The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute

Thesis Guidebook for the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology 2011-2012

A Supplement to the Academic Catalog

2 Table of Contents Purpose of this Guidebook ................................................................................................................... 3 Thesis Flowchart .................................................................................................................................. 4 Option A: Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 5 Option B: Clinical Case Study ............................................................................................................. 7 Option C: Empirical Study ................................................................................................................. 12 Correlation Study, Analysis of Variance, or Other .................................................................... 12 Survey Research ......................................................................................................................... 14 Author.Predictive Research........................................................................................................ 15 Methodology/Psychometrics Research and Normative Research .............................................. 18 Single-Subject Designs ............................................................................................................... 20 Cohort/Case-Control Studies ..................................................................................................... 22 Qualitative Research .................................................................................................................. 23 Developmental Research ............................................................................................................ 25 Meta-Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 26 Timelines, Procedures, Policies, and Forms ...................................................................................... 27 Appendix A: Thesis Timeline ............................................................................................................ 28 Appendix B: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Procedures .............................................................. 29 Appendix C: Forest Institute Policies................................................................................................. 31

3 Purpose of this Guidebook This is the guidebook for preparing the masters thesis in clinical psychology at Forest. It should be used in conjunction with the Style and Formatting Guide for Theses and Doctoral Projects. Policy and Procedure related to the completion of the thesis projects are listed in the Academic Catalog (in the appendix labeled Thesis and Clinical Dissertation). In the context of this guidebook document, thesis refers to the document that is required for the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology degree. It is the outcome of a large scholarly project in which the student systematically explores the connections between evidence and theories. Further, it is intended to demonstrate critical thinking in the pursuit of knowledge in the field of clinical psychology. This large scholarly project is an academic capstone experience intended to accomplish a variety of goals. Model for Empirically Informed Practice The purpose of the thesis requirement is to develop the students ability to integrate the larger body of empirical literature with local/ideographic empirical data to synthesize meaningful observations or truths about the clinical world. These clinical truths may benefit individual clients, specific types of clients (clients with certain shared characteristics), clients in general, or the field of clinical psychology in general.

4 Thesis Flowchart The general thesis process is typically completed within a one year time period. There are three primary options (or types) of projects that can be completed in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts degree requirement: The literature review (Option A), the clinical case study (Option B), and the more traditional empirical study (Option C). Please see Figure 1 for an illustration of the series of events as they typically occur in the completion of the thesis.

Learn about topic in class, reading articles, discuss in seminaretc.

OR

Have an ongoing topic of interest already in mind.

-Select a topic or set of topics, -Find mentors with similar interests to serve as committee members, & -Complete Thesis Agreement.

1. Continue to review literature.

-Critically evaluate literature, collect & analyze data, & write results.

Present Thesis publicly.

2. Form critique, hypotheses & outline.

3. Write proposal (& obtain IRB approval if applicable).

-Form concluding statements and critiques, -Propose further research, & -Complete multiple drafts with feedback from committee members.

Submit approved Thesis to the Registrar.

Figure 1. Typical series of events in the thesis process (a more detailed narrative description of this process will be provided below).

Option A: Literature Review

Most Master of Arts degree students choose to identify a problem and review and critique the theoretical and empirical literature surrounding that problem for their thesis. The written document should include both a description of the available literature in that area and a critical evaluation of that literature. The literature review should systematically evaluate the premises that logically support a particular research question or testable hypothesis related to the identified problem. The student starts with a clinical problem of interest and then generates a question or hypothesis about that problem based on some combination of scholarly inquiry, creativity, and/or experience. The student then systematically evaluates the related theoretical and empirical premises which would support that question or hypothesis. The student strives to identify any inadequacies in the literature reviewed and any controversies surrounding the rationale for that question or hypothesis. Of course, Master of Arts students may also choose to complete a project that involves collecting data from participants as outlined in the next two sections of this guidebook. For the typical thesis proposal the student must (a) Define the problem of interest (i.e., what is interesting to you that others might find interesting as well?), (b) State the question or hypothesis about that problem (e.g., What questions do you have? What do you hope to learn about or clarify by reviewing the literature?), (c) State why the problem is important given the current state of the profession, (d) Identify the theoretical and/or empirical areas that will be reviewed and evaluated for the final thesis, and (e) State the potential significance of the study to the profession. The thesis proposal is typically five to ten pages in length, not including references. To complete the requirements for the thesis proposal, the student must submit to the chair electronic fulltext or paper copies of at least 15 to 30 relevant references that the student has already obtained. These references must be listed in the reference section of the proposal. Students are expected to review literature from scholarly sources such as high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals, edited books, and seminal publications in the field. As much as possible, students are expected to avoid reviewing review articles unless they are quantitative reviews (e.g., metaanalysis) and should instead seek out the original source material that was reviewed for those reviews. Students are advised to use the Goldilocks Rule in selecting an area to review (i.e., avoid overly broad areas that have too much literature and avoid overly narrow areas that have too little literature to review). Feedback from the students faculty chair and the Research Office can be helpful in making this distinction prior to submitting the proposal. Once the proposal has been approved by the thesis committee the student has two main tasks: (a) Read, digest, understand, and evaluate all of the sources, and (b) Write the text. Both of these tasks can create additional threads that the student must follow by obtaining additional source material. That is, as you read through the literature more comprehensively, you will discover additional lines of questions and bodies of literature that you will integrate into your review. Likewise, if you expected to find a body of literature on a particular topic but then discovered that it did not exist, then point this out in your literature review as well. These are some of the many reasons why the thesis cannot be completed in a condensed or short time frame (i.e., no less than two terms). The literature review is NOT just an annotated list of books, articles, or studies. Rather the literature review should be a comprehensive and flowing narrative that keeps the reader interested in the topic that you are reviewing. The literature being reviewed is generally

6 organized from broad to specific, meaning that the information presented first is used to establish the topic for the reader. Next, the reader is given an overview of the relevant research in the selected topic area, comparing and contrasting each of those sources to guide the reader through your reasoning of the problem at hand. Finally, the sources that are most relevant are described according to how they have failed to address a gap in the literature and left a question unaddressed. In order for a literature review to be interesting and to cover the full breadth of information that is necessary, you may need to review a variety of sources. These sources may include historical monographs, empirical journal articles, books chapters, masters theses, and dissertations. It may be useful (i.e., help make a point) to include more culturally/historically relevant material that does not necessarily meet the level of rigor or peer review that is typically required for scholarly work. However, if you decide to include this type of material, do so only sparingly and make sure you consult your committee and the Research Office before doing so. Certainly, nontraditional sources or materials should only serve as a supplement to the more mainstream scholarly sources listed above. Finally, although it is clear that quantity does not necessarily define quality, a literature review (either constituting the thesis or as a part of the doctoral project) with sufficient scope is going to be longer than a typical class paper or class project and should be at least 30 pages in length (not including the reference list). The literature review should be of sufficient quantity AND quality. Additional References and Resources: Cooper, H. (1998). Synthesizing research: A guide for literature reviews (3rd ed.). Applied social research methods series: Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Fink, A. (2005). Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to paper (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Galvin, J. L. (2006). Writing literature reviews: A guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. Hart, C. (2001). Doing a literature search: A comprehensive guide for the social sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Option B: Clinical Case Study

There are certain phenomena that occur, or questions that arise, in the course of clinical practice that are not readily examined through typical multiple participant research designs. That is, if there is a question that is specific to a very peculiar or isolated event or that is unique to a very limited client population (e.g., those suffering from head injury), it is not reasonable or practical (nor in most cases ethical) to design and collect group data. Rare chromosomal problems may occur in one or two of your clients out of the thousands of clients you may work with over an entire career. Although specialty clinics allow for the practical implementation of some group designs, there is a function and merit to conducting a single-subject case study in efforts to evaluate rare or ideographic phenomena. That is, if you had a client that presented with social phobia and a specific fear of bicycles, you may have to generate a treatment protocol/approach to address the specific fear of bikes in the context of the general social phobia pathology. Because there is no literature on the effective treatment of comorbid cyclophobia and social phobia, you hypothesize that a particularly unique combination of cyclophobia interventions and social phobia interventions may be effective for your client. Because you are not aware of any other clients with this particular combination of symptoms or complaints, you need to evaluate whether your proposed set of interventions are effective with your client as services are being rendered. You carefully and consistently assess your client and his or her level of symptom complaints, distress, and impairment before, during, and after your specific intervention. As you collect data, you may adjust your intervention accordingly to optimize clinical impact and change (carefully documenting any changes that you make along the way). You may try to document your interactions with the client (using audio, videotape, or live observation) so that aspects of the clients functioning and/or clinical change can be viewed and rated by experts in the field. The net result of the process being that you have found and can clearly show some novel or unique phenomena that is new to the psychological literature or to the base of clinical knowledge and wisdom. In this hypothetical situation, it may be discovered that exposure treatment for cyclophobia needs to be fully and successfully implemented prior to the start of more general treatment of social phobia, for example. The case-study design can be used in many different settings and situations, but is commonly used to evaluate less concrete or objective clinical phenomena such as therapy process or aspects of the therapeutic relationship. Although this option for the Master of Arts thesis may seem easier than the other options, this may not necessarily be the case. Extensive and careful documentation of many different variables is required. Also, the case-study process should include an introduction and a thorough review of the literature to provide the logical/rational basis for the need/benefit of completing the case study. The literature review should systematically evaluate the premises that logically support a particular research question or testable hypothesis related to the identified problem. The student starts with a clinical problem of interest and then generates a question or hypothesis about that problem based on some combination of scholarly inquiry, creativity, and/or experience. The student then systematically evaluates the related theoretical and empirical premises which would support that question or hypothesis. The student strives to identify any inadequacies in the literature reviewed and any controversies surrounding the rationale for that question or hypothesis. If there is not much

8 literature in the area, this review might be shorter than 30 pages, but you need to be careful to adequately review the literature that is available (and to point out where it is lacking). The literature review is NOT just an annotated list of books, articles, or studies. Rather the literature review should be a comprehensive and flowing narrative that keeps the reader interested in the topic that you are reviewing. This goes beyond just the use of artful transitions and implies that your review also has a beginning, middle, and end. The literature being reviewed is generally organized from broad to specific, meaning that the information presented first is used to establish the topic for the reader. Next, the reader is given an overview of the relevant research in the selected topic area, comparing and contrasting each of those sources to guide the reader through your reasoning of the problem at hand. Finally, the sources that are most relevant are described according to how they have failed to address a gap in the literature and left a question unaddressed. For a literature review to be interesting and to cover the full breadth of information that is necessary, you may need to review a variety of sources. These sources may include historical monographs, empirical journal articles, books chapters, masters theses, and dissertations. It may be useful to include more culturally/historically relevant material that does not necessarily meet the level of rigor or peer review that is typically required for scholarly work. However, if you decide to include this type of material, do so only sparingly and make sure you consult your committee and the Research Office before doing so. Certainly, nontraditional sources or materials should only serve as a supplement to the more mainstream scholarly sources listed above. Students are expected to review literature from scholarly sources such as high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific journals, edited books, and seminal publications in the field. As much as possible, students are expected to avoid reviewing review articles unless they are quantitative reviews (e.g., meta-analysis) and should instead seek out the original source material that was reviewed for those reviews. For the typical thesis proposal the student must (a) Define the problem of interest (i.e., what is interesting to you that others might find interesting as well?), (b) State the question or hypothesis about that problem (e.g., What questions do you have? What do you hope to learn about or clarify by reviewing the literature?), (c) State why the problem is important given the current state of the profession, (d) Identify the theoretical and/or empirical areas that will be reviewed and evaluated for the final thesis, and (e) State the potential significance of the study to the profession. The literature review should end with a specific statement of the research problem and the expected outcome of the study. The thesis proposal is typically five to ten pages in length, not including references. To complete the requirements for the thesis proposal, the student must submit to the chair electronic fulltext or paper copies of at least 15 to 30 relevant references that the student has already obtained. These references must be listed in the reference section of the proposal. Students are advised to use the Goldilocks Rule in selecting an area to review (i.e., avoid overly broad areas that have too much literature and avoid overly narrow areas that have too little literature to review). Feedback from the students faculty chair and the Research Office can be helpful in making this distinction prior to submitting the proposal. Following the introduction and literature review, you should present the method, results, and discussion sections of your case study. The specific elements of these sections will be reviewed just below. The following elements of a clinical case-study design are taken from the Instructions for Authors document of the online journal, Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy (Rutgers

9 Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and the Rutgers University Libraries, 2004). These section titles may be used as subheadings in the thesis document as long as APA Publication
Manual rules for level of heading are followed.

1. Case Context and Method: In this section you should clarify the environment of the case. This includes a brief re-statement of the current problem/question and related history (as it is relevant to your specific client/questions), the specific intervention or process of treatment that will occur, the clinical setting in which the case will take place, the sources of data that will be collected (i.e., clinical notes, self-report, other report, survey data), the measurement and observation methods that will be used to collect data or gain consensus amongst raters, and the means through which client confidentiality and privacy will be protected. 2. The Client: This section will identify the unique characteristics of the client pertinent to the case study (disguising the clients true identity), the clients pertinent history, and the clients specific complaints, symptoms, or characteristics that are the focus of intervention (as well as intervention goals). 3. Guiding Conception, with Clinical and Research Support: The authors (Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and the Rutgers University Libraries, 2004) clearly and eloquently state that the guiding conception should include [verbatim]: A) An understanding of the nature of this type of clients presenting problems, and how specific interventions and/or general strategies can alleviate them. B) The models view of the therapists role, the therapist-patient relationship, and other common factors in the therapy. C) The relationship betweenassessment, formulation, course of therapy, & therapy monitoring [see below]and the chronology of the therapy. That is, the author should describe whether the guiding conception views therapy as proceeding in roughly the order of [assessment, formulation, course of therapy, & therapy monitoring]or whether there is a discrepancy between the sequence [in brackets]and the [actual] sequence of therapy process [as it occurs]. If there is such a discrepancy, the author should (a) describe the nature of the discrepancy; and (b) present the case in a clear and systematic fashion indicating in detail the nature of the problem, the process of the therapy, and the outcome of the process. D) The therapists prior experience with similar cases and, if applicable, his or her specific clinical training that may be relevant to this work. 4. Assessment of the Clients Presenting Problems, Goals, Strengths, and History: The content of this section should be self-explanatory. The information provided in this section should be related to the objective data available regarding the client. 5. Formulation and Treatment Plan: This is the section in which you interpret the clients problems, goals, strengths, and history and use this interpretation to guide the development of your treatment plan and strategies. That is, the structure and format of the intervention should flow logically and

10 naturally from what you have already established as your guiding conception in interaction with the clients presenting data and history (as discussed in number 4 just preceding). 6. Course of Therapy: The authors (Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and the Rutgers University Libraries, 2004) clarify that [verbatim]: A) In this section, the course of therapy should be described in terms of how at least three functionsrapport/alliance-building, assessment, and interventionplay out over the temporal course of the therapy. In other words, at one end of the spectrum, the three functions are conducted in temporal sequence, with rapport/alliance building coming first, then assessment, and then intervention; at the other end of the spectrum, the three functions are viewed as in continuous interplay; and there are then all sorts of positions in the middle of these two poles. B) Two general types of processes should be included in the description: (a) the therapy relationship (including rapport/alliance-building behaviors, attitudes, and strategies of the therapist), the responses of the client, and the interaction between therapist and client; and (b) the specific therapeutic strategies and procedures employed by the therapist, and the clients reaction to them. It is particularly valuable if verbatim transcripts can be excerpted to illustrate the therapeutic process at critical junctures. C) As the course of the therapy is described, the links between the Guiding Conception and the ongoing therapy interventions and processes should be explored and analyzed. D) Included should be a description of confounding factors or unanticipated difficulties in the therapy. These can include such events as (a) personal reactions of the therapist to the client (referred to in some models as countertransference); and (b) disruptions in the therapy from outside sources (such as insurers, relatives of the client, and health problems of client or therapist). 7. Therapy Monitoring and Use of Feedback Information: This section should include information regarding what qualitative and/or quantitative information you gathered and how this information informed or affected the ongoing treatment/intervention process. This information may be gathered through session analysis, self reflection, receiving supervision, completion of questionnaires, and expert review and coding of the session content. 8. Concluding Evaluation of the Therapys Process and Outcome: Again, the authors (Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and the Rutgers University Libraries, 2004) state that this section should include [verbatim]: A) The outcome of the therapy vis a vis alleviating the clients presenting problems and attaining the clients goals should be described at termination and, ideally if possible, at follow-up time(s). B) A summary statement of the ways in which the Guiding Conception played out in the stages 4-7 above [assessment, formulation, course of therapy, & therapy

11 monitoring] should be set forth, including a critical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Guiding Conception in this case. C) Where possible, comparisons to previously published cases should be made. D) Managed care and other funding related issues associated with the case should be described. E) Recommendations to clinicians and students should be explored.

Additional References and Resources: Kazdin, A. E. (1982). Single-case research designs: Methods for clinical and applied settings. New York: Oxford University Press. Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and the Rutgers University Libraries (2004). Instructions for authors. Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy. Retrieved May 22, 2007, from http://pcsp.libraries.rutgers.edu/instructions.php

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Option C: Empirical Study

The following list of types of empirical research is not necessarily comprehensive, but is intended to give a broad overview of the types of research projects that are often conducted in the field of clinical psychology. Along with a brief description of each type of project, there will also be a list of corresponding elements that should be part of that particular type of study. If you read about a modality of research that is not on this list (but that you would like to use for your thesis) please discuss this with your chair or a member of the Research Office. Correlation Study, Analysis of Variance, or Other It is generally accepted that there are data to be gathered that can inform theory and practice that do not necessarily meet the level of scrutiny required to establish cause and effect per se. For example, it may be sufficient to state that two variables are strongly related (correlation) or that two different groups meaningfully differ on a given variable (analysis of variance; ANOVA). A correlation study is intended to point out a relationship between two constructs [variables] (without any particular directionality or causal claim). A correlation is a co-occurrence. The revelation of such co-occurrence may be meaningful in terms of developing the basic elements of a theory. For example, it was once thought that risk for eating disorder was related to stereotypical gender identification (i.e., masculinity and femininity). That is, the data indicated that higher levels of eating disorder symptoms occurred at a higher rate in those individuals ascribing to a higher level of feminine characteristics. This relationship between gender identity and eating disorder was part of eating disorder theory as a result. When completing a correlation study, please also consider: Possible mediating/moderating variables Autocorrelation Use of covariates Analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) are all variants on the same basic inferential statistical procedure in which you are comparing the variance between the groups to the variance within groups. If the variance between groups is significantly greater than the variance within groups (error), taking the sample size and number of groups into consideration, then we say that there was a significant effect (i.e., the difference is at a level not likely due to chance alone). That is, there was some meaningful difference between groups that allows us to infer that the factor (i.e., construct rule defining group membership) was related to the group differences. The strength of ANOVA designs more broadly relies on how well external confounds related to sample selection and protocol compliance are controlled for. That is, did groups differ significantly prior to intervention or due to some factor not related to your grouping variable? Effect size is of great importance due to the fact that with a large enough sample, any measurable difference between groups will be significant. This is a question of practicality; does the fact that there is a statistically significant difference actually mean much? If you find a significant effect, but it only accounts for one-half of one percent of the variance, most people might not care. However, if

13 the effect is related to mortality or death (such as wearing a seat belt per se), one-half of one percent could have implications or make a difference in the life of one person out of 2000 people. Because we value human life, this small effect size may be very important (especially if you are that one in 2000 people). For a more general discussion of ANOVA and examples, please see Keppel (1991). Here are some additional issues/questions to consider: Are you going to use repeated measures or highly correlated data? What are the effects that you will be analyzing (be selective)? If you will be running multiple analyses using the same data set, then you will need to make corrections to the test statistic that otherwise lead to an increase risk of Type-I error (i.e., saying you found a significant effect that was actually the result of error). Do you have the level of control over variables such that you can reasonably rule out common alternate plausible hypotheses? Additional References and Resources: Chaffin, M., Silovsky, J. F., & Vaughn, C. (2005). Temporal concordance of anxiety disorders and child sexual abuse: Implications for direct versus artifactual effects of sexual abuse. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 34, 210-222. Curry, S. J., Emery, S., Sporer, A. K., Mermelstein, R., Flay, B. R., Berbaum, M., et al. (2007). A national survey of tobacco cessation programs for youths. American Journal of Public Health, 97, 171-177. Forbes, G. B., Adams-Curtis, L. E., Rade, B. O., & Jaberg, P. E. (2001). Body dissatisfaction in women and men: The role of gender-typing and self-esteem. Sex Roles, 44, 461-484. Goodman, R., Iervolino, A., Collishaw, S., Pickles, A., & Maughan, B. (2007). Seemingly minor changes to a questionnaire can make a big difference to mean scores: A cautionary tale. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 42, 322-327. Heinik, J., Solomesh, I., Shein, V., & Becker, D. (2002). Clock drawing test in mild and moderate dementia of the Alzheimers type: A comparative and correlation study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 480-485. Keppel, G. (1991). Design and analysis (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lipsey, M. W. (1990). Design sensitivity: Statistical power for experimental research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Torgler, B., & Schneider, F. (2007). What shapes attitudes toward paying taxes? Evidence from multicultural European countries. Social Sciences Quarterly, 88, 443-470.

14 Survey Research One of the first steps in developing a survey is to clearly identify the objective(s) of your research. The objectives should be as specific and clearly defined as possible. The accuracy of the information you obtain will depend on the clarity of the overall survey design. Four key issues must be considered when designing the survey: 1. 2. 3. 4. Who is your target population? The nature of the questions on the survey. The method of sampling and distribution of the survey (e.g., mail, telephone, email). The ability of the survey to provide the data that will answer the research question(s).

Contriving a sequence of questions to obtain answers to a defined research question may seem easy at first; however, developing a survey that yields accurate data is more difficult than it appears. The following issues are just a few things that a researcher must consider when creating a survey. Question types (open or closed ended). Avoid questions that tax memory Avoid questions that might be self-incriminating Avoid questions that may bias or lead the respondent Avoid double questions Response choices (e.g., Likert scaled, dont know, unsure, neutral, forced option) Language (lowest reading level of target population; avoid slang and technical terms) Demographic information (i.e., what characteristics are important or significant to the research question?) Instructions to respondent (i.e., are they clear?) Response bias can be a concern in survey research. Nonresponse (those who fail to return the survey) bias will occur when there is a difference between those who respond and those who do not respond. For example, Carey (1999) suggests that patients who are genuinely satisfied with their health care experience are less likely to return surveys. Although there is no agreement on the exact percentage of responses that is necessary in order to generalize your data to the population of interest, it is estimated that 50% or more may be required. To help increase response rate, a survey should: Be brief (15 minutes or less to complete) Have aesthetically appealing format Include a motivating cover letter Offer a prepaid postage response envelope if a mailed survey is used Follow up after survey is sent out Guarantee confidentiality or anonymity (i.e., to the extent that you reasonably/ethically can). Additional References and Resources: Babbie, E. R. (1989). The practice of social research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

15 Carey, R. (1999). How to choose a patient survey system. Journal on Quality Improvement, 25(1), 20-25. Ferber, R., Sheatsley, P., Turner, A, & Waksberg, J. (1980). What is a survey? Washington: American Statistical Association. Pattern, M. L. (2001). Questionnaire Research: A practical guide (2nd ed.). Los Angeles: Pyrczak. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences. (1998). SPSS survey tips. [Brochure]. Chicago, IL: Author.

16 Predictive Research In the field of psychology, the ability to predict for whom a treatment might work, under what conditions substance abuse recovery is most likely to succeed, or which offenders are most likely to re-offend, we may be able to design screening and intervention tools (or policy for that matter) to improve the human experience. The general linear model is most frequently used to create prediction equations in the form of multiple regression, discriminate function, or logistic regression. The premise of this approach is that the theory and previous data strongly implicate certain variables (factors) as causing, or more accurately accounting for the variance in, the variable that you want to predict. If you create a mathematical function representing the linear combination of potential variables, you can evaluate the relative importance of each variable in accounting for the variance in the outcome (e.g., the role of high school GPA and test scores in accounting for the variance in college GPA). Unfortunately, not all prediction models are linear. Although there are an infinite set of curvilinear functions that may be employed, statistical knowledge and technology have not progressed to the point where curvilinear functions are commonly or practically used (although this is slowly changing). Prediction research (most commonly employing multiple regression techniques) can either be exploratory or utilitarian in nature. That is, as mentioned above, you can collect data from a group of potential predictors and the criterion (outcome variable) and evaluate how well that group of predictors accounts for the variance in the outcome or how much of the variance in the outcome can be accounted for by each individual predictor. This process can help to identify what variables contribute the most to the prediction of the outcome and also which variables did not contribute (or contributed very little) to the prediction of the outcome with your given sample. This exploratory process can help to clarify the theory in a topic area by highlighting the differential roles of hypothetical variables thought to be related to a specific outcome. Exploratory research should include large samples with a variety of general characteristics to maximize the generalizability of the resulting prediction equation. Once a prediction model (regression equation) has been established, then the utility of the equation needs to be validated by running additional subjects against the equation and evaluating the accuracy of prediction. Once the validity of the equation has been established, the equation can then be applied to new cases to predict an outcome (as discussed above). Can you obtain a large enough sample to create separate primary and cross-validation sample groups? Have you included enough potential predictors (have you included too many)? What are the most important predictor variables? Have you met the basic assumptions for the general linear model (see Tabachnick & Fidell, 2006)? Do the variables that make-up the final prediction equation provide a good fit? What are the anticipated benefits/uses of the prediction data? Is it to clarify/support theory, inform practice, or optimize the use of resources?

17 Additional References and Resources: Doyle, M., & Dolan, M. (2006). Evaluating the validity of anger regulation problems, interpersonal style, and disturbed mental state for predicting inpatient violence. Behavioral Sciences & The Law, 24, 783-798. Johnson, L. N., Sandberg, J. G., & Miller, R. B. (1999). Research practices of marriage and family therapists. American Journal of Family Therapy, 27, 239-249. Schmit, M. J., Amel, E. L., & Ryan, A. M. (1993). Self-reported assertive job-seeking behaviors of minimally educated job hunters. Personnel Psychology, 46, 105-124. Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2006). Using multivariate statistics (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

18 Methodology/Psychometrics Research and Normative Research When attempting to evaluate the usefulness of any given instrument, there are many different criteria against which to judge. Is the instrument valid (does it measure what it says that it is measuring); can it accurately diagnose or predict a condition or group membership; can its results or outcomes be generalized to a variety of people, places, settings; is it valid and ethical to use with minority or underserved populations; is it efficient and economical? These are just a few of the many, many questions that need to be asked and evaluated with regards to any given instrument. You may decide to evaluate some of these questions for a relatively new or obscure instrument or for one that you help create in your own quest to help identify or clarify a clinical construct of interest. For example, if you wanted to study cyclophobia, but discovered that there was only one published instrument for measuring cyclophobia and that only very limited information was available regarding the validity and reliability of the instrument, you may conclude that you cannot study cyclophobia as you had wanted. Instead, you may want to evaluate the reliability and validity (or other psychometric properties) of this new instrument with a variety of different samples of individuals (those with and without symptoms of cyclophobia) and add to the literature documenting the properties of the instrument. You would be helping to set the stage such thatsome day in the futureyou may be able to actually do the cyclophobia study that you initially thought of doing (i.e., based on an increasingly adequate body of literature supporting the instruments valid and reliable use). A subset of instrument-related research consists of the development of normative data. Normative data is commonly used in intelligence testing and achievement testing, neuropsychological testing, and educational assessment and testing. Normative scores place an individual on a specific point or range of points on a scale relative to his/her peers or comparison group. This type of study requires a very large sample and as such is not practical for most Forest students to complete as their clinical thesis. That being said, there are some instances in which a sample of 200-300 participants may be sufficient to render a meaningful normative profile. For example, lets say that a novel measure of sub-clinical eating disorder has been put forward in the literature. However, the original study only evaluated the normative characteristics of the instrument with 18year-old women. Recent literature indicates that symptoms of disordered eating amongst men may be higher than previously thought. Can the new instrument be used with men; are the cutoff scores the same; do male respondents demonstrate a similar range and level of variance in response to instrument questions? For these types of questions, a smaller preliminary normative sample may be appropriate. If you think that you are interested in completing a normative design, it is recommended that you carefully reflect on your dedication to the area of psychometrics and measurement, as you will need to consider a very wide-range of problems, pitfalls, and safe guards in creating and designing your protocol. In the course of this planning, you will also want to consider: Even if it is a preliminary study (i.e., warranted by the literature), can I identify and locate a sample big enoughbig enough with the right (i.e., normative) qualities and characteristicsto advance the literature/practice or field of clinical psychology?

19 Is the instrument unfairly biased or otherwise not fit for my population (e.g., it would not make sense to ask adolescent males about their experience of menopause)? Does the underlying construct of the instrument happen/occur with enough frequency/intensity to result in some variance or range of scores with your intended population? Can you contribute something unique to the normative literature (e.g., access to rare or protected populations)? Additional References and Resources: Carvalho, C., Capafons, A., Kirsch, I., Espejo, B., Mazzoni, G., & Leal, I. (2007). Factorial analysis and psychometric properties of the revised Valencia scale of attitudes and beliefs towards hypnosis-client version. Contemporary Hypnosis, 24, 76-85. Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Huss, M. T., & Ramsey, S. (2000). The clinical utility of batterer typologies. Journal of Family Violence, 15, 37-53. Machulda, M. M., Ivnik, R. J., Smith, G. E., Ferman, T. J., Boeve, B. F., Knopman, D., et al. (2007). Mayos Older Americans Normative Studies: Visual form discrimination and copy trial of the Ray-Osterrieth Complex Figure. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 29, 377-384. Safford, S., Alloy, L., & Pieracci, A. (2007). A comparison of two measures of parental behavior. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 16, 375-384. Sandoval, M., Lemos, S., & Vallejo, G. (2006). Self-reported competences and problems in Spanish adolescents: A normative study of the YSR. Psicothema, 18, 804-809. Shuttleworth-Edwards, A. B., Kemp, R. D., Rust, A. L., Muirhead, J. G., Hartman, N. P., & Radloff, S. E. (2004). Cross-cultural effects of IQ test performance: A review and preliminary normative indications of WAIS-III test performance. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology, 26, 903-920. Utian, W., Maclean, D., Symonds, T., Symons, J., Somayaji, V., & Sisson, M. (2005). A methodology study to validate a structured diagnostic method used to diagnose female sexual dysfunction and its subtypes in postmenopausal women. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 31, 271-283.

20

Single-Subject Designs The clinical case study is presented and discussed extensively in the previous section. There is a special subset of case study designs that are referred to as single-subject designs. A single-subject design is unique in that you are matching a participants data against him or herself. In such a design, one would collect baseline data (for the identified variable, e.g., depressive symptoms) on several occasions, introduce a treatment, intervention, or change, and then see if there is a change in the measured variable that corresponds directly with the introduction of the treatment. This design is effective at showing ideographic (client-specific) treatment effects. Ones ability to draw conclusions from such designs hinges on a careful monitoring of the participants ongoing history and life events so you know that the change in the measured variable (depression) was in fact due to the treatment and not some other variable. Further, due to the fact that only one participant is studied, the ability to generalize findings is very limited. Given this common criticism (i.e., limited generalization), multiple-subject designs have been attempted. That is, a number of individual single-subject studies can be combined (much like effect sizes in a meta-analysis) to allow the evaluation of the clinical effect size of the treatment over a number of different individuals. Further, to better control for history confounds, a multiple baseline (or elapsed time) design can be employed in which baseline measurement is started for multiple subjects at the same time, but the intervention is started at varied discrete times for each subject. The researcher would hope to find discrete changes in the measured variable at specific times corresponding to the precise point in time that the intervention was implemented. This basic design (AB; in which A is the baseline condition and B is the treatment condition) has been extended in many different directions in attempts to demonstrate a true treatment effect (as opposed to change caused by error or confound, e.g., ABA, ABC, ABAB, ABAC, ABCA, ABCB, etc.). If you are interested in completing a single-subjects design study, you are advised to review the text by Kazdin (1982; see additional reference listed in the Option B section above) and should consider/include the following elements in your thesis process: Is the topic/question amenable to a group design (is the use of single-subjects design warranted)? Can you reasonably delay the onset of treatment to establish baseline; is there a treatment as usual protocol that can be used during the baseline period that is distinct from the treatment condition? Can you measure or document all of the potential confounding history that may occur in the individuals life? (This may be easier with a non-married adult who lives alone than with a child who may have greater inconsistency in his/her life.) Anticipate plausible alternate hypotheses (i.e., so that you can be prepared to detect such events as they occur). Can you identify multiple-subjects that you could have access toperhaps of varying age, sex, social/educational backgroundto use in a multiple-baseline design? This would allow

21 you to make greater generalizations regarding the effectiveness of your treatment/intervention? Locate instruments or assessment protocols that you can use repeatedly (repeated measures) that are not terribly reactive. That is, not all instruments are designed for repeated use (i.e., more than once a year per se). You also do not want an instrument that is going to notably effect the outcome variable itself (if, for example, the simple act of taking a depression inventory over and over again led to an increase/decrease in measured depressive symptoms). Additional References and Resources: Jenson, W. R., Clark, E., Kircher, J. C., & Kristjansson, S. D. (2007). Statistical reform: Evidencebased practice, meta-analyses, and single-subject designs. Psychology in Schools, 44, 483493. Moriarty, B. C., & Gillon, G. T. (2006). Phonological awareness intervention for children with childhood apraxia of speech. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 41, 713-734. Olive, M. L., & Smith, B. W. (2005). Effect size calculations and single-subject designs. Educational Psychology, 25, 313-324.

22 Cohort/Case-Control Studies This type of design is a cousin of the case-study and single-subject design. In a cohort design, two or more different cohorts or groups that are assumed to be very similar are compared. Case-control studies are very similar to cohort-control studies except that instead of comparing two similar groups, one is comparing two or more different, yet similar, individuals (i.e., two similar case studies). If you are interested in completing a cohort/case-control study, you should consider/include the following elements in your thesis process: Is it possible to complete repeated measures or pre-test measures? [It usually does not make sense to find a comparison group if one can compare individuals or groups to their own performance/measure.] Can you control for and match cohorts/cases on the full range of variables necessary to establish the comparability or equivalence of groups/cases? [Exactly what kinds of data that needs to be matched will vary depending on your topic area and the questions that you are asking.] How will you defend against critics who may question the equivalence of your groups? [This should inform your study design; your study should be designed to address as many threats to causal inference as reasonably possible.] Are there covariate terms that need to be measured? (i.e., are there additional variables shared by both groups that could account for differences [other than the treatment intervention]?) How will you measure effect size? [So, you actually do find a significant difference between groups; how big of a difference is it in clinical termssymptom reduction and treatment ramifications?] Additional References and Resources: Bottaro, F. J., Martinez, O. A., Fernandez Pardal, M. M., Bruetman, J. E., & Reisin, R. C. (2007). Nonconvulsive status epilepticus in the elderly: A case-control study. Epilepsia, 48, 966972. Modrego, P. J., & Ferrandez, J. (2004). Depression in patients with mild cognitive impairment increases the risk of developing dementia of Alzheimer type. Archives of Neurology, 61, 1290-1293. Mortensen, E. L., Sorenson, H. J., Jensen, H. H., Reinisch, J. M., & Mednick, S. A. (2005). IQ and mental disorder in young men. British Journal of Psychiatry, 187, 407-415. Razay, G., Vreugdenhil, A., & Wilcock, G. (2006). Obesity, abdominal obesity, and Alzheimer disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22(2), 173-176.

23 Qualitative Research Sometimes certain types of information cannot be readily gleaned from a quantitative analysis. These bits of data can be known, but current technology does not readily render deductive quantitative data (e.g., the cognitive and decision making steps that a child goes through to solve a math problem or that the teacher uses to teach a subject area). For example, sometimes qualitative research is pursued to clarify the types of interactions (or language use) that occurs between a therapist and client in a therapy session. It should be noted that although in typical research designs the researcher keeps him or herself separated from the actual data process as much as possible (i.e., not to contaminate the data or unduly influence others as they participate in the study), in qualitative research the researcher acknowledges his/her role in the process; data collection is often an interactive process. There are five types of qualitative research: phenomenology, ethnography, case study research, grounded theory, and historical research. Sample size in qualitative research is not always easy to determine. The number of participants needed will depend on the qualitative method you use and if you are comparing subgroups of individuals. It is important that you obtain enough participants to be able to sufficiently detect themes, patterns, concepts, or categories in your data. Qualitative studies often rely on extensive structured or semi-structured interviewing, focus group sessions, essay/narrative writings, or some other creative project that is then reviewed and coded for specific types of information, content, or pattern. Often times the interview or product is recorded (audio taped, videotaped, photocopied, scanned, etc.) so that expert and lay panel members can review and code data as well (one usually wants at least 2-3 professional/expert reviewers and one lay reviewer). Coding data helps organize the data for summary and synthesis purposes (i.e., makes it easier to identify themes and idiosyncrasies across participants). There are a variety of different ways/levels to code data (see references below for a broader discussion). The coding scheme that you decide to employ or develop will ultimately depend on your research question, the people/groups/institutions that you are measuring, and the format of inquiry and data collection (interview vs. photo journal vs. focus group). You might want to use codes based on strategy or rule used, type of exemplar, process, or structure of the material. Please see Bogdan and Biklen (1992) for a more thorough discussion of different coding schemes and their rationales. Because the data are obtained in a less objective form, high inter-rater or inter-reader agreement is critical when analyzing qualitative data. High agreement, in combination with the systematic nature of the data collection and coding process, allows for the reliability and validity of the qualitative observations. By the same token, relying on panel consensus to establish the agreed upon facts of the study leaves your conclusion(s) vulnerable to the influence of potentially biased and certainly imperfect human beingsand just a couple of human beings at that (i.e., 2-3 people). This same error could be a factor in any study, but qualitative approaches rely more on this ideographic human judgment. As such, it is recommended that you take a course in qualitative research design prior to or concurrent with developing your thesis proposal. The completion of a qualitative study requires a lot of time and energy (i.e., to collect the data, to transcribe/copy the data, to code and reach consensus on said data) and has limitations in the type of

24 information rendered (usually very contextual), it is best for the student to determine well in advance that a qualitative study is the best tool to use to evaluate their research question:
Is there some data that needs to be collected that is not amenable to traditional reductionistic inquiry (i.e., unique, ideographic, non-quantifiable, abstract, subjective)? Have you reviewed the broad topic from a variety of different contexts? (You need to be prepared to address any new issues/topics as they arise in your data collection process.) Is your system/method for collecting data well organized and systematic? (Will you use a structured set of questions and probes? How will these questions be generatedwill you have to write them or is there a structured/semi-structured instrument that you could use?) Is your system for analyzing and coding your data reliable and valid? Will your conclusions inform the larger literature of clinical psychology?

Additional References and Resources: Auberbach, C. F., & Silverstein, L. B. (2003). Qualitative data: An introduction to coding and analysis. New York: New York: University Press. Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1992). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Carter, R. T., & Morrow, S. L. (2007). Qualitative research: Current and best practices. Counseling Psychologist, 35, 205-208. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Hoyt, W. T., & Bhati, K. S. (2007). Principles and practices: An empirical examination of qualitative research in the Journal of Counseling Psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 54, 201-210. Isherwood, T., Burns, M., Naylor, M., & Read, S. (2007). Getting into trouble: A qualitative analysis of the onset of offending in the accounts of men with learning disabilities. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 18, 221-234. Mertens, D. M. (2005). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Webb, M. S., Francis, J., Hines, B. C., & Quarles, F. B. (2007). Health disparities and culturally specific treatment: Perspectives and expectancies of African American smokers. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 567-583.

25 Developmental Research In the field of psychology, much of the work that we do is predicated on an understanding of the developmental factors that may be affecting a person at any given point in life. Even though the field of human development is in its infancy, what we do know has been extensively applied to the betterment of human existence. Within professional psychology, we use developmental data and norms to shape a wide variety of policies and procedures. For example, based on the ongoing development of childrens cognitive skills, when is it appropriate for them to be able to consent to most medical procedures or to testify in court? Research into the thinking and reasoning skills of children and adolescents has revealed that around the age of 11 or 12 years, most children can weigh the basic pros and cons to make decisions in a reasoned manner such that practitioners are required to obtain consent for treatment from both the child and parent if the child is 12 years old or older in many states. Another current developmental topic is the issue of older Americans driving. Is there a point in development (old age) at which the motor, perceptual, and/or cognitive skills of the individual change to the point that it is not safe to drive? How about to consent to a risky medical procedure (such as major orthopedic surgery)? These are all very important questions and psychologists have a unique role in seeking answers. Developmental research tends to search for some universal process or order of events as a person grows and changes. Age in itself is viewed as an epiphenomenonsomething that just happens to be correlated with the passage of time. Certainly, you know that not all 16 year-olds are alike, but that most 16 year olds share more in common than would a 16 year old and a 50 year old person. Qualitative data collection could be integrated into a developmental study as there is a wealth of data out there regarding the human experience that has yet to be captured quantitatively. Developmental research requires a very extensive knowledge base encompassing most areas of human functioning (including cognitive processing theories and genetics research). As such, this project should be reserved for the very experienced and knowledgeable student whose chair is an established developmental psychologist. Am I prepared and dedicated enough to complete a quality project that assess a developmental issue in a well-controlled manner? Additional References and Resources: Feifel, H., & Lorge, I. (1950). Qualitative differences in the vocabulary responses of children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 41, 1-18. Fitzgerald, J., & Noblit, G. (2000). Balance in the making: Learning to read in an ethnically diverse first-grade classroom. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 3-22. Killen, M. (2007). Childrens social and moral reasoning about exclusion. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 32-36.

26 Meta-Analysis The meta-analysis process requires you to scour the literature to find every single study that contributes to your meta-analytic topic. Next, you need to create uniform criteria for which studies will be included in your analysis. You need to explicitly state both what the criteria were and the rationale for said criteria in the methods section of your dissertation. It is also common to list out a summary of your literature searching methods as well so that the reader can evaluate how thoroughly you searched the literature in the first place. Once you have established which studies will be included in you analysis, you need to create a table (or now more commonly a database) with the relevant data from each study. It is from this table that you will glean the specific data that is meta-analyzed. Meta-analysis is concerned with the big picture and should only be undertaken by someone that is extremely invested in one specific topic area and that is well acquainted with the full breadth of the literature (both in terms of variety of topic and in terms of topic history). This type of project is usually taken on by veterans and experts in a given topic area. That being said, the use of meta-analytic techniques is expanding to less global topic areas. If you decide that it would be appropriate for you to complete a meta-analytic study, here are some issues and questions: Ethically and professionally, do I have the experiences and knowledge necessary to complete a sufficient and informative meta-analysis? Do I have access to the necessary databases and literature to find all of the studies that I need to find? Do I have the time to do a thorough job? Often time meta-analysis can take years. Can I find a chair that is knowledgeable enough in both my topic area and the meta-analysis process? Additional References and Resources: Aldridge, A. A., & Roesch, S. C. (2007). Coping and adjustment in children with cancer: A metaanalytic study. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30, 115-129. Maughan, D. R., Christiansen, E., Jenson, W. R., Olympia, D., & Clark, E. (2005). Behavioral parent training as a treatment for externalizing behaviors and disruptive behavior disorders: A meta-analysis. School Psychology Review, 34, 267-286. Paulussen-Hoogeboom, M. C., Stams, G. J., Hermanns, J. M., & Peetsma, T. T. (2007). Child negative emotionality and parenting from infancy to preschool: A meta-analytic review. Developmental Psychology, 43, 438-453. Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Thorsteinsson, E. B., Bhullar, N., & Rooke, S. E. (2007). A metaanalytic investigation of the relationship between emotional intelligence and health. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 921-933.

27 Timelines, Procedures, Policies, and Forms Please complete the timeline listed in Appendix A. Start by identifying your target conferment date (i.e., when you anticipate having all of your requirements completed for the Master of Arts degree). Next, figure out your timeline dates and then put these dates in the spaces provided for you in the left-hand column of the timeline form. This is your own personalized calendar that clearly sets out when you should be meeting specific goals in order to confer by your anticipated date. Because there may be several times throughout a given year that the Board may confer the Master of Arts degrees, you and your fellow students may have different dates on your timelines depending on your anticipated conferral date. These dates are likely to fluctuate at the discretion of the Board in consultation with Forest administration, so please check for updated anticipated conferral dates at the time that you are filling out the timeline worksheet and throughout the process of completing the thesis project. Sign the second page of the worksheet (available on Edvance360 or from your thesis chair) and have your chair review and sign the form as well. Submit the form to the Registrars office to be placed in your student file. You and your chair should also retain a copy of the worksheet for your own files and reference. Again, the purpose of this document is to help you stay on track and make steady and consistent progress towards the completion of your project. These forms are likely to change over the years and the student is encouraged to seek out the most current and up to date forms whenever possible. Instructions on where forms are turned in (and who receives a copy) are in the upper left-hand portion of the form itself. The current forms are located on Edvance360 and include the following: Forms Thesis Agreement Request for Exception to Thesis Chair Change in Thesis Committee Exception to Thesis Timeline: THESIS Goals and Grades Form: Thesis Student Referral Form (to the Research Office) Thesis Proposal Approval Thesis Approval Form (This is included in the text of the thesis document, immediately following the Title page; see the example pages at the back of this guidebook document) Other Forms of Interest: Institutional Review of Research Proposals Petition to Graduate

28

Appendix A: Thesis Timeline

Timeline: THESIS
-Enter dates consistent with when you would like to be conferred to personalize this calendar for your own needs. -All deadlines are at 5:00 p.m. on the listed due date; for deadlines that fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the actual due date is the following Monday. -Please fill out this timeline, obtain necessary signatures, and return to the Registrar to be placed in your student file. You and your chair should also retain a copy.

YEAR 1

DATE/DEADLINE**

TASKS
Identify potential topics and recruit committee chair and voting committee member Submit Thesis Agreement to Registrar

FORMS
None
Thesis Agreement

MACL students are required to enroll in a minimum of two credit hours of Thesis Project. The student is required to enroll in the first Thesis hour in the semester that they are deemed eligible to enroll in Practicum. The student must maintain continuous enrollment in thesis hours until they have successfully completed their thesis. YEAR 2

DEADLINE
-Eight months prior to conferment: DATE: _____________ -Six months prior to conferment: DATE: _____________ -Five months prior to conferment: DATE: _____________ -Three months prior to conferment: DATE: _____________ -One month prior to conferment: DATE: _____________

TASKS
Submit proposal to Committee*

FORMS

Last day to obtain signed thesis approval from the committee

Thesis Proposal Approval

Submit proposal to IRB (required only if thesis involves human participants)

Institutional Review of Research Proposal

Submit final draft of thesis to committee**

None

Submit copies of approved thesis to Registrar**

None

*Failure to turn in a complete draft of the proposal to your committee may result in an unsatisfactory grade for the thesis credit and/or a referral to the Academic Standing Committee or Academic Dean for review of those areas in which the student is in need of remediation. **Failure to meet this deadline will result in a delay of conferment until the following conferment date. NOTE: THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING THE APPROVED THESIS TO THE REGISTRAR MAY VERY SLIGHTLY FROM THE ONE MONTH CRITERIA, SO PLEASE WATCH FOR UPDATED DEADLINES AS THEY ARE POSTED BY THE REGISTRAR!

29

Appendix B: Institutional Review Board (IRB) Procedures

The thesis proposal must be approved by the researchers committee chair (or supervising faculty) before being submitted to the IRB. To request IRB approval, the researcher must submit a hard copy of all of the following to the Faculty Secretary on or before the deadline indicated (i.e., for dissertations) in the Thesis Guidebook: Methods section Appendix References Copies of all instruments that are not commonly used in the profession Informed consent/assent forms Letter requesting approval to institutions where the data will be collected Copy of the Thesis Proposal Approval form signed by the committee chair and member of the Research Office Completed Institutional Review of Research Proposals form

In addition, the researcher must e-mail a copy of the thesis, dissertation, or research project proposal or provide a copy on disk to the Faculty Secretary. (The proposal submitted by e-mail or on disk must be the full-length version that was submitted to the researchers committee.) The IRBs review of the proposal entails the following process: 1. The Faculty Secretary indicates the date the materials were received on the IRB form and assigns: a primary reviewer for no risk and minimal risk research not covered by HIPPA; or a primary reviewer and quorum of IRB members for no risk and minimal risk research covered by HIPPA and for all moderate risk research (whether or not it is covered by HIPPA).

2.

The IRB may take up to two weeks to review a no risk or minimal risk proposal and up to one month to review a moderate risk proposal. Following review of the proposal, the IRB decides to either approve or not approve the research project. The primary reviewer notifies the researcher of the IRBs decision by email and indicates any revisions to the proposal that the IRB requires. If the research proposal is not approved, the researcher must make the requested revisions and submit a revised proposal to the Faculty Secretary who will forward it to the primary reviewer. (The revised proposal may be submitted as a hard copy, on disk, or by e-mail.) The primary reviewer will review the revised proposal and, if all revisions are satisfactory, will approve the proposal. If the revisions are not satisfactory, the primary reviewer will again notify the researcher by e-mail that the proposal was not approved and indicate what

3.

4.

30 additional revisions are required. The researcher must make the requested revisions and submit a revised proposal. 5. When the research proposal is approved, the IRB form will be signed by the IRB member(s), and the Faculty Secretary will forward a copy to the researcher and file the original in the students file. Researchers should submit all communications, submissions, and revisions directly to the Faculty Secretary. Pilot studies, poster studies, or other projects completed for purposes of publication that involve human participants are subject to the same IRB review as any thesis or dissertation project involving human participants (i.e., all of the same materials are required for submission). If IRB approval is granted for a pilot study, poster study, or other project for publication that is not related to any thesis or dissertation project, one must have a faculty advisor or sponsor and the approval only covers those data collection activities that were outlined in the proposal. Any modification of an approved protocol must be submitted to the IRB as a revision; this would require re-submission and approval of the proposal.

6.

7.

8.

IRB approval is necessary for all student and faculty research that entails collecting data from human participants. Student researchers who fail to follow the above procedures or begin data collection without full approval by the IRB will be referred to the Academic Dean.

Enacted 9/2004 Revisions 10/2007

31

Appendix C: Forest Institute Policies

Academic Integrity Policy: Forest is committed to developing professionals who demonstrate personal and academic integrity. The Institute's Academic Integrity Policy outlines specific criteria for determining instances of academic dishonesty, reporting such incidents, and enforcing subsequent sanctions. The full text of this policy can be found in the appendixes section of the Academic Catalog. Copyright Policy: Violation of copyright law carries substantial penalties. When students infringe copyright, it is a professional ethical violation and exposes Forest Institute. Students can become familiar with copyright principles and rules by referring to the "Copyright Policy" contained in the appendixes section of the Academic Catalog. Due Process: To ensure that students receive fair and impartial treatment, Forest has established "Due Process/Grievance Procedures" procedures. The involved parties must first attempt to resolve their differences. If they cannot reach resolution, the situation is addressed by an appropriate committee and/or the Vice President of Academic Affairs/Chief Academic Officer. The full text of the Due Process procedures may be found in the appendixes section of the Academic Catalog.