• Research Methods and Designs in clinical

psychology
• The general goal of research in clinical psychology is to acquire
knowledge about human behavior and to use this knowledge to
help improve the lives of individuals, families, and groups.
• Clinical psychologists use the scientific method in conducting
research activities. The scientific method is a set of rules and
procedures that describe, explain, and predict a particular
phenomenon.
• This method includes the observation of a phenomenon, the
development of hypotheses about the phenomenon, the
empirical testing of the hypotheses, and the alteration of
hypotheses to accommodate the new data collected and
interpreted.
• During the first stage of inquiry, the clinical psychologist must
objectively describe a given phenomenon. One important
research tool for this purpose is the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual, fourth edition (DSM-IV), published by the American
Psychiatric Association. The manual describes numerous clinical
syndromes and lists highly specific diagnostic criteria for each
psychiatric problem thus enabling researchers to better ensure
that the same criteria are used to describe each population
studied.
• The diagnostic criteria describe the thinking, feeling, and behavior
associated with a particular clinical syndrome
 Experiments
• Conducting an experiment is the fundamental way to utilize the
scientific method in answering research questions.
• For example, suppose we were interested in designing a
procedure for reducing student test-taking anxiety.
• We wish to find out if relaxation or aerobic exercise might be
useful in helping to reduce test anxiety prior to a stressful exam.
•
• Identifying Independent and Dependent Variables: After a hypothesis is
proposed, an experiment must be designed to evaluate the hypothesis
• The researcher must select both independent and dependent variables.

• The independent variable is manipulated by the researcher and

provides the structure for the study.
• Therefore, treatment condition (i.e., relaxation, aerobic exercise) would
be the independent variable in the test-anxiety study.
• The dependent variable is the variable that is expected to change as a
result of the influence of the independent variable. In other words, the
dependent variable is what is measured by the researcher to determine
whether the hypothesis can be supported or not
• In this case, scores on a test-anxiety scale following treatment might
be the dependent variable. Research studies evaluate the influence
of the independent variable(s) on the dependent measure(s).
• The study must be constructed such that all other factors that might
influence the dependent variable are controlled, with the exception
of the independent variable.
• Minimizing Experimental Error: A critical goal of all experiments is
to minimize experimental error.
• Experimental error occurs when changes in the dependent variable
are due to factors other than the influence of the independent
variable.
• For example, if the experimenter is aware of the hypothesis that
relaxation is superior to aerobic exercise in reducing test-taking
anxiety, yet conducts both laboratory sessions with the research
subjects, his or her biases may influence the results.
• The experimenter must minimize potential error or bias by controlling
potentially influencing variables (other than the independent variable
manipulated by the experimenter). For example, the experimenter
might avoid bias in conducting the laboratory sessions by using a
research assistant who was unaware of (and un invested in) the
hypotheses of the study.
• the experimenter would minimize potential error or bias caused by
unknown or uncontrollable influences by using a randomization
procedure. The experimenter randomly varies a variable across
experimental and control conditions such that the influence of the
variable does not differentially affect one or more of the experimental
or control conditions.
• Experimenters must use both reliable and valid measures of
assessment in research studies as well.
• Reliability refers to the stability or consistency of a measurement
procedure. For example, a method for assessing test anxiety
should result in similar scores whether the test is administered
early in the day, late in the day, or by different research assistants.
• Validity refers to the notion that an instrument should measure
what it was designed to measure. An instrument measuring test
anxiety should indeed measure the construct we call “test
anxiety” rather than other constructs such as depression, general
anxiety, or low self-esteem
 • Experimental Designs
• There are many different means of carrying out a research
experiment. Each approach offers unique advantages and
disadvantages. No single approach is superior to another for
answering every research question, and all can be rendered
useless if not carefully designed and applied.
• The trick is to use the right experimental design with the right
research question and to construct each experiment to maximize
both internal and external validity.
• Randomization is a procedure where research subjects
are selected in such a way that they all have an equal
chance of being placed in the different experimental and
control groups. No bias can occur in deciding which
conditions subjects are placed into during the
experiment.
• Between Group Designs: Between group designs use two
or more separate groups of subjects, each of which receives
a different type of intervention or, in the case of a control
condition, no intervention. Therefore the independent
variable is manipulated by the experimenter so that
different groups of subjects receive different types of
experiences. In the test-taking anxiety example, one group
of subjects received relaxation, a second group received
aerobic exercise, while a third group received a control
condition (i.e., magazine reading).
• Within Group Designs: Within group designs are used to
examine the influence of the independent variable (such as
treatment) on the same subjects over time. Subjects are not
assigned to different experimental and control groups as they are
in a between group design but are all assigned to experience the
same research procedure, treatment, or protocol. The same
patient is examined at different points of time, such as during a
baseline or pretreatment period, a treatment intervention period,
and a follow-up or post treatment period
• Case Studies A case study is an in-depth investigation, observation, and
description of a single person or situation.
• The case study method was the primary technique used by Sigmund
Freud and his colleagues to describe cases of hysteria and other
problems.
• Case studies are not experiments, because they lack dependent
variables, experimenter manipulation of independent variables, and
randomized assignment of subjects into treatment and control
conditions.
• case studies provide an intensive observation of a person and
phenomenon that allows for the development of hypotheses and
theories.
• One of the most famous case studies in psychology is the case of
Anna O. described by Joseph Breuer and Sigmund Freud (Breuer &
Freud, 1895/1957). Anna O. experienced hysteria, or what the
DSM-IV would term a conversion disorder today. She was healthy
and relatively problem free until she was 21 years old, and caring
for her failing father. After several months of care giving,
• Anna O. developed unusual vision difficulties as well as motor
problems with her right arm and legs that could not be explained
medically.
• She also had trouble speaking and developed other symptoms (e.g.,
headaches, recurrent cough, fear of drinking).
• She sought treatment from Breuer, who conducted hypnosis and
treated one symptom at a time. Breuer noticed that symptoms
disappeared following the hypnosis. The development of both
hypnosis as well as psychoanalytic theory (e.g., theories of
repression) occurred partly through the case study of Anna O.
Specific single-case research designs have been developed to
further objectify the case study method.
 Correlation Methods
• correlation methods. Correlational designs examine the degree
of association between two or more variables.
• correlational designs do not allow cause-and-effect conclusions
(e.g., treatment cured a problem), they do provide researchers
and clinicians useful information concerning the degree of
association between constructs of interest.
• Thus, correlational methods inform the experimenter how
closely two or more variables tend to correspond to each
other. Correlations can be either positive or negative.
• A positive correlation refers to two or more variables that move in
the same direction.
• As one variable increases, so does the other. For example, the
more depressed someone feels, the more hopeless he or she may
feel. whereas low degrees of depression are associated with low
degrees of hopelessness).
• The more marital arguments a couple experiences, the more
dissatisfied they are with their marriage. The more alcohol one
consumes, the more work or school days he or she is likely to
miss
• A negative correlation refers to two or more variables that move
in opposite directions.
• As one variable increases, the other decreases. For example, the
more television a student watches, the less time he or she
devotes to studying. Thus, television viewing and studying tend to
go together in different directions .
• A correlation coefficient is a score ranging from −1.00 to +1.00.
Scores close to −1.00 reflect a nearly perfect negative correlation,
that is, while one variable is high, the other is low
 • Epidemiological Methods
• Clinical psychologists are often interested in the use and results of
epidemiological research methods.
• Epidemiology refers to the examination of the incidence or distribution
of a particular clinical problem or variable of interest.
• Epidemiological research describes the prevalence and incidence of a
particular issue of concern, seeking to answer questions such as “How
many people have alcohol problems? How many college students are
clinically depressed? How many people have schizophrenia? How many
new cases of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder were diagnosed
last year? How many adolescent girls have unwanted pregnancies?”
• Epidemiological data may be collected from a variety of sources
including government census, survey approaches, and hospital records
• For example, epidemiological research has indicated that approximately
750,000 people die of heart disease each year (American Heart
Association, 2001), and that about 11 million people in the United
States are alcoholics (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism, 2000).
• Epidemiological research has shown that approximately 1% of the
United States population experiences schizophrenia, and between 0.5%
and 1% of female adolescents or young adults experience anorexia
nervosa (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
 • Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Designs
• Experimental, co relational, epidemiological, and even single
case designs can be constructed to be cross-sectional or
longitudinal.
• Many studies can incorporate both cross-sectional and
longitudinal methods into the same investigation and are called
cross sequential designs.
• Cross-sectional designs provide a “snapshot” view of behavior
at a given moment in time.
• Most of the research in clinical psychology as well as most other
areas of psychology applies cross-sectional methods because
they are generally easier and less expensive to complete.
• The study on test taking anxiety mentioned earlier is an
example of a cross-sectional research design.
• Longitudinal designs
• generally collect research data over a long period of time.
Examining test-anxious subjects throughout the course of their
high school and college education would be an example of a
longitudinal design method.
• In this example, levels of test-taking anxiety would be assessed
periodically during high school and college and thus would take
approximately eight years to collect.
 • Treatment Outcome Research
• Clinical psychologists conduct research to answer questions on
the development of reliable and valid assessment instruments,
• most frequently asked and compelling research questions
concern treatment outcome: Does psychotherapy work?
• Which type of therapy works best for which type of condition? Is
longer term treatment better than shorter term treatment?
Which therapist characteristics are associated with treatment
success?
• Which patient characteristics are associated with treatment
success?
• A great deal of research in clinical psychology attempts to answer
one or more of these questions. Treatment outcome research has
become critical in recent years.
• Although treatment outcome research has been conducted for
many years, the changes in the health care delivery and
reimbursement systems have demanded that treatment outcome
research demonstrate that psychological and other forms of
treatment do indeed work and therefore justify the expenditure
of funds.
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