Research Design in Clinical Psychology

by Professor of Psychology Alan E Kazdin PhD Abpp

This textbook describes and explains the methodology and design of research in clinical psychology. It covers experimental design, assessment, sources of artifact and bias, data evaluation and interpretation, and ethical and professional issues. The principles, obstacles, artifacts, biases, strateg

Genres: Psychology, Research, Nonfiction

673 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alan Kazdin heads the department of clinical psychology at Yale, served (perhaps still does) as the president of the American Psychological Association, and is generally recognized as one of the leader authorities in the field today. That being said, I have a few criticisms of this text.

The text is ambitious and well-intended. Research design is, to most people, not inherently interesting and often tedious; Kazdin uses humor throughout the text to lighten things up and to try to keep the reader involved. I wasn't the biggest fan of his humor, but I think it was a good effort.

My problem is that the text is just too big. He tries to cover too much ground and gets way too detailed. It's not clear who exactly this text is written for. It was assigned reading in my clinical research methods class, but it didn't really have much competition. The book is supposed to be an introduction to these research methods, and for an old hand this work would sound pedantic. However, the descriptions and definitions are much too technical to be much use to an uninitiated audience. Far too much writing is spent on what I would consider minor issues (such as separating out with painstaking detail categories of experimental design). It is good to be familiar with the name and to know there are difference between them. But the gist is lost in the meantime. Fine distinctions are for the professional, or for anyone in a position to practice and see first-hand the importance of distinct categories. An intro text is supposed to give you bearings for when you have such an opportunity.

[Beatriz Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

tive 30/30 no exame oral sobre isto nunca fui triste

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undergrad level (read: easier to read, broken down).

[DinosaursAtWork · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book appears suitable for bachelor students, but too simple for master students. Kazdin tries to write engaging, but I find it annoying. For example, he comares to interventions that have equal effects and sassily remarks that you cannot conclude that either intervention was effective. Great, that's a mistake I haven't made since my first year Bachelor, maybe we can step up the intervention evaluation a bit. At times it reads as if Kazdin tried to imitate Andy Field, but isn't quite going all the way, making it a rather dry read with sad attempts at humour.
I would also like to point out that the book contains some errors and is not available in book-form in Europe, so I think this book is really overpriced.