Research Methods in Clinical and Health Pyschology I

Presentation

Evidence-based practice is an ethical imperative in applied contexts of psychology. Therefore, professionals should understand, critically appraise, and apply information from scientific research. Focusing on topics related to clinical and health psychology, this curricular unit aims to foster students¿ autonomy in critically appraising studies in this field, and in planning rigorous investigations. This requires knowledge of the different research designs, types of validity and their potential threats, several sampling techniques, among other topics discussed throughout the semester.

Part of this Programme

Clinical and Health Psychology

Level of Qualification|Semesters|ECTS

| Semestral | 5

Year | Type of course unit | Language

1 |Mandatory |Português

Code

ULHT65-14820

Recommended complementary curricular units

N/A

Prerequisites and co-requisites

n/a

Professional Internship

Não

Syllabus

1. Specificities of research in clinical and health psychology. The relevance of evidence-based practice.
2. Validity:
   1. Types: internal, external, construct, and data-evaluation.
   2. Threats.
3. Research questions:
   1. Literature review.
   2. Hypotheses generation.
   3. Variable operationalization.
   4. Variable classification.
4. Research designs:
   1. Experimental research with groups:
      1. experimental designs;
      2. quasi-experimental designs;
      3. control and comparison groups.
   2. Observational research:
      1. case-control studies;
      2. cohort studies.
   3. Single-case experimental research.
5. Participants:
   1. Selection:
      1. target-population;
      2. biases and representativeness;
      3. sample size.
   2. Vulnerable populations.
   3. Ethics.

Objectives

In the first semester, this curricular unit focuses the first stages of the research process in clinical and health psychology, highlighting the specificities of the studies in this field and the need to adopt an evidence-based practice. At the end of the semester, students should be able to: 1) justify the relevance of an evidence-based practice; 2) identify the different types of validity in research and their threats; 3) formulate research questions; 4) formulate research hypotheses based on the literature review; 5) operationalize variables; 6) classify variables; 7) identify the different research designs; 8) select a research design suited to the research question and hypotheses; 9) select a sample suited to the research question and hypotheses; and 10) adopt procedures that are in accordance with the ethical principles in psychology.

Teaching methodologies and assessment

Classes are theoretical-practical and based on the use of expositive and interrogative teaching methods, for presenting the topics and fostering students¿ participation, respectively. In order to consolidate the knowledge, topic presentation is based on several examples of studies in the fields of clinical and health psychology. To highlight the application of the topics, the active method is preferred, through the analysis of scientific papers and practical exercises focusing the different stages of the research process previously presented.

Class attendance is mandatory. Continuous assessment: an individual written test (weight: 50%), a group assignment to be presented orally (weight: 35%), and an individual written assignment (weight: 15%). The final average grade should be 10 values or higher. Final assessment consists of a written exam (100%) including every topic in the syllabus. The final grade should be 10 values or higher

References

Areán, P. A., & Kraemer, H. C. (2013). High-quality psychotherapy research: From conception to piloting to national trials. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Barker, C., Pistrang, N., & Elliott, R. (2015). Research methods in clinical psychology: An introduction for students and practitioners (3.ª ed.). Chichester: Wiley.

Kazdin, A. (2017). Research design in clinical psychology (5.ª ed.). Harlow: Pearson.

Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., & Lohr, J. M. (Coords.) (2015). Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology (2.ª ed.). Nova Iorque: Guilford.

Makel, M. C., & Plucker, J. A. (Coords.) (2017). Toward a more perfect psychology: Improving trust, accuracy, and transparency in research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

McLeod, J. (2011). Qualitative research in counselling and psychotherapy (2.ª ed.). Londres: SAGE.

Morley, S. (2018). Single-case methods in clinical psychology: A practical guide. Londres: Routledge.

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