Saint Marys University of Minnesota

Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs

Twin Cities Campus
Summer 2016
Statistical Techniques and Research Methods in Marriage and Family Therapy
MFT 620A
3 Credits
Course Dates/Hours
Mondays: 9 am -12 pm
On campus classes: 5/2, 5/9, 5/16, 5/23, 6/6, 6/13, 6/20, 6/27, 7/11. 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8
Online classes: 5/30, 7/4, 8/15
Prerequisite or Concurrent Courses
Admission to the MFT program
Instructor Name, Contact Information, and Availability
Kirsten Lind Seal, PhD, LMFT
Office hours: By appointment
Email: klseal12@smumn.edu
Telephone: TBD
Availability
The best way to reach me is through email. I will try to get back to you within 24 hours.
I will also usually be available directly before and after class for questions that come up.
Course Description
This course provides an overview of research methods and statistical analyses commonly used in
Marriage and Family Therapy research. The course focuses on the interpretation and
understanding of research and applied statistical procedures to inform clinical practice.
Student Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, students are expected to be able to do the following:
1 Demonstrate understanding of introductory descriptive and inferential statistics and the
fundamentals of hypothesis testing.
2 Apply appropriate research and statistical methods to research questions. (Class on
research questions they match and fix it out table of analysis)
3 Recognize the appropriate application of research findings and evidence-based practices
and their limitations.
4 Evaluate research presented in Marriage and Family Therapy literature.
5 Apply the fundamentals of research to Marriage and Family Therapy practice.
6 Design a research study to test a hypothesis.
Blackboard Access
Blackboard may be accessed from the SMU external website at
www.smumn.edu or from our Inside Pages at www2.smumn.edu or by entering the following
URL in your browser: http://courses.smumn.edu

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

Required Textbooks
Textbooks:
Creswell, J. (2013). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches.
(4th Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN 978-1452226101
Salkind, N. (2013). Statistics for people who (think they) hate statistics. (5th Ed.) Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN 978-1452277714
Sprenkle, D. & Piercy, F. (2005). Research methods in family therapy. New York, NY: Guilford.
ISBN 978-1572309609
References:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. ISBN 978-1433805615
Other possible readings/videos assigned by professor will be posted or links will be posted on
Blackboard.
Technical Support
For technical support, contact our help desk at
tchelpdesk@smumn.edu
http://www2.smumn.edu/helpdesk/
612-728-5100; option 65
800-372-8176 x7800
x7800 on campus
Topical Course Outline (specific articles may be substituted or changed to benefit learning)
Week/Date
Topic
Readings
Assignments due
Week1
Class overview:
Sprenkle & Piercy Research Interest
May 2
What are Research
Chapter 1 & 2
Autobiography start in
Methods? What are
class with discussion
Statistics?
Creswell Chapter 1 which will inform CLGs
What, How and Who
shall I study?
Week 2

Form CLGs

Worldview/Paradigms
Using the Library (check Creswell Chapter 2 HW: Creswell

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

May 9

in about this)
(Possible field trip to
computer lab)
Literature Review
Use of Theory

Week 3
May 16

Research questions and

hypotheses/purpose
statement

&3
Lind Seal
Confiding
Relationships
paper lit
review/theoretical
background only
(Bring a copy of
this paper to class
for critique)
Creswell Chapter 6
&9
& pp. 92-101; 139142

Ethical issues in
Research
Qualitative Research:
Phenomenology
Action Research

Sprenkle & Piercy

Chapter 4 & 6

Qualitative analysis:
Grounded Theory
Phenomenology

Sprenkle & Piercy

Chapter 3
Lind Seal Fatherdaughter study
draft

Week 5
ONLINE CLASS
May 30

Week
June 6

Ethnography
Mixed-methods

Quantitative methods

In-class Lind Seal

article critique in CLGs
Research Interest
autobiography due
(1 page max) 10
HW: Creswell
Chap. 2: Question 3
(only do 5 studies)
Chap. 4: Question 3 10
CLGs Lind Seal for
RQs and hypotheses
PPT for ethics overview

Chesla article
Week 4
May 23

Chap. 1: Questions 1, 2
& 3 10

Discuss choice of article

for critique due Week 5
In class qualitative
article critique in
CLGs (Lind Seal)
use template for
critique
In class10

Creswell Chapter
10

Choose article for

critique by today
Article of your choice
critique (qualitative)
due
Upload to Blackboard
25

Salkind Chapter 1,
2&6

Discussion postings
10 (due 5/30, 6/4)
In class exercises
10

Sprenkle & Piercy

Chapters 8, 9

Levels of Measurement
Variables, Effect size, p
values, hypothesis
testing, Type 1 and Type
2 errors

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

WATCH ASSIGNED
VIDEOS ABOUT
STATISTICAL
TECHNIQUES
THROUGHOUT THE
3

Week 7
June 13

Matching research
questions with statistical
techniques
Correlation
Variability, Reliability
and Validity

Week 8
June 20

Week 9
June 27
Week 10
ONLINE CLASS
July 4

Frequencies/Descriptive
s Chi-squares, t-tests

ANOVA, t-tests,
correlations
Meta-analysis and
outcome research in
MFT

Sprenkle Chapter
16
Salkind Chapter 3,
5&6
Doherty & Harris
article on
Discernment
Counseling

VISIT TO THE
COMPUTER LAB TO
DO CHI-SQUARES!!

Reread Salkind
Chapter 17

Week 12
July 18

Week 13

Inferential statistics

In class article critique

Doherty & Harris use template for
critique

Statistical
techniques flow
chart
In class exercises 10
Salkind Chapter 17 In class Lind Seal
article critique - later
Lind Seal, Doherty sections
& Harris article on
Confiding
In class Chi-square
Relationships
exercises from
Salkind Chapter 17 10
Salkind Chapter
In class article critique
11,12,13 & 14
possible today
Sprenkle & Piercy GROUP PROJECT:
Chapter 17
Research questions/Lit
review draft due (4
pages max)
Davis, Lebow &
UPLOAD TO
Sprenkle (2012)
BLACKBOARD
Sexton et al (2011)

Week 11
July 11

NEXT WEEKS
GROUP PROJECT:
Intro/Purpose of the
study draft due (3 pages
max)
UPLOAD TO
BLACKBOARD

Salkind Chapter

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

Discussion postings
10
Students each choose
particular statistical
techniques for statistical
article presentations due
Week 12
Presentations on
different statistical
techniques
(graded) 25
(10 minutes each)
UPLOAD
outline/summary to
Blackboard
IN CLASS WORK
4

July 25

Week 14
August 1

Week 15
August 8
Week 16
ONLINE CLASS
August 15

Regressions linear and

logistic

Putting together your

proposal citations APA
style

& 16 Sprenkle
Chapter 19

WITH GROUP
PROJECTS/METHOD
S SECTION

Article for critique

TBD possibly
Lebow & Sprenkle
(2012)

In class exercises 10

APA publication
manual citations
section
Possible guest
speakers!!!
Presentations of
final projects in
class
Research project
final papers due

In class article critique

use template for
critique
GROUP PROJECT:
Methods section draft
due (4 pages max)
UPLOAD TO
BLACKBOARD
ARTICLE CRITIQUE
JOURNAL DUE FOR
LAST CLASS 10
Upload
projects/papers to
Blackboard 50

Teaching methods
Interactive lectures, small and large group discussions, presentations and significant amounts of
group work will be used to engage learners in different ways so as to offer the most well rounded
learning experience possible. Class discussion of the various methodological concepts will be an
important part of the learning process. Getting to know your fellow students and fully engaging
in the group learning process will guide the majority of our learning during this course.

Synopsis of Assignments
PLEASE MAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING:
ALL ASSIGNMENTS MUST FOLLOW APA FORMAT. POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED
FOR NOT FOLLOWING APA FORMAT AS WELL AS FOR SPELLING, GRAMMAR,
PUNCTUATION AND USAGE ERRORS. WRITING CLEARLY IS AN IMPORTANT PART
OF PRESENTING YOURSELF PROFESSIONALLY AND THEREFORE I WILL BE
GRADING ACCORDINGLY. ONLINE ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE IN WORD FORMAT.
NO OTHER FORMATS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Late papers will be docked 5 points per day
late past the due date.
HW Questions/Reading integration/Discussion postings. (8 x 10 points each = 80 points)
HW questions: these need to be printed out, brought in to class for discussion and 1-2 pages
max. Much HW will be done in class one or the other will be announced as we go. Other
reading integration points will be based on what each student brings in to the class discussion in

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

terms of an Aha! moment or a question raised. One Aha! moment or question 10 points; no
Aha! moment or question - 0 points. The online version of this is the discussion posting on
Blackboard in which you will respond to questions posted about the readings for the week.
[SLOs 1,2,3,4,5]
Research Autobiography (10 points): This is a summary of what you are interested in
researching during your time in class. Think about this process as an MFT in training. One page
maximum bring to class in hard copy. [SLO 5]
Article critique paper graded (25 points): You will review/critique an article of your choice
from peer reviewed journals (within five years of publication) related to couple and family
therapy. Individually, students will complete a two-page, double-spaced critique of the article.
Copies of the articles are to be attached (for instructor). The critique and summary should
highlight the major points of the article, and raise discussion about its application to
family/systemic counseling interventions. Please use the article critique template for this
assignment. Include your opinion of the helpfulness of the article you have chosen. [SLOs
1,2,3,4,5]
Article critique/statistical technique presentation graded (25 points): For this assignment you
will choose/be assigned a statistical technique (depending on the timing/progress of class
sessions) and you will choose an article that uses this technique. You will present a critique of
the article including an explanation of the statistical technique and how it is used in the study.
[SLOs 1,2,3,4,5]
Article critique journal (10 points): Keep copies of all the articles you have critiqued along
with the critiques you did both individually and in groups. This will help you later as you
progress through the program. Show me your journal in whatever format you choose (hard copy
or digital) during the last on campus class for these points. [SLOs 1,2,3,4,5]
Group project research proposal paper (drafts 10 points; presented - 20 points; handed in
paper format 20 points: 50 points total) This assignment will be explained more thoroughly in
class. In your Collaborative Learning Groups you will create and write a research proposal and
hand in drafts throughout the semester. During the last class you will present your proposal (2030 minutes) and upload a final paper to Blackboard (parts intro, theory, lit review, RQ,
methods/statistical technique to be used)
(50 points total) [SLOs 1,2,3,4,5,6]
Assessment of Student Performance/Grading Policies
HW questions/Reading integration/Discussion
Research Autobiography
Article critiques/presentations
Article critique journal
Group research proposal/presentation
Total possible points

80 points (8 at 10 points each)

10 points
50 points (2 at 25 points each)
10 points
50 points
200 points

Graduate Grading Scale

A
90-100%
(180 points 200 points)
B
80- 89%
(160 points 179 points)
MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

C
NC

70- 79%
below 70%

(140 points 159 points)

(below 140 points)

Expectations of Students and Instructor

Student Role and Responsibilities
As a student enrolled in this class, I expect you to prepare for class by doing the assigned reading
in advance, to actively attend and participate in class, and to complete assignments on time. Read
the entire syllabus carefully: You are responsible for understanding information included here
and/or for asking questions about all of the information, requirements, and procedures described
herein. You are responsible for all announcements and material presented in class, whether or not
the topic is in your text. Class starts on time; if youre late, you may miss important information.
If you do miss a class, I suggest that you talk with a fellow student for updates and topics
covered and/or any changes made. Please shut off your cell phone before the start of each class.
See me before class if you have an urgent/emergency situation and need to receive a call during
our time together.
YOUR ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITIES: I will remind you that plagiarism of any kind will
not be tolerated and is grounds for academic sanction and possible dismissal from the program.
If you have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism please see the SMU guidelines or
ask me for further clarification.
Instructor Role and Responsibilities
My role is to provide the best learning environment possible during our scheduled class time and
to help you improve your study and critical thinking skills throughout this time together. As your
instructor, it is my responsibility to provide a supportive, interactive, and productive atmosphere
to improve your learning in class. From time to time I will ask for your reaction to the classroom
atmosphere and class activities, and I will consider your feedback for planning future class
sessions. If you have suggestions or comments about the class, you may either talk with me
about it or give me an anonymous note clearly stating your request or concern and I will do my
best to address it.
Student Ratings of Teaching and Learning
Students are expected to provide feedback about teaching and learning in the course. Please
check your SMU email near the end of the course for a link to an online rating form that records
responses anonymously.
University Conduct and Academic Policies
See the course Blackboard site for a direct link to all University policies.
Writing Center and Library Services
See the course Blackboard site for direct links to these departments.

1.

MFT Program Outcomes

Graduates of the Marriage and Family Therapy programs are expected to be able to do the
following:
Create and sustain professional relationships and communication with diverse clients, peers,
MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

and organizations.
Integrate and apply basic knowledge of marriage and family theory to clinical practice.
Integrate and apply knowledge of marriage and family therapy models to clinical practice.
Develop a systemic perspective to diagnose and treat mental health issues of individuals,
couples, and families.
Evaluate professional practice issues and act in an ethical manner based on the marriage and
family therapy codes of ethics, legal requirements, sound judgment, and professional
compassion.
Analyze and apply to practice the fundamentals of research in couple and family therapy.
Demonstrate and apply written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills with clients and
professionals.
Create and implement effective interventions that promote, restore, sustain, or enhance
positive functioning and a sense of well-being in clients through preventative, developmental,
systemic, and/or remedial services.
Advocate with professional, work, and political communities and systems for respectful
human relationships and policies directed toward the common good.
Articulate plans for future professional development.

MFT 620A Summer 2016 Syllabus Kirsten Lind Seal