Class Research Methods in Clinical and Health Pyschology I

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.

Not applicable

S1 Specificities of research in Clinical and Health Psychology. The relevance of evidence-based practice. S2 Validity:     S2.1 types: internal, external, construct, and statistical conclusion;     S2.2 threats. S3 Research questions:     S3.1 Literature review.     S3.2 Hypotheses generation.     S3.3 Variable operationalization.     S3.4 Variable classification. S4 Research designs:     S4.1 Experimental research with groups:        S4.1.1 experimental designs;        S4.1.2 quasi-experimental designs;        S4.1.3 control and comparison groups.     S4.2 Observational research:         S4.2.1 case-control studies;         S4.2.2 cohort studies.     S4.3 Single-case experimental research designs. S5 Participants:     S5.1 Selection:          S5.1.1 target-population;          S5.1.2 biases and representativeness;          S5.1.3 sample size.    S5.2 Vulnerable populations.     S5.3 Ethics.

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, the practice will be focused on problem-solving using a collaborative and blended learning approach

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. (2023). Research design in clinical psychology (6th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 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.