Exam Research Methods 2019/20 PDF

Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 Klausur Forschungsmethoden 1 Clinical significance… true false A Can be assess using Kendall’s equivalency testing method B Is expressed when a client’s post-intervention score represents abnor...

Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 Klausur Forschungsmethoden 1 Clinical significance… true false A Can be assess using Kendall’s equivalency testing method B Is expressed when a client’s post-intervention score represents abnormal functioning C Is expressed when a client’s post-intervention score has moved outside the range of the dysfunctional population D Is reched when intervention and control group differ significantly regarding the primary outcome 2 Seligman (1995) characterizes 5 properties of psychotherapy as it is done in true false the field and that are difficult to assess in controlled studies. Which properties are these? A Psychotherapy in the field is self-correcting B Psychotherapy in the field has not fixed durations C Patients in psychotherapy in the field usually have multiple problems D Psychotherapy in the field is almost always concerned with clinical equivalency 3 How can the results of small-n-studies be generalized across studies? true false A …using so called clinical replication studies. B …by relying on multi-level methods. C …by computing meta-analyses based on obtained effect sizes. D …generalization is not possible with small-n-studies due to their lack of (statistical) power 4 An audit in clinic research… true false A is the basis of quality assurance to set up procedures in services B is a concept that refers to treatment efficacy studies in outpatient services C is an approach that is comparable (if not synonymous) to program evaluation D describes a circle in progress as typically present in evaluation research 5 Neuroscientific methods… true false A In comparison to fMRI, EEG has a much higher spatial resolution. B PET is the only methods to infer causal effects of differences in brain activity on behavioural outcomes. C Using TMS is not possible (and not warranted advisable) to reach subcortical structures. D Assess only functional but not structural malfunctioning Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 6 Outcome evaluation in program evaluation research includes true false A The assessment of positive outcomes and benefits for the clients B The assessment of negative outcomes C The assessment of client satisfaction (with the service) D The assessment of outcomes of some individuals (case tracking) 7 Meta analyses: true false A Before calculating a combined effect size, we need to ensure that all individual effect sizes have the same metric B Are highly powered interval-based estimates of parameters based on replication principles C Can be computed to generalize data across a number of small-n-design studies D „random effects“ meta-analyses are a way to address and model the heterogeneity between studies 8 The validity of a measurement… True false A Is computed for metric data using Cronbach’s alpha (internal consistency) B Can be assessed by means of face validity (as provided by means of qualitative expert ratings) C Is always (numerically) larger than the reliability of the measurement D Assesses the meaning of measurement (as specified in its definition) 9 „Random effects“… true false A Is a term that refers to approaches that assume that parameter estimations are the results of random experiments but remain stable across different studies/participants B Are evident in some types of non-overlapping pairs approaches in single case designs C Are computed in some multi-level models D Random effect models are computed to generalize the results of meta-analyses to the whole population of studies 10 SCED… true false A …refers to „single case experimental designs” B …designs rely on only a few participants C …have the advantage over larger scale clinical research studies to produce data that do not constitute a time series D …ABAB studies represent typical designs for SCED Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 11 In Randomized Controlled Trials… true false A Using small-n pilot studies could lead to underestimations of statistical power B ANCOVA models should be preferred over ANOVA models C a PPF (pre-post-follow up) design is the best way to assess the clinical outcomes and to evaluate efficacy of a treatment D the term ‘controlled’ refers to the inclusion of a control group 12 Limitations of meta-analyses are… true false A The number of studies that can be included in the meta-analysis B Qualitative information is ignored C The quality of the results depends on the quality of the included studies D Effect sizes do not convey meaningful information 13 CONSORT true false A = Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials B Includes of flow diagram which displays the steps of statistical analyses to be conducted in RCTs C Provides a checklist to avoid biased estimates in analyses of RCTs D Are guidelines how to report RCTs 14 Typical examples of assessments in therapy process research are… true false A Client survey methods B Audio-taped recording of therapy session C Therapist self-report measures D Observational methods 15 ITSACORR… (Crosbie, 1993) true false A …is a spesific kind of time series analysis B …is known to be (statistically) flawed but can be used in SCED studies with only minimal corrections in the error terms C …is the most current type of multi-level analysis for SCED studies D …is the specifically designed to deal with short time series Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 16 Multilevel models (Multilevel modeling, MLM) true false A …are suggested to be computed in case of missing data and unbalanced designs B …represent the state of the art of statistical analyses in RCTs C …are sometimes just called mixed model regressions D …should not be applied in therapy process research 17 Outcome domains in therapy process research are… true false A Diagnoses/ symptoms B Clients experience with mental health service (= consumer satisfaction) C Change in couple communication (= environments) D Ability to meet the demands of work 18 Klaus Grave… true false A …identified therapeutic bond as a main mechanism of change in psychotherapy B …identified 5 mechanisms of change particularly important in psychodynamic therapies (but not in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy) C …identified symptom shifts as typical change mechanisms in psychotherapy D …conducted the first meta-analysis to identify typical change mechanisms in psychotherapy 19 Small-n-studies… true false A Are well known to lead to underpowered RCTs when they are used to estimate necessary sample sizes B Are essential for establishing treatment efficacy in therapy research C Can be reliably analysed using graphs and diagrams (=visual data analysis) D Are best analysed using multilevel random effects modeling Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 Open Questions: 20) In evaluation research a differentiation exists for service evaluation between the needs, the demands and the supply. Could you write down in your own words what is meant by these concepts and how they differ using an example of your choice. (5 points) 21) Please fill in the missing words! (4 points) (a) A ………………………… is a study which combines results from more than one quantitative empirical study into a single estimate of the parameter. (b) …………………… represents a more powerful and precise statistical test than ANOVA when used for randomized treatment studies. (Read et al, 2013) (c) Internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha) is the standard way of assessing the …………………….…. of a scale that is composed of multiple similar items. The assumption is that the items are equivalent or parallel, that is, that they all aim to tap the same underlying construct. (d) It is important that covariates are measured ……………….. treatment begins; otherwise differences between conditions on the first assessment will be adjusted or equalled between conditions. 22) In clinical research some effort is taken to evaluate the external validity of an intervention. What does external validity refer to, how is it defined in this case? (3 points) Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 Please answer 2 out of 4 of the questions (23a-d) presented on this page! (4 points each) 23a) What must be considered when we would like to compare different therapeutic interventions? Please write down and explain some problems and pitfalls that need to be considered in such designs. 23b) Please name at least 3 different methods/ approaches how the reliability of an observation is assessed (in terms of inter-rater reliability)? Which of these methods assumes nominal scales of the ratings? 23c) What is ‘creaming’? At which step of a service evaluation could ‘creaming’ create a problem and for whom? 23d) In clinical research a difference is made between efficacy and effectiveness studies. Could you explain in your own words what these terms refer to? Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 24) Name 4 reasons why clinical psychologists (practitioners) don’t do research and explain one of these reasons by your own words. (5 points) Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 25) What is ‘clinical significance’? Do you know methods to assess clinical significance? Why is it difficult to assess clinical significance? Please write down an explain one example how to assess clinical significance! (5 points) 26) Why is a simple unpaired student’s t-test inappropriate to evaluate the outcomes of an intervention group in a randomized controlled trial in comparison to a waitlist-control group? (3 points) Exam Research Methods // 2019/20 27) Imagine you are a young and highly motivated researcher who would like to start a clinical research program to evaluate the efficacy of a recently developed and manualized transference- focused psychodynamic (TFP) therapy for depression in an outpatient unit. The (primary) outcome will be evaluated based on the symptom severity as measured by Becks’s Depression Inventory (BDI). Because you know the advantages and disadvantages of different control group designs you decide you will need one particular type of control group. (6 points) You come up with a simple RCT design (where 1 group is your TFT group). Please explain the ethical issues you considered that led to the decision of this particular control group. Write down a concrete example of the control group and explain your decision. Who will be selected as likely participants in this group? You consider an ANCOVA design to analyse the primary outcomes from baseline and post-session follow-up. Why is this analysis to be preferred over standard ANOVA models? Which covariate(s) would you choose to be included in your design and why?