Clinical Psychology

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Recommended: Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research methods

Clinical psychology aims to reduce psychological distress and to enhance and promote psychological well-being by the systematic application of knowledge derived from psychological theory and data’ (British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology, 2001). To this end clinical psychology has distinguished itself from other helping professions by an enduring reliance on its foundation of scientific research.

Within scientific research there is always a strong debate between those that prefer quantitative methods and those who prefer qualitative ones. proponents of quantitative methods have built the standards in experimental research and in researches performed on a large number of subjects and which use sampling criteria and statistical analysis techniques. On the other side, the qualitative method uses procedures of qualitative nature both at the level of collecting the data as well as the level of analyzing them (Tagliapietra, Trifan, Raineri & Lis, 2009). The gathering data procedures include: interviews, group discussions, observations, journals; while the analysis procedures include coding, categorizations and systematic confrontation between the categories and their dimensions. Such research is often defined as an explorative one, opposite to “classical” scientific research aiming to confirm / disconfirm initial hypothesis. Among the qualitative methods used in the scientific research we can list: Focus Group, Speech Analysis, Conversation Analysis, Grounded Theory and Phenomenological Interpretative Analysis (Tagliapietra, Trifan, Raineri & Lis, 2009).

This tension between an emphasis on a positivist science base and an emphasis on therapy and professional issues runs through many debates in clinical psy...

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...s to use, qualitative methods in drug evaluation can increase the likelihood of discovering new kinds of information about the experiences of patients and those who care for them.

In summary, quantitative research method as a research tool has an several contribution in the field of clinical psychology. Opportunities are unlimited in rehabilitation to describe and interpret phenomena via qualitative study. The qualitative research method is needed in addition to or concurrently with the quantitative perspective in improving the practices of clinical psychology. Using qualitative methods in clinical practices has several advantages compared to the quantitative methods. Moreover qualitative method as a research tool has been proven by different researchers that it contributes in development of new theories and new treatment approaches in clinical psychology.

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