Methodological advances in family psychology research: Introduction to the special section.

This article introduces a special section in the Journal of Family Psychology on methodological advances in family psychology research. The need for innovative methodologies to capture the richness and complexity of family relationships and to advance the field is discussed. Articles that address the application of mathematical modeling of couple interactions, methods for analyzing sequential observational data, the application of multivariate analysis of variance and confirmatory factor analysis, the application of hierarchical linear modeling, and the use of experimental methods for the study of family process are included in the special section. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cluster Analysis in Family Psychology Research.

This article discusses the use of cluster analysis in family psychology research. It provides an overview of potential clustering methods, the steps involved in cluster analysis, hierarchical and nonhierarchical clustering methods, and validation and interpretation of cluster solutions. The article also reviews 5 uses of clustering in family psychology research: (a) deriving family types, (b) studying families over time, (c) as an interface between qualitative and quantitative methods, (d) as an alternative to multivariate interactions in linear models, and (e) as a data reduction technique for small samples. The article concludes with some cautions for using clustering in family psychology research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of structural equation modeling in counseling psychology research.

Structural equation modeling (multivariate analysis with latent variables, also called causal modeling or covariance structure analysis) is a valuable methodological tool for use in counseling psychology research. Essentially the broad framework that subsumes many well-known procedures (e.g., multiple linear regression, factor analysis, path analysis), structural equation modeling allows for analysis of causal patterns among unobserved variables represented by multiple measures. It permits testing of causal hypotheses and theory, examination of psychometric adequacy, and enhancement of the explanatory power of correlational data that characterize counseling psychology research. I present and illustrate structural equation modeling, followed by a discussion of (a) issues and problems related to the use of this methodology, (b) possible applications of structural equation modeling to counseling psychology research, and (c) resources for those wanting further study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An array of qualitative data analysis tools: A call for data analysis triangulation.

One of the most important steps in the qualitative research process is analysis of data. The purpose of this article is to provide elements for understanding multiple types of qualitative data analysis techniques available and the importance of utilizing more than one type of analysis, thus utilizing data analysis triangulation, in order to understand phenomenon more fully for school psychology research and beyond. The authors describe seven qualitative analysis tools: methods of constant comparison, keywords-in-context, word count, classical content analysis, domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, and componential analysis. Then, the authors outline when to use each type of analysis. In so doing, the authors use real qualitative data to help distinguish the various types of analyses. Furthermore, flowcharts and tables are provided to help delineate when to choose each type of analysis. Finally, the role of computer-assisted software in the qualitative data-analytic process is discussed. As such, use of the analyses outlined in this article should help to promote rigor in qualitative research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate preparation in research methods: The current status of APA-accredited professional programs in psychology.

Graduate preparation in research methods is needed to help ensure that the next generation of psychologists is prepared to consume and engage in research. This study examined the availability of courses in research methods in 192 American Psychological Association (APA)-accredited programs based on reports from program directors in clinical, counseling, school, and combined psychology programs. Results suggest that, although most doctoral-level psychology programs require introductory methods courses, the requirement to take more advanced courses in research methods is less common. Although many programs offer advanced methods courses as electives, fewer than 10% of program directors believe additional courses are needed. Among the areas of specialization, significant differences in required coursework in research methods were found only for factor analysis, which was required most by school psychology programs, followed by clinical psychology and then counseling psychology. In addition, PhD and PsyD programs generally do not differ in requiring coursework in research methods. Data from this study reflect a significant improvement in course offerings in research methods during the last two decades. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Families matter: Psychology of the family and the family of psychology.

Research on the family lies at the interface between basic and applied science. After tracing the scientific and practise roots of research on the family, I highlight that research to date has neglected the perspective of fathers. I propose that as in regular families, the family of Canadian psychology is diverse and constantly evolving. Key findings in psychology of the family include the importance of multiple perspectives, the benefits of quality time, and the toxic effects of conflict. These concepts apply equally to the family of Canadian psychology. I suggest that through involvement in the Canadian Psychological Association, psychologists can be enriched by multiple perspectives, can benefit from communication with one another to work together to advance psychology for all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

L’importance de la famille: Psychologie de la famille et famille de la psychologie.

Research on the family lies at the interface between basic and applied science. After tracing the scientific and practise roots of research on the family, I highlight that research to date has neglected the perspective of fathers. I propose that as in regular families, the family of Canadian psychology is diverse and constantly evolving. Key findings in psychology of the family include the importance of multiple perspectives, the benefits of quality time, and the toxic effects of conflict. These concepts apply equally to the family of Canadian psychology. I suggest that through involvement in the Canadian Psychological Association, psychologists can be enriched by multiple perspectives, can benefit from communication with one another to work together to advance psychology for all. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitating rigorous qualitative research in rehabilitation psychology.

Qualitative research methods have much to contribute to theoretical and applied knowledge in rehabilitation psychology. However, as a discipline, rehabilitation psychology has been behind the curve in employing qualitative methods. Objectives: This article is a summary of the state of qualitative research in rehabilitation and an introduction to various methodological dimensions to consider in implementing qualitative rehabilitation psychology research. Types and examples of qualitative rehabilitation research are presented. Criteria for evaluating qualitative research are discussed. Finally, the majority of this article is devoted to presenting the various methodological dimensions on which researchers must make decisions in designing and implementing rigorous qualitative research (e.g., paradigms, methods, data collection strategies, data analysis procedures, reliability/validity). Conclusions: Rehabilitation psychology has much to gain through qualitative research, and success in incorporating qualitative evidence will be ensured by rehabilitation psychologists learning and rigorously implementing qualitative methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of children's health care use: an investigation of psychosocial factors

Factors related to the amount of health care used by 5- to 11-year-old children in a health maintenance organization (HMO) were investigated using a comprehensive multivariate model that assessed the contribution of child health need, mental health, and social functioning; maternal mental health, social support and health care utilization; and family functioning and life events. Mothers reported on the 450 participating children. Health care visits for a two-year retrospective period were obtained from the computerized encounter system. Child health need and maternal patterns of health care use were powerful predictors of the overall amount of health care used, and these factors discriminated high users from low users of care. Family conflict was associated with a higher volume of care, while children's depressive symptoms and non-white race were related to lower use. Maternal social support, mental health, and life events were not predictive of use in either full multivariate model. Enabling factors were held relatively constant by participation of all families in a prepaid HMO. The multiple regression model explained 33% of the variance in use, slightly more than in previous studies of children's health care use. When included in a comprehensive analysis, child and family psychosocial characteristics help to explain children's health care use beyond what is possible using simple health and illness variables. The implications of these findings in the development of further research and to the practice of routine pediatric care are discussed.     

Neglected psychological issues in population research.

Proposes a new research orientation for population research, a psychology of population. This approach would include elements of social and developmental psychology (e.g., attitudes toward family planning, childhood socialization, sex roles, evaluation of different contraceptive methods, and family and group influences). Population psychology could integrate biological and social studies, provide a framework for studying the entire life cycle, and establish a methodology for evaluating micro- and macrosystems. The overall purpose of a psychology of population is presented as the ability to show (a) how biological variables are expressed in behavior and (b) the effects of basic drives on interpersonal, social, and cultural conditions and vice versa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Introducing survival analysis to organizational researchers: A selected application to turnover research.

Survival analysis, a powerful set of statistical techniques, is introduced. These methods can be useful for turnover research and other behavioral studies with a binary dependent variable and multiple independent variables, any or all of which may be measured over time. Because survival analysis explicitly incorporates time as a variable of interest, it is more flexible and better able to extract and use information from longitudinal studies than methods more commonly used in applied psychology. In this article, we present survival analysis in an intuitive and applications-oriented manner. An application to turnover research is presented for purposes of illustration. With survival analysis, turnover may be viewed as a process whose intensity (rate) is allowed to vary over time rather than remain fixed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The assessment of psychological states through content analysis of verbal communications.

Presents a history of the use of content analysis in psychology and describes the development of CA scales, including an example of a scale in construction. The variety of verbal communications to which CA is applicable is also considered. Issues of reliability and validity were considered in a survey of the literature on a sample of 10 relatively well-developed CA scales. Some of the theoretical and practical advantages of the technique over other methods of assessing psychological states are also examined, as well as some of its problems and limitations. Information about available CA scales is included. Applications of CA in personality, developmental, and social psychology are considered, together with others in clinical, community, and health psychology. The scoring of CA scales by computer is also discussed, as is their contribution to an ethical relationship between researcher and research participant. The viability of CA as an aid in psychological research is evaluated. (158 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What to do with significant multivariate effects in multivariate analyses of variance.

Significant multivariate tests in the multivariate analysis of variance are often followed by analyses of the contributions of individual dependent variables to those significant effects. There has been little agreement, however, as to which specific analyses should be performed. The use of the 2 most common techniques, analysis of variance for each dependent variable and discriminant analysis, are discussed and then illustrated in a computer study. It is suggested that the purpose of the user should determine the technique chosen as the 2 methods are not alternative approaches to the same problem. Analysis of variance can be used for hypothesis testing of individual variables and is appropriate for research. The value of discriminant analysis is in prediction and classification, although it can indicate complex relationships between measures in hypothesis testing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Action-Project Method in Counseling Psychology.

The qualitative action-project method is described as an appropriate and heuristic qualitative research method for use in counseling psychology. Action theory, which addresses human intentional, goal-directed action, project, and career, provides the conceptual framework for the method. Data gathering and analysis involve multiple procedures to access information from 3 perspectives: manifest behavior, internal processes, and social meaning. The method has a number of advantages, including its conceptualization, which is close to human experience; its systematic data gathering and analysis procedures; its usefulness in describing processes of interest to counseling psychologists; and its uniqueness among qualitative research methods. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scale construction.

The design, development, and evaluation of scales for use in counseling psychology research are discussed. Methods of scale construction described include the Thurstone, Q-sort, rank-order methods, Likert, semantic differential, Guttman, Rasch, and external criterion methods. Strengths and weaknesses, advantages, and disadvantages are considered, and ways of evaluating newly developed scales are presented. Other issues such as measurement versus statistics, bandwidth versus fidelity, empirical versus rational methods, response bias, and multimethod measurement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate analysis versus multiple univariate analyses.

The argument for preceding multiple analysis of variance ({anovas}) with a multivariate analysis of variance ({manova}) to control for Type I error is challenged. Several situations are discussed in which multiple {anovas} might be conducted without the necessity of a preliminary {manova}. Three reasons for considering multivariate analysis are discussed: to identify outcome variable system constructs, to select variable subsets, and to determine variable relative worth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-cultural psychology.

Cross-cultural psychologists have supplied information that can be integrated into regular psychology courses for undergraduates. References to this kind of information are provided, and methodological problems of cross-cultural research are discussed in terms of differing meanings of concepts, translation, and bias in the use of single research methods. The benefits and difficulties of cross-cultural research are examined in terms of theory expansion, study of the context in which behaviors occur, and the possibility of unconfounding research variables. Some of the contributions of this field to the study of perception, cognition, motivation, interpersonal interaction, and group dynamics are reviewed. Some applications of cross-cultural psychology to employee selection and appraisal, cross-cultural training, and psychopathology are mentioned. (113 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Statistical significance testing and cumulative knowledge in psychology: Implications for training of researchers.

Data analysis methods in psychology still emphasize statistical significance testing, despite numerous articles demonstrating its severe deficiencies. It is now possible to use meta-analysis to show that reliance on significance testing retards the development of cumulative knowledge. But reform of teaching and practice will also require that researchers learn that the benefits that they believe flow from use of significance testing are illusory. Teachers must revamp their courses to bring students to understand that (a) reliance on significance testing retards the growth of cumulative research knowledge; (b) benefits widely believed to flow from significance testing do not in fact exist; and (c) significance testing methods must be replaced with point estimates and confidence intervals in individual studies and with meta-analyses in the integration of multiple studies. This reform is essential to the future progress of cumulative knowledge in psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate analysis of variance by multiple regression methods.

Discusses multivariate analysis of variance as a general case of familiar multiple regression analysis. A consequence of this approach is a unified treatment of multivariate analysis of variance which can be used by psychologists who are generally familiar with multiple regression approaches to univariate analysis of variance. It is suggested that the generality of the approach permits solutions consistent with any of the several available strategies for dealing with problems of unequal and disproportionate cell frequencies. Inherent in the multiple regression formulation is the otherwise not so obvious fact that univariate analysis of variance results are an integral part of the multivariate solution and that both are important for understanding complex data. Methods of interpreting multivariate analysis of variance results in complex factorial experimental designs are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)