentation
- provide manufacturer/model $ - behavioral instruments (standardized & nonstandardized)
- cite manual
- give detailed info on nonstandardized and report reliability/validity - observer judgement
- Likert scale
- psychological scaling techniques
what’s reliability?
when the measurement event is repeated, the measured values should be comparable = CONSISTENTLY measuring
what’s unit by unit agreement index?
agreements/agreements+disagreements
often what percentage of measures are re-measured for reliability?
10-20%
It can’t be a ____ study if measures aren’t ____
valid, reliable
what’s the validity of measures?
did the researcher choose the most appropriate kind of measure to answer the question?
- were the right kind of measures chosen to answer your question
factors that can influence measurement validity/reliability
- experimenter bias or familiarity (blind)
- environment
- instructions
what’s treatment fidelity?
consistency in carrying out planned treatment
single subject studies will have what kind of measures
DAILY measures on a line graph
examples of single subject graphs
51-53 on RL
group studies report what kind of stats?
descriptive and inferential
descriptive stats include?
measures of central tendency and measures of variability
measures of central tendency include?
mean, median, mode
measures of variability include?
range, standard deviation
examples of means and SDs
slides 57-61
what’s a statistical significant p value?
- usually
the effect size emphasizes what?
the size of the DIFFERENCE rather than confounding this with sample size
what’s a significant effect size?
- close to 1
- over 1 or 2 = big
Discussion should include?
- summary of results
- interpretation: WHY results found
- relationship of results to past literature
- theoretical/practical implications of findings
- limitations
- future research
