Reference no: EM133006606

PSY 222: Research Method

Scenario

You are a clinical psychologist who is conceptualizing new studies to explore Common Factors Models of psychotherapy processes and outcomes. Common Factors Models propose that there are characteristics and processes shared by all psychotherapeutic practices-irrespective of theoretical orientation-that explain why psychotherapy is effective. These factors have to do with issues such as: 

1. the therapeutic relationship (or alliance),
2. the humanistic elements (e.g., unconditional positive regard, safety, etc.),
3. learning and practicing new behaviors, and
4. others that all psychotherapies employ in some way.

Qualitative Method Organization Quiz: This time, you're going to work through these questions using a qualitative approach as you seek to understand clients' expectations and experiences about feeling safe within the therapeutic setting.

Research Question

Which of the following would be a GOOD research question for this study? (Consider how research questions should be developed.)

1. Do patients feel safe in therapy?
2. How does client-therapist congruence affect feelings of safety in therapy?
3. What are the experiences and expectations of patients in psychotherapy with respect to feelings of safety?

Prediction

Which of the following would be an appropriate hypothesis for this study?

1. None; this qualitative work is not hypothesis-driven (deductive) but is potentially hypothesis-generating (inductive).
2. Patients will feel safe in therapy.
3. Client-therapist congruence will be positively related to feelings of safety in therapy.

Design

What is the appropriate research design (i.e., how are you going to "get at" this question)?

1. correlational
2. experimental
3. descriptive

Measures

How will you evaluate the variables in your question (i.e., what are the appropriate measures)?

1. Ask patients to fill out surveys that use Likert and other scales.
2. Collect biological measures such as using functional magnetic resonance imaging.
3. Use in-person, semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to allow participants to share in detail about their experiences.

Participants

Who are you going to study, and how are you going to get them into the study (i.e., how will you select the participants and sampling approach)?

1. Purposively sample a small number of participants from a local clinic.
2. Get a very large sample of participants that are selected randomly from a local clinic.
3. Go to the clinic at times that you can be there easily and select whichever participants you can find (as many as you are ethically permitted to use).

Confirmation

How will you know whether your prediction was correct (i.e., how will you form a conclusion)?

1. No prediction was made initially, but the conclusion would be based on a coded or thematic assessment of the interviews to provide insights into patients' experiences in terms of safety.
2. If patients reported feeling safe, the prediction would have been correct.
3. If therapist-patient congruence was positively related to feelings of safety, the prediction will have been correct.

Type of Claim

What type of claim could be supported by your study?

1. frequency
2. causal
3. association

This is based off qualitative research. all information is provided