| Abstract: | Year after year articles appear presenting evidence that the well-known tools of the clinical psychologist fail to measure up to the statistical respectability which rigorous science demands. What is their impact on our profession? The data offered in these articles are viewed by the psychologist steeped in diagnosis and therapy with an indifference that borders on disdain. These same articles elicit a quite different reaction from the statistically oriented psychologist. He is furious that people who are called "psychologists" are discrediting his profession by their complacent indifference to objective evidence. To understand these reactions, factors are examined that include the personalities of the psychologists and the nature of evidence itself. However, the author notes that the time has come for psychologists to realize that they cannot forever remain a divided profession. Perhaps it would help if psychologists could admit that "truth has many faces." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
