Research Methods in Clinical Psychology by Barker Chris Elliott Robert Pistrang Nancy. & Nancy Pistrang & Robert Elliott

Author:Barker, Chris,Elliott, Robert,Pistrang, Nancy. & Nancy Pistrang & Robert Elliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781118773192
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published: 2015-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

Correlational studies can establish the first condition, that two variables, A and B, covary. Information relevant to the second condition, how they are ordered in time, may also be known. The third condition, that of eliminating alternative explanations, can be addressed to some extent with a correlational framework, although experimental designs are much more suited to this, while the fourth condition, providing a plausible account, can be derived from previous theory and research. (It is worth noting that this fourth condition has frequently been overlooked, and that many experimental designs are “causally empty” in that they shed no light on specific causal processes; see Elliott, 2002; Haynes & O’Brien, 2000.)

Let us take a simplified example, derived from early formulations of client-centered theory (Rogers, 1957). Suppose that variable A represents therapist empathy and variable B represents the client’s outcome at the end of therapy, and that research has established a significant positive correlation between therapist empathy and client outcome. Then a number of inferences about their causal relationships are possible, some of which are depicted in the following simple path diagrams (in which an arrow indicates the direction of a causal relationship):

First it may be that A causes B: higher therapist empathy brings about better client outcomes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.