Understanding and Evaluating Research in Applied and Clinical Settings

<p>Clinically oriented professionals and students need to understand and evaluate the research and statistics in professional articles, especially given today's emphasis on evidence-based practice. This book demonstrates how the research approach and design help determine the appropriate statistical analysis. <i>Understanding and Evaluating Research in Applied and Clinical Settings</i> features:<br>*short, independent, chapters that do not have to be read in order;<br>*a guide to understanding why a particular statistic was selected;<br>*an emphasis on effects sizes including measures of risk potency;<br>*numerous cross-disciplinary examples to illustrate the material; and<br>*methods to help determine practical and clinical significance and their relation to meta-analysis and evidence-based practice.<br><br>This book is intended for practitioners and students in psychology, education, counseling, mental and allied health, nursing, and medicine, and as a text for courses on understanding research methods and statistics.</p> <p><b>Contents: </b>Preface. <b>Part I: </b><i>Introductory Chapters.</i> Framework and Sample Studies. Definition, Purposes, and Dimensions of Research. A Tale of Two Paradigms: Quantitative and Qualitative. Ethical Problems and Principles in Human Research. Ethical Issues Related to Publishing and Reviewing. <b>Part II: </b><i>Variables and Their Measurement.</i> Research Problems and Variables. Measurement and Descriptive Statistics. Measurement Reliability. Measurement Validity. Data Collection Techniques. <b>Part III: </b><i>Research Approaches, Questions, and Designs.</i> Quantitative Research Approaches. Research Questions and Hypotheses. Quasi-Experimental Designs. Randomized Experimental Designs. Single-Subject Designs. General Design Classifications. <b>Part IV: </b><i>Introduction to the Evaluation of Methods and Design.</i> Internal Validity. Sampling and Population External Validity. Evaluating the Validity of a Research Study: An Introduction. <b>Part V: </b><i>Introduction to Inferential Statistics and Their Interpretation.</i> Introduction to Inferential Statistics and Hypothesis Testing. Problems With Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST). Using Effect Sizes and Confidence Intervals to Interpret the Results of a Statistical Test. <b>Part VI: </b><i>Selection and Interpretation of Specific Statistics.</i> Selection of Inferential Statistics: An Overview. Single-Factor Between-Groups Designs: Analysis and Interpretation. Single-Factor Repeated-Measures Designs: Analysis and Interpretation. Basic Associational Designs: Analysis and Interpretation. The Chi-Square Test and Accompanying Effect Size Indices. Between Groups Factorial Designs: Analysis and Interpretation. Pretest-Posttest Comparison Group Designs: Analysis and Interpretation. Use and Interpretation of Multiple Regression. Logistic Regression and Discriminant Analysis: Use and Interpretation. Selection and Use of Inferential Statistics: A Summary. Interpretation of Alpha, Factor Analysis, and Principal Components Analysis. <b>Part VII: </b><i>Application Chapters.</i> Levels of Evidence for Evidence-Based Practice. Meta-Analysis: Formulation and Interpretation. Effect Sizes and Clinical Significance. <b>Part VIII: </b><i>Evaluation of Research Validity.</i> Framework for a Comprehensive Evaluation of the Research Validity of a Study. Evaluations of Four Sample Articles. <b>Appendices: </b>Research Validity Evaluation Form. Completed Research Validity Evaluation Form. Comparative Numerical Evaluations of the Four Sample Studies. Confusing Terms.</p>