Rigor, but not rigor mortis, in depression research.

With reference to the depression research methods review of H. Tennen, J. A. Hall, and G. Affleck (see record 1995-31710-001) and the earlier recommendations of P. C. Kendall, S. D. Hollon, A. T. Beck, C. L. Hammen, and R. E. Ingram (see record 1987-30135-001), the present discussion considers and then reaffirms selected methods. Discussion includes issues such as the use of analogue vs. clinical samples, single vs. multiple assessments, self-report vs. structured diagnostic interviews, and the use of multiple gaiting and analyses of symptom clusters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression research in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: A reply.

H. Tennen, J. A. Hall, and G. Affleck (see PA Vol, 31710) argued in their critique of depression research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) that investigators have failed to comply with several methodological recommendations often cited in the depression literature. They recommended resetting minimum criteria for publication of depression research in JPSP. In this article, it is asserted that Tennen and his colleagues did not consider a number of critical issues surrounding this set of methodological criteria. It is also contended that insufficient data are available to require strict adherence to several of the criteria. In light of the complexities surrounding Tennen et al.'s methodological criteria, it is concluded that JPSP's editors, reviewers, and readers would do better to evaluate studies on a case-by-case basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression research methodologies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: A review and critique.

Personality and social psychological studies of depression and depressive phenomena have become more methodologically sophisticated in recent years. In response to earlier problems in this literature, investigators have formulated sound suggestions for research designs. Studies of depression published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP) between 1988 and 1993 were reviewed to evaluate how well these recommendations have been followed. Forty-one articles were examined for adherence to 3 suggestions appearing consistently in the literature: (a) multiple assessment periods, (b) multiple assessment methods, and (c) appropriate comparison groups. The studies published in JPSP have not adhered well to these standards. The authors recommend resetting minimum methodological criteria for studies of depression published in the premier journal in personality and social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research.

Despite the widespread use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research, researchers often make questionable decisions when conducting these analyses. This article reviews the major design and analytical decisions that must be made when conducting a factor analysis and notes that each of these decisions has important consequences for the obtained results. Recommendations that have been made in the methodological literature are discussed. Analyses of 3 existing empirical data sets are used to illustrate how questionable decisions in conducting factor analyses can yield problematic results. The article presents a survey of 2 prominent journals that suggests that researchers routinely conduct analyses using such questionable methods. The implications of these practices for psychological research are discussed, and the reasons for current practices are reviewed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trends in psychotherapy process research: Samples, measures, researchers, and classic publications.

Psychotherapy studies published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) and the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) between 1978 and 1992 were examined. Differences were found between the 2 journals. JCP published mostly process, outcome, and analog research, whereas JCCP published mostly outcome research. Most process and process-outcome studies across journals were of individual, brief therapy. Across the years, more diversity was evident in samples used in process research in terms of student status, gender, and race of clients and therapists. Three content areas were prominent in the process measures and classic studies: therapist techniques, therapist influence, and facilitative conditions. Lists are provided of the frequently used measures, most productive authors, and classic studies in process research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How strong is the case against contemporary social and personality psychology? A response to Carlson.

Discusses a content analysis of the research published in the 1982 volumes of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in which R. Carlson (see record 1985-11991-001) found that Carlson is incorrect in (a) an overly restrictive definition of what constitutes valid social and personality psychology, (b) her negative evaluations of the worth of the current approaches, and (c) an unjustified set of methodological prejudices. (58 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

What's social about social psychology? Where's the person in personality research?

Content analyses of research published in the 1982 volumes of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology indicate that social psychologists have largely failed to study subjects drawn from meaningfully defined social groups, to consider social structural variables, to study genuine social interaction, to observe social influences on psychological functioning, or to ask Ss about social issues. It is maintained that with few exceptions, personality researchers have failed to study groups other than college students, to use biographical materials or personal documents, to devise appropriate experimental treatments, to study persons over time, or even to retain the individual as a unit of analysis. Currently, the 2 fields of social and personality psychological research appear to be linked mainly by their deficiencies and appear to have little content worth sharing. Reexamination of each field's traditions and priorities is urgently needed. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trends in reporting psychometric properties of scales used in counseling psychology research.

Reports of reliability and validity estimates are necessary to determine the adequacy of scales' psychometric properties. In this study we examined the frequency of reports of psychometric properties for scales described in the 1967, 1977, and 1987 volumes of the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The results indicated that researchers have increasingly provided reference citations for scales and reliability estimates as well as reliability estimates for their samples. At the same time the majority of the scales in the 1987 volume had no reported sample or cited reliability estimates. The modal number of items per scale over the 3 time periods remained at 1. A set of guidelines for reporting scale characteristics is proposed, and potential explanations for researchers' frequent omission of psychometric data are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reaction to special section on qualitative research in counseling process and outcome.

The publication of a special section of 8 qualitative studies in the Journal of Counseling Psychology marks a growing recognition of the contribution that qualitative research can make to the discipline. The researchers of the 8 studies used an adaptation of the grounded theory method as their design. The theories generated by the studies are positively evaluated with constructivist criteria. Reactions to the data collection include suggestions that intensive interviews, triangulation, and theoretical sampling may have strengthened the data sets. Response to the data analyses include recognition of the creative and rigorous manner in which the analyses were carried out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misuse of statistical tests in three decades of psychotherapy research.

Reviews the misuse of statistical tests in psychotherapy research studies published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in the years 1967–1968, 1977–1978, and 1987–1988. It focuses on 3 major problems in statistical practice: inappropriate uses of null hypothesis tests and p values, neglect of effect size, and inflation of Type 1 error rate. The impressive frequency of these problems is documented, and changes in statistical practices over the past 3 decades are interpreted in light of trends in psychotherapy research. The article concludes with practical suggestions for rational application of statistical tests. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasons for clinical research: Characteristics of contributors and their contributions to the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

A representative sample of contributors (333) to the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology was asked to report on their motivations for conducting studies that had been published in that journal. Results indicate that the primary motivation of these clinical researchers was to build on prior theory and research through the gathering and analysis of new data to answer socially significant applied-clinical questions. More immediate pragmatic considerations (e.g., tenure, funding, degree or job requirements, and availability of Ss) were reported to be of secondary, but nevertheless significant, importance. Most respondents described the training model in which they had received their doctoral education or oriented toward an integrated scientist-practitioner approach rather than one that focused primarily on research, therapy, or assessment training. It was also found that these clinical researchers rarely conducted investigations in the context of community service or consultation interventions or in order to replicate past research. Results are discussed in light of current controversies in clinical psychology concerning the optimal model for training and the relevance of clinical research. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Racial/ethnic minority research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology: A content analysis and methodological critique.

A content analysis was conducted of all racial/ethnic minority-focused research appearing in the Journal of Counseling Psychology over the 11-year period from 1976 to 1986. During this period 934 articles and brief reports were published, of which 53 (5.7%) had a racial/ethnic minority focus. The 53 articles were systematically reviewed for their sample characteristics and methodological considerations. The sample characteristics that were examined included ethnic groups studied, general populations sampled, and geographic breakdown of samples used. Methodological design characteristics that were investigated included general research designs incorporated, examination of within-group differences, outcome measures used, cultural sensitivity of instrumentation, acknowledgment of sample generalizability limits, and presence of conceptual or theoretical frameworks in developing research hypotheses. Data accumulated in the report were used as a base within which to examine major research methodology criticisms that have consistently appeared in recent ethnic minority literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mail survey research in counseling psychology: Current practice and suggested guidelines.

40 studies published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from January 1980 through October 1989 that used mail survey procedures were identified. Research pertaining to the methodological procedures that enhance response rates was examined, and a questionnaire inquiring about the use of these procedures sent to authors of the 40 studies. 31 primary researchers, representing 34 (85%) of these studies, responded. Many of the studies did not follow empirically evaluated procedures for increasing response rates. Recommendations for counseling studies that use mail surveys to collect data are provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content analysis of research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology (1973–1998).

A content analysis of the research published in the Joumal of Counseling Psychology (JCP) was conducted for a 26-year period (1973–1998). A total of 2,027 articles were classified into 14 substantive content categories. Frequency distributions were used to identify the most frequently published authors and institutional affiliations, as well as the gender and ethnic characteristics reported. The principal areas of research activity and publication in the JCP were process only, process and outcome, vocational behavior research, and the development and evaluation of tests and measures. These 4 categories accounted for 55.2% of the articles examined. Typical reported samples contained college students of both genders. This content analysis revealed that over this 26-year time span, the research reported in the JCP has remained consistent with the mission statement of the journal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative psychology?

A review of types of animals and behavior studied in the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology from 1968 to July 1972 suggests that American comparative psychologists have maintained an extremely narrow position by concentrating their experimental work on learning and on the rat. Future research may lean more toward the physiological aspects of behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between research productivity and perceptions of doctoral program quality.

Research productivity in the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP) was assessed for 39 universities offering a doctoral program in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology. Productivity ratings were subsequently compared with perceptions of I/O program quality obtained by Greenberg et al. in 1978. The results indicate that there is a very strong relation between such subjective opinions of program quality and the number of articles that a university had published in JAP before 1978. The results also reveal some changes in productivity ratings during the past 8 yrs (i.e., 1978–1985), suggesting that concurrent changes in perceptions of I/O program quality might likewise have occurred in recent times. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Publishing in the Journal of Educational Psychology: Reflections at midstream.

Discusses editorial policy of the Journal of Educational Psychology with respect to substantive, procedural, and ethical issues. Research should make substantive contributions and conceptually integrate recent developments bearing on the topic. Procedural concerns involve terminological clarity, confounding and controlled factors, the effects of a laboratory orientation on classroom research, and the appropriateness of a statistical analysis. Ethical issues include piecemeal and duplicate publications, plagiarism, and falsification/fabrication of data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Species preferences of experimenters: Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior..

Analyzed species preferences for 1958–1975 for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and compared them with comparable data from the Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology (1969–1972). The percentage of experiments using pigeons increased, while there was a less marked decrease in the percentage using human Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frequent citations in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology during the 1970s.

Identifies authors who have been cited most frequently in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology during the 1st half-decade of the 1970s, and indicates their publications that have been cited most frequently. Most prominent are the work of J. B. Rotter on the locus of control of reinforcement and the contributions of C. B. Truax and R. R. Carkhuff to training and practice in counseling and psychotherapy. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)