research methods for clinical psychology

The Use of Research Methods in Psychological Research: A Systematised Review

Salomé elizabeth scholtz.

1 Community Psychosocial Research (COMPRES), School of Psychosocial Health, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Werner de Klerk

Leon t. de beer.

2 WorkWell Research Institute, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Research methods play an imperative role in research quality as well as educating young researchers, however, the application thereof is unclear which can be detrimental to the field of psychology. Therefore, this systematised review aimed to determine what research methods are being used, how these methods are being used and for what topics in the field. Our review of 999 articles from five journals over a period of 5 years indicated that psychology research is conducted in 10 topics via predominantly quantitative research methods. Of these 10 topics, social psychology was the most popular. The remainder of the conducted methodology is described. It was also found that articles lacked rigour and transparency in the used methodology which has implications for replicability. In conclusion this article, provides an overview of all reported methodologies used in a sample of psychology journals. It highlights the popularity and application of methods and designs throughout the article sample as well as an unexpected lack of rigour with regard to most aspects of methodology. Possible sample bias should be considered when interpreting the results of this study. It is recommended that future research should utilise the results of this study to determine the possible impact on the field of psychology as a science and to further investigation into the use of research methods. Results should prompt the following future research into: a lack or rigour and its implication on replication, the use of certain methods above others, publication bias and choice of sampling method.

Introduction

Psychology is an ever-growing and popular field (Gough and Lyons, 2016 ; Clay, 2017 ). Due to this growth and the need for science-based research to base health decisions on (Perestelo-Pérez, 2013 ), the use of research methods in the broad field of psychology is an essential point of investigation (Stangor, 2011 ; Aanstoos, 2014 ). Research methods are therefore viewed as important tools used by researchers to collect data (Nieuwenhuis, 2016 ) and include the following: quantitative, qualitative, mixed method and multi method (Maree, 2016 ). Additionally, researchers also employ various types of literature reviews to address research questions (Grant and Booth, 2009 ). According to literature, what research method is used and why a certain research method is used is complex as it depends on various factors that may include paradigm (O'Neil and Koekemoer, 2016 ), research question (Grix, 2002 ), or the skill and exposure of the researcher (Nind et al., 2015 ). How these research methods are employed is also difficult to discern as research methods are often depicted as having fixed boundaries that are continuously crossed in research (Johnson et al., 2001 ; Sandelowski, 2011 ). Examples of this crossing include adding quantitative aspects to qualitative studies (Sandelowski et al., 2009 ), or stating that a study used a mixed-method design without the study having any characteristics of this design (Truscott et al., 2010 ).

The inappropriate use of research methods affects how students and researchers improve and utilise their research skills (Scott Jones and Goldring, 2015 ), how theories are developed (Ngulube, 2013 ), and the credibility of research results (Levitt et al., 2017 ). This, in turn, can be detrimental to the field (Nind et al., 2015 ), journal publication (Ketchen et al., 2008 ; Ezeh et al., 2010 ), and attempts to address public social issues through psychological research (Dweck, 2017 ). This is especially important given the now well-known replication crisis the field is facing (Earp and Trafimow, 2015 ; Hengartner, 2018 ).

Due to this lack of clarity on method use and the potential impact of inept use of research methods, the aim of this study was to explore the use of research methods in the field of psychology through a review of journal publications. Chaichanasakul et al. ( 2011 ) identify reviewing articles as the opportunity to examine the development, growth and progress of a research area and overall quality of a journal. Studies such as Lee et al. ( 1999 ) as well as Bluhm et al. ( 2011 ) review of qualitative methods has attempted to synthesis the use of research methods and indicated the growth of qualitative research in American and European journals. Research has also focused on the use of research methods in specific sub-disciplines of psychology, for example, in the field of Industrial and Organisational psychology Coetzee and Van Zyl ( 2014 ) found that South African publications tend to consist of cross-sectional quantitative research methods with underrepresented longitudinal studies. Qualitative studies were found to make up 21% of the articles published from 1995 to 2015 in a similar study by O'Neil and Koekemoer ( 2016 ). Other methods in health psychology, such as Mixed methods research have also been reportedly growing in popularity (O'Cathain, 2009 ).

A broad overview of the use of research methods in the field of psychology as a whole is however, not available in the literature. Therefore, our research focused on answering what research methods are being used, how these methods are being used and for what topics in practice (i.e., journal publications) in order to provide a general perspective of method used in psychology publication. We synthesised the collected data into the following format: research topic [areas of scientific discourse in a field or the current needs of a population (Bittermann and Fischer, 2018 )], method [data-gathering tools (Nieuwenhuis, 2016 )], sampling [elements chosen from a population to partake in research (Ritchie et al., 2009 )], data collection [techniques and research strategy (Maree, 2016 )], and data analysis [discovering information by examining bodies of data (Ktepi, 2016 )]. A systematised review of recent articles (2013 to 2017) collected from five different journals in the field of psychological research was conducted.

Grant and Booth ( 2009 ) describe systematised reviews as the review of choice for post-graduate studies, which is employed using some elements of a systematic review and seldom more than one or two databases to catalogue studies after a comprehensive literature search. The aspects used in this systematised review that are similar to that of a systematic review were a full search within the chosen database and data produced in tabular form (Grant and Booth, 2009 ).

Sample sizes and timelines vary in systematised reviews (see Lowe and Moore, 2014 ; Pericall and Taylor, 2014 ; Barr-Walker, 2017 ). With no clear parameters identified in the literature (see Grant and Booth, 2009 ), the sample size of this study was determined by the purpose of the sample (Strydom, 2011 ), and time and cost constraints (Maree and Pietersen, 2016 ). Thus, a non-probability purposive sample (Ritchie et al., 2009 ) of the top five psychology journals from 2013 to 2017 was included in this research study. Per Lee ( 2015 ) American Psychological Association (APA) recommends the use of the most up-to-date sources for data collection with consideration of the context of the research study. As this research study focused on the most recent trends in research methods used in the broad field of psychology, the identified time frame was deemed appropriate.

Psychology journals were only included if they formed part of the top five English journals in the miscellaneous psychology domain of the Scimago Journal and Country Rank (Scimago Journal & Country Rank, 2017 ). The Scimago Journal and Country Rank provides a yearly updated list of publicly accessible journal and country-specific indicators derived from the Scopus® database (Scopus, 2017b ) by means of the Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator developed by Scimago from the algorithm Google PageRank™ (Scimago Journal & Country Rank, 2017 ). Scopus is the largest global database of abstracts and citations from peer-reviewed journals (Scopus, 2017a ). Reasons for the development of the Scimago Journal and Country Rank list was to allow researchers to assess scientific domains, compare country rankings, and compare and analyse journals (Scimago Journal & Country Rank, 2017 ), which supported the aim of this research study. Additionally, the goals of the journals had to focus on topics in psychology in general with no preference to specific research methods and have full-text access to articles.

The following list of top five journals in 2018 fell within the abovementioned inclusion criteria (1) Australian Journal of Psychology, (2) British Journal of Psychology, (3) Europe's Journal of Psychology, (4) International Journal of Psychology and lastly the (5) Journal of Psychology Applied and Interdisciplinary.

Journals were excluded from this systematised review if no full-text versions of their articles were available, if journals explicitly stated a publication preference for certain research methods, or if the journal only published articles in a specific discipline of psychological research (for example, industrial psychology, clinical psychology etc.).

The researchers followed a procedure (see Figure 1 ) adapted from that of Ferreira et al. ( 2016 ) for systematised reviews. Data collection and categorisation commenced on 4 December 2017 and continued until 30 June 2019. All the data was systematically collected and coded manually (Grant and Booth, 2009 ) with an independent person acting as co-coder. Codes of interest included the research topic, method used, the design used, sampling method, and methodology (the method used for data collection and data analysis). These codes were derived from the wording in each article. Themes were created based on the derived codes and checked by the co-coder. Lastly, these themes were catalogued into a table as per the systematised review design.

Systematised review procedure.

According to Johnston et al. ( 2019 ), “literature screening, selection, and data extraction/analyses” (p. 7) are specifically tailored to the aim of a review. Therefore, the steps followed in a systematic review must be reported in a comprehensive and transparent manner. The chosen systematised design adhered to the rigour expected from systematic reviews with regard to full search and data produced in tabular form (Grant and Booth, 2009 ). The rigorous application of the systematic review is, therefore discussed in relation to these two elements.

Firstly, to ensure a comprehensive search, this research study promoted review transparency by following a clear protocol outlined according to each review stage before collecting data (Johnston et al., 2019 ). This protocol was similar to that of Ferreira et al. ( 2016 ) and approved by three research committees/stakeholders and the researchers (Johnston et al., 2019 ). The eligibility criteria for article inclusion was based on the research question and clearly stated, and the process of inclusion was recorded on an electronic spreadsheet to create an evidence trail (Bandara et al., 2015 ; Johnston et al., 2019 ). Microsoft Excel spreadsheets are a popular tool for review studies and can increase the rigour of the review process (Bandara et al., 2015 ). Screening for appropriate articles for inclusion forms an integral part of a systematic review process (Johnston et al., 2019 ). This step was applied to two aspects of this research study: the choice of eligible journals and articles to be included. Suitable journals were selected by the first author and reviewed by the second and third authors. Initially, all articles from the chosen journals were included. Then, by process of elimination, those irrelevant to the research aim, i.e., interview articles or discussions etc., were excluded.

To ensure rigourous data extraction, data was first extracted by one reviewer, and an independent person verified the results for completeness and accuracy (Johnston et al., 2019 ). The research question served as a guide for efficient, organised data extraction (Johnston et al., 2019 ). Data was categorised according to the codes of interest, along with article identifiers for audit trails such as authors, title and aims of articles. The categorised data was based on the aim of the review (Johnston et al., 2019 ) and synthesised in tabular form under methods used, how these methods were used, and for what topics in the field of psychology.

The initial search produced a total of 1,145 articles from the 5 journals identified. Inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in a final sample of 999 articles ( Figure 2 ). Articles were co-coded into 84 codes, from which 10 themes were derived ( Table 1 ).

Journal article frequency.

Codes used to form themes (research topics).

These 10 themes represent the topic section of our research question ( Figure 3 ). All these topics except, for the final one, psychological practice , were found to concur with the research areas in psychology as identified by Weiten ( 2010 ). These research areas were chosen to represent the derived codes as they provided broad definitions that allowed for clear, concise categorisation of the vast amount of data. Article codes were categorised under particular themes/topics if they adhered to the research area definitions created by Weiten ( 2010 ). It is important to note that these areas of research do not refer to specific disciplines in psychology, such as industrial psychology; but to broader fields that may encompass sub-interests of these disciplines.

Topic frequency (international sample).

In the case of developmental psychology , researchers conduct research into human development from childhood to old age. Social psychology includes research on behaviour governed by social drivers. Researchers in the field of educational psychology study how people learn and the best way to teach them. Health psychology aims to determine the effect of psychological factors on physiological health. Physiological psychology , on the other hand, looks at the influence of physiological aspects on behaviour. Experimental psychology is not the only theme that uses experimental research and focuses on the traditional core topics of psychology (for example, sensation). Cognitive psychology studies the higher mental processes. Psychometrics is concerned with measuring capacity or behaviour. Personality research aims to assess and describe consistency in human behaviour (Weiten, 2010 ). The final theme of psychological practice refers to the experiences, techniques, and interventions employed by practitioners, researchers, and academia in the field of psychology.

Articles under these themes were further subdivided into methodologies: method, sampling, design, data collection, and data analysis. The categorisation was based on information stated in the articles and not inferred by the researchers. Data were compiled into two sets of results presented in this article. The first set addresses the aim of this study from the perspective of the topics identified. The second set of results represents a broad overview of the results from the perspective of the methodology employed. The second set of results are discussed in this article, while the first set is presented in table format. The discussion thus provides a broad overview of methods use in psychology (across all themes), while the table format provides readers with in-depth insight into methods used in the individual themes identified. We believe that presenting the data from both perspectives allow readers a broad understanding of the results. Due a large amount of information that made up our results, we followed Cichocka and Jost ( 2014 ) in simplifying our results. Please note that the numbers indicated in the table in terms of methodology differ from the total number of articles. Some articles employed more than one method/sampling technique/design/data collection method/data analysis in their studies.

What follows is the results for what methods are used, how these methods are used, and which topics in psychology they are applied to . Percentages are reported to the second decimal in order to highlight small differences in the occurrence of methodology.

Firstly, with regard to the research methods used, our results show that researchers are more likely to use quantitative research methods (90.22%) compared to all other research methods. Qualitative research was the second most common research method but only made up about 4.79% of the general method usage. Reviews occurred almost as much as qualitative studies (3.91%), as the third most popular method. Mixed-methods research studies (0.98%) occurred across most themes, whereas multi-method research was indicated in only one study and amounted to 0.10% of the methods identified. The specific use of each method in the topics identified is shown in Table 2 and Figure 4 .

Research methods in psychology.

Research method frequency in topics.

Secondly, in the case of how these research methods are employed , our study indicated the following.

Sampling −78.34% of the studies in the collected articles did not specify a sampling method. From the remainder of the studies, 13 types of sampling methods were identified. These sampling methods included broad categorisation of a sample as, for example, a probability or non-probability sample. General samples of convenience were the methods most likely to be applied (10.34%), followed by random sampling (3.51%), snowball sampling (2.73%), and purposive (1.37%) and cluster sampling (1.27%). The remainder of the sampling methods occurred to a more limited extent (0–1.0%). See Table 3 and Figure 5 for sampling methods employed in each topic.

Sampling use in the field of psychology.

Sampling method frequency in topics.

Designs were categorised based on the articles' statement thereof. Therefore, it is important to note that, in the case of quantitative studies, non-experimental designs (25.55%) were often indicated due to a lack of experiments and any other indication of design, which, according to Laher ( 2016 ), is a reasonable categorisation. Non-experimental designs should thus be compared with experimental designs only in the description of data, as it could include the use of correlational/cross-sectional designs, which were not overtly stated by the authors. For the remainder of the research methods, “not stated” (7.12%) was assigned to articles without design types indicated.

From the 36 identified designs the most popular designs were cross-sectional (23.17%) and experimental (25.64%), which concurred with the high number of quantitative studies. Longitudinal studies (3.80%), the third most popular design, was used in both quantitative and qualitative studies. Qualitative designs consisted of ethnography (0.38%), interpretative phenomenological designs/phenomenology (0.28%), as well as narrative designs (0.28%). Studies that employed the review method were mostly categorised as “not stated,” with the most often stated review designs being systematic reviews (0.57%). The few mixed method studies employed exploratory, explanatory (0.09%), and concurrent designs (0.19%), with some studies referring to separate designs for the qualitative and quantitative methods. The one study that identified itself as a multi-method study used a longitudinal design. Please see how these designs were employed in each specific topic in Table 4 , Figure 6 .

Design use in the field of psychology.

Design frequency in topics.

Data collection and analysis —data collection included 30 methods, with the data collection method most often employed being questionnaires (57.84%). The experimental task (16.56%) was the second most preferred collection method, which included established or unique tasks designed by the researchers. Cognitive ability tests (6.84%) were also regularly used along with various forms of interviewing (7.66%). Table 5 and Figure 7 represent data collection use in the various topics. Data analysis consisted of 3,857 occurrences of data analysis categorised into ±188 various data analysis techniques shown in Table 6 and Figures 1 – 7 . Descriptive statistics were the most commonly used (23.49%) along with correlational analysis (17.19%). When using a qualitative method, researchers generally employed thematic analysis (0.52%) or different forms of analysis that led to coding and the creation of themes. Review studies presented few data analysis methods, with most studies categorising their results. Mixed method and multi-method studies followed the analysis methods identified for the qualitative and quantitative studies included.

Data collection in the field of psychology.

Data collection frequency in topics.

Data analysis in the field of psychology.

Results of the topics researched in psychology can be seen in the tables, as previously stated in this article. It is noteworthy that, of the 10 topics, social psychology accounted for 43.54% of the studies, with cognitive psychology the second most popular research topic at 16.92%. The remainder of the topics only occurred in 4.0–7.0% of the articles considered. A list of the included 999 articles is available under the section “View Articles” on the following website: https://methodgarden.xtrapolate.io/ . This website was created by Scholtz et al. ( 2019 ) to visually present a research framework based on this Article's results.

This systematised review categorised full-length articles from five international journals across the span of 5 years to provide insight into the use of research methods in the field of psychology. Results indicated what methods are used how these methods are being used and for what topics (why) in the included sample of articles. The results should be seen as providing insight into method use and by no means a comprehensive representation of the aforementioned aim due to the limited sample. To our knowledge, this is the first research study to address this topic in this manner. Our discussion attempts to promote a productive way forward in terms of the key results for method use in psychology, especially in the field of academia (Holloway, 2008 ).

With regard to the methods used, our data stayed true to literature, finding only common research methods (Grant and Booth, 2009 ; Maree, 2016 ) that varied in the degree to which they were employed. Quantitative research was found to be the most popular method, as indicated by literature (Breen and Darlaston-Jones, 2010 ; Counsell and Harlow, 2017 ) and previous studies in specific areas of psychology (see Coetzee and Van Zyl, 2014 ). Its long history as the first research method (Leech et al., 2007 ) in the field of psychology as well as researchers' current application of mathematical approaches in their studies (Toomela, 2010 ) might contribute to its popularity today. Whatever the case may be, our results show that, despite the growth in qualitative research (Demuth, 2015 ; Smith and McGannon, 2018 ), quantitative research remains the first choice for article publication in these journals. Despite the included journals indicating openness to articles that apply any research methods. This finding may be due to qualitative research still being seen as a new method (Burman and Whelan, 2011 ) or reviewers' standards being higher for qualitative studies (Bluhm et al., 2011 ). Future research is encouraged into the possible biasness in publication of research methods, additionally further investigation with a different sample into the proclaimed growth of qualitative research may also provide different results.

Review studies were found to surpass that of multi-method and mixed method studies. To this effect Grant and Booth ( 2009 ), state that the increased awareness, journal contribution calls as well as its efficiency in procuring research funds all promote the popularity of reviews. The low frequency of mixed method studies contradicts the view in literature that it's the third most utilised research method (Tashakkori and Teddlie's, 2003 ). Its' low occurrence in this sample could be due to opposing views on mixing methods (Gunasekare, 2015 ) or that authors prefer publishing in mixed method journals, when using this method, or its relative novelty (Ivankova et al., 2016 ). Despite its low occurrence, the application of the mixed methods design in articles was methodologically clear in all cases which were not the case for the remainder of research methods.

Additionally, a substantial number of studies used a combination of methodologies that are not mixed or multi-method studies. Perceived fixed boundaries are according to literature often set aside, as confirmed by this result, in order to investigate the aim of a study, which could create a new and helpful way of understanding the world (Gunasekare, 2015 ). According to Toomela ( 2010 ), this is not unheard of and could be considered a form of “structural systemic science,” as in the case of qualitative methodology (observation) applied in quantitative studies (experimental design) for example. Based on this result, further research into this phenomenon as well as its implications for research methods such as multi and mixed methods is recommended.

Discerning how these research methods were applied, presented some difficulty. In the case of sampling, most studies—regardless of method—did mention some form of inclusion and exclusion criteria, but no definite sampling method. This result, along with the fact that samples often consisted of students from the researchers' own academic institutions, can contribute to literature and debates among academics (Peterson and Merunka, 2014 ; Laher, 2016 ). Samples of convenience and students as participants especially raise questions about the generalisability and applicability of results (Peterson and Merunka, 2014 ). This is because attention to sampling is important as inappropriate sampling can debilitate the legitimacy of interpretations (Onwuegbuzie and Collins, 2017 ). Future investigation into the possible implications of this reported popular use of convenience samples for the field of psychology as well as the reason for this use could provide interesting insight, and is encouraged by this study.

Additionally, and this is indicated in Table 6 , articles seldom report the research designs used, which highlights the pressing aspect of the lack of rigour in the included sample. Rigour with regards to the applied empirical method is imperative in promoting psychology as a science (American Psychological Association, 2020 ). Omitting parts of the research process in publication when it could have been used to inform others' research skills should be questioned, and the influence on the process of replicating results should be considered. Publications are often rejected due to a lack of rigour in the applied method and designs (Fonseca, 2013 ; Laher, 2016 ), calling for increased clarity and knowledge of method application. Replication is a critical part of any field of scientific research and requires the “complete articulation” of the study methods used (Drotar, 2010 , p. 804). The lack of thorough description could be explained by the requirements of certain journals to only report on certain aspects of a research process, especially with regard to the applied design (Laher, 20). However, naming aspects such as sampling and designs, is a requirement according to the APA's Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS-Quant) (Appelbaum et al., 2018 ). With very little information on how a study was conducted, authors lose a valuable opportunity to enhance research validity, enrich the knowledge of others, and contribute to the growth of psychology and methodology as a whole. In the case of this research study, it also restricted our results to only reported samples and designs, which indicated a preference for certain designs, such as cross-sectional designs for quantitative studies.

Data collection and analysis were for the most part clearly stated. A key result was the versatile use of questionnaires. Researchers would apply a questionnaire in various ways, for example in questionnaire interviews, online surveys, and written questionnaires across most research methods. This may highlight a trend for future research.

With regard to the topics these methods were employed for, our research study found a new field named “psychological practice.” This result may show the growing consciousness of researchers as part of the research process (Denzin and Lincoln, 2003 ), psychological practice, and knowledge generation. The most popular of these topics was social psychology, which is generously covered in journals and by learning societies, as testaments of the institutional support and richness social psychology has in the field of psychology (Chryssochoou, 2015 ). The APA's perspective on 2018 trends in psychology also identifies an increased amount of psychology focus on how social determinants are influencing people's health (Deangelis, 2017 ).

This study was not without limitations and the following should be taken into account. Firstly, this study used a sample of five specific journals to address the aim of the research study, despite general journal aims (as stated on journal websites), this inclusion signified a bias towards the research methods published in these specific journals only and limited generalisability. A broader sample of journals over a different period of time, or a single journal over a longer period of time might provide different results. A second limitation is the use of Excel spreadsheets and an electronic system to log articles, which was a manual process and therefore left room for error (Bandara et al., 2015 ). To address this potential issue, co-coding was performed to reduce error. Lastly, this article categorised data based on the information presented in the article sample; there was no interpretation of what methodology could have been applied or whether the methods stated adhered to the criteria for the methods used. Thus, a large number of articles that did not clearly indicate a research method or design could influence the results of this review. However, this in itself was also a noteworthy result. Future research could review research methods of a broader sample of journals with an interpretive review tool that increases rigour. Additionally, the authors also encourage the future use of systematised review designs as a way to promote a concise procedure in applying this design.

Our research study presented the use of research methods for published articles in the field of psychology as well as recommendations for future research based on these results. Insight into the complex questions identified in literature, regarding what methods are used how these methods are being used and for what topics (why) was gained. This sample preferred quantitative methods, used convenience sampling and presented a lack of rigorous accounts for the remaining methodologies. All methodologies that were clearly indicated in the sample were tabulated to allow researchers insight into the general use of methods and not only the most frequently used methods. The lack of rigorous account of research methods in articles was represented in-depth for each step in the research process and can be of vital importance to address the current replication crisis within the field of psychology. Recommendations for future research aimed to motivate research into the practical implications of the results for psychology, for example, publication bias and the use of convenience samples.

Ethics Statement

This study was cleared by the North-West University Health Research Ethics Committee: NWU-00115-17-S1.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Research Methods in Clinical Psychology: An Introduction for Students and Practitioners 3rd Edition

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• Represents the most accessible, user-friendly introduction to conducting and evaluating research for clinical psychologists and related professionals
• Ideal for students and practitioners who wish to conduct their own research or gain a better understanding of published research
• Addresses important issues such as philosophical underpinnings of various methodologies, along with socio-political issues that arise in clinical and community settings
• Step-by-step guidance through all phases of a clinical psychology research project―from initial concept and groundwork, through to measurement, design, analysis, and interpretation
• Updates to this edition include new or expanded coverage of such topics as  systematic review and literature searching methods, modern psychometric methods, guidance on choosing between different qualitative approaches, and conducting psychological research via the Internet
• ISBN-10 9781118773208
• ISBN-13 978-1118773208
• Edition 3rd
• Publisher Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date December 14, 2015
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.7 x 0.7 x 9.6 inches
• Print length 320 pages
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1118773209
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wiley-Blackwell; 3rd edition (December 14, 2015)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781118773208
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1118773208
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.7 x 0.7 x 9.6 inches
• #548 in Medical Psychology Research
• #549 in Popular Psychology Research
• #2,327 in Medical Clinical Psychology

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The Oxford Handbook of Research Strategies for Clinical Psychology

Jonathan S. Comer, Florida International University

Philip C. Kendall, Department of Psychology, Temple University.

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To continue to move the science of clinical psychology forward, this handbook brings together some of the field's foremost experts to explicate the essential research strategies currently used across the modern clinical psychology landscape that maximize both precision and significance. This volume addresses design, measurement, and analytic strategies for clinical psychology, including comprehensive coverage of effective laboratory methods in experimental psychopathology, single-case experimental designs, small pilot trials, the randomized controlled trial, adaptive and modular treatment designs, and dissemination methods and models. Comprehensive chapters cover change measurement, observational coding, measurement of process variables across treatment, structural and functional brain imagining, and experience sampling data collection methods. Specific topics addressed include statistical power, correlation and regression, randomized clinical trial data analysis, conventions in mediation and moderation analysis, structural equation modeling, meta-analytic techniques, item-response theory, and the appropriate handling of missing data. The book concludes with an integrative summary of research strategies addressed across the volume, and guidelines for future directions in research methodology, design, and analysis that will keep this young science moving forward in a manner that maximizes scientific rigor and clinical relevance.

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Research Methods In Psychology

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Research methods in psychology are systematic procedures used to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior and mental processes. They include experiments, surveys, case studies, and naturalistic observations, ensuring data collection is objective and reliable to understand and explain psychological phenomena.

Hypotheses are statements about the prediction of the results, that can be verified or disproved by some investigation.

There are four types of hypotheses :

• Null Hypotheses (H0 ) – these predict that no difference will be found in the results between the conditions. Typically these are written ‘There will be no difference…’
• Alternative Hypotheses (Ha or H1) – these predict that there will be a significant difference in the results between the two conditions. This is also known as the experimental hypothesis.
• One-tailed (directional) hypotheses – these state the specific direction the researcher expects the results to move in, e.g. higher, lower, more, less. In a correlation study, the predicted direction of the correlation can be either positive or negative.
• Two-tailed (non-directional) hypotheses – these state that a difference will be found between the conditions of the independent variable but does not state the direction of a difference or relationship. Typically these are always written ‘There will be a difference ….’

All research has an alternative hypothesis (either a one-tailed or two-tailed) and a corresponding null hypothesis.

Once the research is conducted and results are found, psychologists must accept one hypothesis and reject the other. 

So, if a difference is found, the Psychologist would accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null.  The opposite applies if no difference is found.

Sampling techniques

Sampling is the process of selecting a representative group from the population under study.

A sample is the participants you select from a target population (the group you are interested in) to make generalizations about.

Representative means the extent to which a sample mirrors a researcher’s target population and reflects its characteristics.

Generalisability means the extent to which their findings can be applied to the larger population of which their sample was a part.

• Volunteer sample : where participants pick themselves through newspaper adverts, noticeboards or online.
• Opportunity sampling : also known as convenience sampling , uses people who are available at the time the study is carried out and willing to take part. It is based on convenience.
• Random sampling : when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected. An example of random sampling would be picking names out of a hat.
• Systematic sampling : when a system is used to select participants. Picking every Nth person from all possible participants. N = the number of people in the research population / the number of people needed for the sample.
• Stratified sampling : when you identify the subgroups and select participants in proportion to their occurrences.
• Snowball sampling : when researchers find a few participants, and then ask them to find participants themselves and so on.
• Quota sampling : when researchers will be told to ensure the sample fits certain quotas, for example they might be told to find 90 participants, with 30 of them being unemployed.

Experiments always have an independent and dependent variable .

• The independent variable is the one the experimenter manipulates (the thing that changes between the conditions the participants are placed into). It is assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.
• The dependent variable is the thing being measured, or the results of the experiment.

Operationalization of variables means making them measurable/quantifiable. We must use operationalization to ensure that variables are in a form that can be easily tested.

For instance, we can’t really measure ‘happiness’, but we can measure how many times a person smiles within a two-hour period. 

By operationalizing variables, we make it easy for someone else to replicate our research. Remember, this is important because we can check if our findings are reliable.

Extraneous variables are all variables which are not independent variable but could affect the results of the experiment.

It can be a natural characteristic of the participant, such as intelligence levels, gender, or age for example, or it could be a situational feature of the environment such as lighting or noise.

Demand characteristics are a type of extraneous variable that occurs if the participants work out the aims of the research study, they may begin to behave in a certain way.

For example, in Milgram’s research , critics argued that participants worked out that the shocks were not real and they administered them as they thought this was what was required of them. 

Extraneous variables must be controlled so that they do not affect (confound) the results.

Randomly allocating participants to their conditions or using a matched pairs experimental design can help to reduce participant variables. 

Situational variables are controlled by using standardized procedures, ensuring every participant in a given condition is treated in the same way

Experimental Design

Experimental design refers to how participants are allocated to each condition of the independent variable, such as a control or experimental group.

• Independent design ( between-groups design ): each participant is selected for only one group. With the independent design, the most common way of deciding which participants go into which group is by means of randomization. 
• Matched participants design : each participant is selected for only one group, but the participants in the two groups are matched for some relevant factor or factors (e.g. ability; sex; age).
• Repeated measures design ( within groups) : each participant appears in both groups, so that there are exactly the same participants in each group.
• The main problem with the repeated measures design is that there may well be order effects. Their experiences during the experiment may change the participants in various ways.
• They may perform better when they appear in the second group because they have gained useful information about the experiment or about the task. On the other hand, they may perform less well on the second occasion because of tiredness or boredom.
• Counterbalancing is the best way of preventing order effects from disrupting the findings of an experiment, and involves ensuring that each condition is equally likely to be used first and second by the participants.

If we wish to compare two groups with respect to a given independent variable, it is essential to make sure that the two groups do not differ in any other important way. 

Experimental Methods

All experimental methods involve an iv (independent variable) and dv (dependent variable)..

• Field experiments are conducted in the everyday (natural) environment of the participants. The experimenter still manipulates the IV, but in a real-life setting. It may be possible to control extraneous variables, though such control is more difficult than in a lab experiment.
• Natural experiments are when a naturally occurring IV is investigated that isn’t deliberately manipulated, it exists anyway. Participants are not randomly allocated, and the natural event may only occur rarely.

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a person, group, event, or community. It uses information from a range of sources, such as from the person concerned and also from their family and friends.

Many techniques may be used such as interviews, psychological tests, observations and experiments. Case studies are generally longitudinal: in other words, they follow the individual or group over an extended period of time. 

Case studies are widely used in psychology and among the best-known ones carried out were by Sigmund Freud . He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity. However, it is difficult to generalize from individual cases as each one has unique characteristics.

Correlational Studies

Correlation means association; it is a measure of the extent to which two variables are related. One of the variables can be regarded as the predictor variable with the other one as the outcome variable.

Correlational studies typically involve obtaining two different measures from a group of participants, and then assessing the degree of association between the measures. 

The predictor variable can be seen as occurring before the outcome variable in some sense. It is called the predictor variable, because it forms the basis for predicting the value of the outcome variable.

Relationships between variables can be displayed on a graph or as a numerical score called a correlation coefficient.

• If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other, then this is known as a positive correlation .
• If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other, then this is known as a negative correlation .
• A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.

After looking at the scattergraph, if we want to be sure that a significant relationship does exist between the two variables, a statistical test of correlation can be conducted, such as Spearman’s rho.

The test will give us a score, called a correlation coefficient . This is a value between 0 and 1, and the closer to 1 the score is, the stronger the relationship between the variables. This value can be both positive e.g. 0.63, or negative -0.63.

A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically mean that the change in one variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable. A correlation only shows if there is a relationship between variables.

Correlation does not always prove causation, as a third variable may be involved. 

Interview Methods

Interviews are commonly divided into two types: structured and unstructured.

A fixed, predetermined set of questions is put to every participant in the same order and in the same way. 

Responses are recorded on a questionnaire, and the researcher presets the order and wording of questions, and sometimes the range of alternative answers.

The interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee.

There are no set questions, and the participant can raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and ask them in their own way. Questions are posed about participants’ answers to the subject

Unstructured interviews are most useful in qualitative research to analyze attitudes and values.

Though they rarely provide a valid basis for generalization, their main advantage is that they enable the researcher to probe social actors’ subjective point of view. 

Questionnaire Method

Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone, or post.

The choice of questions is important because of the need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the questions, ‘leading’ the respondent or causing offense.

• Open questions are designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject’s own knowledge and feelings. They provide insights into feelings, opinions, and understanding. Example: “How do you feel about that situation?”
• Closed questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” or specific information, limiting the depth of response. They are useful for gathering specific facts or confirming details. Example: “Do you feel anxious in crowds?”

Its other practical advantages are that it is cheaper than face-to-face interviews and can be used to contact many respondents scattered over a wide area relatively quickly.

Observations

There are different types of observation methods :

• Covert observation is where the researcher doesn’t tell the participants they are being observed until after the study is complete. There could be ethical problems or deception and consent with this particular observation method.
• Overt observation is where a researcher tells the participants they are being observed and what they are being observed for.
• Controlled : behavior is observed under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., Bandura’s Bobo doll study).
• Natural : Here, spontaneous behavior is recorded in a natural setting.
• Participant : Here, the observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing. The researcher becomes a member of the group they are researching.  
• Non-participant (aka “fly on the wall): The researcher does not have direct contact with the people being observed. The observation of participants’ behavior is from a distance

Pilot Study

A pilot  study is a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate the feasibility of the key s teps in a future, full-scale project.

A pilot study is an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation; it involves selecting a few people and trying out the study on them. It is possible to save time, and in some cases, money, by identifying any flaws in the procedures designed by the researcher.

A pilot study can help the researcher spot any ambiguities (i.e. unusual things) or confusion in the information given to participants or problems with the task devised.

Sometimes the task is too hard, and the researcher may get a floor effect, because none of the participants can score at all or can complete the task – all performances are low.

The opposite effect is a ceiling effect, when the task is so easy that all achieve virtually full marks or top performances and are “hitting the ceiling”.

Research Design

In cross-sectional research , a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time

Sometimes, we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.

In cohort studies , the participants must share a common factor or characteristic such as age, demographic, or occupation. A cohort study is a type of longitudinal study in which researchers monitor and observe a chosen population over an extended period.

Triangulation means using more than one research method to improve the study’s validity.

Reliability

Reliability is a measure of consistency, if a particular measurement is repeated and the same result is obtained then it is described as being reliable.

• Test-retest reliability :  assessing the same person on two different occasions which shows the extent to which the test produces the same answers.
• Inter-observer reliability : the extent to which there is an agreement between two or more observers.

Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis is a systematic review that involves identifying an aim and then searching for research studies that have addressed similar aims/hypotheses.

This is done by looking through various databases, and then decisions are made about what studies are to be included/excluded.

Strengths: Increases the conclusions’ validity as they’re based on a wider range.

Weaknesses: Research designs in studies can vary, so they are not truly comparable.

Peer Review

A researcher submits an article to a journal. The choice of the journal may be determined by the journal’s audience or prestige.

The journal selects two or more appropriate experts (psychologists working in a similar field) to peer review the article without payment. The peer reviewers assess: the methods and designs used, originality of the findings, the validity of the original research findings and its content, structure and language.

Feedback from the reviewer determines whether the article is accepted. The article may be: Accepted as it is, accepted with revisions, sent back to the author to revise and re-submit or rejected without the possibility of submission.

The editor makes the final decision whether to accept or reject the research report based on the reviewers comments/ recommendations.

Peer review is important because it prevent faulty data from entering the public domain, it provides a way of checking the validity of findings and the quality of the methodology and is used to assess the research rating of university departments.

Peer reviews may be an ideal, whereas in practice there are lots of problems. For example, it slows publication down and may prevent unusual, new work being published. Some reviewers might use it as an opportunity to prevent competing researchers from publishing work.

Some people doubt whether peer review can really prevent the publication of fraudulent research.

The advent of the internet means that a lot of research and academic comment is being published without official peer reviews than before, though systems are evolving on the internet where everyone really has a chance to offer their opinions and police the quality of research.

Types of Data

• Quantitative data is numerical data e.g. reaction time or number of mistakes. It represents how much or how long, how many there are of something. A tally of behavioral categories and closed questions in a questionnaire collect quantitative data.
• Qualitative data is virtually any type of information that can be observed and recorded that is not numerical in nature and can be in the form of written or verbal communication. Open questions in questionnaires and accounts from observational studies collect qualitative data.
• Primary data is first-hand data collected for the purpose of the investigation.
• Secondary data is information that has been collected by someone other than the person who is conducting the research e.g. taken from journals, books or articles.

Validity means how well a piece of research actually measures what it sets out to, or how well it reflects the reality it claims to represent.

Validity is whether the observed effect is genuine and represents what is actually out there in the world.

• Concurrent validity is the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure and obtains close results. For example, a new intelligence test compared to an established test.
• Face validity : does the test measure what it’s supposed to measure ‘on the face of it’. This is done by ‘eyeballing’ the measuring or by passing it to an expert to check.
• Ecological validit y is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other settings / real life.
• Temporal validity is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other historical times.

Features of Science

• Paradigm – A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline.
• Paradigm shift – The result of the scientific revolution: a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline.
• Objectivity – When all sources of personal bias are minimised so not to distort or influence the research process.
• Empirical method – Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience.
• Replicability – The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers.
• Falsifiability – The principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue.

Statistical Testing

A significant result is one where there is a low probability that chance factors were responsible for any observed difference, correlation, or association in the variables tested.

If our test is significant, we can reject our null hypothesis and accept our alternative hypothesis.

If our test is not significant, we can accept our null hypothesis and reject our alternative hypothesis. A null hypothesis is a statement of no effect.

In Psychology, we use p < 0.05 (as it strikes a balance between making a type I and II error) but p < 0.01 is used in tests that could cause harm like introducing a new drug.

A type I error is when the null hypothesis is rejected when it should have been accepted (happens when a lenient significance level is used, an error of optimism).

A type II error is when the null hypothesis is accepted when it should have been rejected (happens when a stringent significance level is used, an error of pessimism).

Ethical Issues

• Informed consent is when participants are able to make an informed judgment about whether to take part. It causes them to guess the aims of the study and change their behavior.
• To deal with it, we can gain presumptive consent or ask them to formally indicate their agreement to participate but it may invalidate the purpose of the study and it is not guaranteed that the participants would understand.
• Deception should only be used when it is approved by an ethics committee, as it involves deliberately misleading or withholding information. Participants should be fully debriefed after the study but debriefing can’t turn the clock back.
• All participants should be informed at the beginning that they have the right to withdraw if they ever feel distressed or uncomfortable.
• It causes bias as the ones that stayed are obedient and some may not withdraw as they may have been given incentives or feel like they’re spoiling the study. Researchers can offer the right to withdraw data after participation.
• Participants should all have protection from harm . The researcher should avoid risks greater than those experienced in everyday life and they should stop the study if any harm is suspected. However, the harm may not be apparent at the time of the study.
• Confidentiality concerns the communication of personal information. The researchers should not record any names but use numbers or false names though it may not be possible as it is sometimes possible to work out who the researchers were.

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The Science of Psychology

5 Experimental and Clinical Psychologists

Learning objectives.

• Define the clinical practice of psychology and distinguish it from experimental psychology.
• Explain how science is relevant to clinical practice.
• Define the concept of an empirically supported treatment and give some examples.

Who Conducts Scientific Research in Psychology?

Experimental psychologists.

Scientific research in psychology is generally conducted by people with doctoral degrees (usually the  doctor of philosophy [Ph.D.] ) and master’s degrees in psychology and related fields, often supported by research assistants with bachelor’s degrees or other relevant training. Some of them work for government agencies (e.g., doing research on the impact of public policies), national associations (e.g., the American Psychological Association), non-profit organizations (e.g., National Alliance on Mental Illness), or in the private sector (e.g., in product marketing and development; organizational behavior). However, the majority of them are college and university faculty, who often collaborate with their graduate and undergraduate students. Although some researchers are trained and licensed as clinicians for mental health work—especially those who conduct research in clinical psychology—the majority are not. Instead, they have expertise in one or more of the many other subfields of psychology: behavioral neuroscience, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality psychology, social psychology, and so on. Doctoral-level researchers might be employed to conduct research full-time or, like many college and university faculty members, to conduct research in addition to teaching classes and serving their institution and community in other ways.

Of course, people also conduct research in psychology because they enjoy the intellectual and technical challenges involved and the satisfaction of contributing to scientific knowledge of human behavior. You might find that you enjoy the process too. If so, your college or university might offer opportunities to get involved in ongoing research as either a research assistant or a participant. Of course, you might find that you do not enjoy the process of conducting scientific research in psychology. But at least you will have a better understanding of where scientific knowledge in psychology comes from, an appreciation of its strengths and limitations, and an awareness of how it can be applied to solve practical problems in psychology and everyday life.

Scientific Psychology Blogs

A fun and easy way to follow current scientific research in psychology is to read any of the many excellent blogs devoted to summarizing and commenting on new findings. Among them are the following:

Research Digest, http://digest.bps.org.uk/ Talk Psych, http://www.talkpsych.com/ Brain Blogger, http://brainblogger.com/ Mind Hacks, http://mindhacks.com/ PsyBlog, http://www.spring.org.uk

You can also browse to http://www.researchblogging.org , select psychology as your topic, and read entries from a wide variety of blogs.

Clinical Psychologists

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. But it is also the application of scientific research to “help people, organizations, and communities function better” (American Psychological Association, 2011) [1] . By far the most common and widely known application is the clinical practice of psychology — the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems. Let us use the term  clinical practice  broadly to refer to the activities of clinical and counseling psychologists, school psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and others who work with people individually or in small groups to identify and help address their psychological problems. It is important to consider the relationship between scientific research and clinical practice because many students are especially interested in clinical practice, perhaps even as a career.

The main point is that psychological disorders and other behavioral problems are part of the natural world. This means that questions about their nature, causes, and consequences are empirically testable and therefore subject to scientific study. As with other questions about human behavior, we cannot rely on our intuition or common sense for detailed and accurate answers. Consider, for example, that dozens of popular books and thousands of websites claim that adult children of alcoholics have a distinct personality profile, including low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and difficulties with intimacy. Although this sounds plausible, scientific research has demonstrated that adult children of alcoholics are no more likely to have these problems than anybody else (Lilienfeld et al., 2010) [2] . Similarly, questions about whether a particular psychotherapy is effective are empirically testable questions that can be answered by scientific research. If a new psychotherapy is an effective treatment for depression, then systematic observation should reveal that depressed people who receive this psychotherapy improve more than a similar group of depressed people who do not receive this psychotherapy (or who receive some alternative treatment). Treatments that have been shown to work in this way are called empirically supported treatments .

Empirically Supported Treatments

An empirically supported treatment is one that has been studied scientifically and shown to result in greater improvement than no treatment, a placebo, or some alternative treatment. These include many forms of psychotherapy, which can be as effective as standard drug therapies. Among the forms of psychotherapy with strong empirical support are the following:

• Acceptance and committment therapy (ACT) . for depression, mixed anxiety disorders, psychosis, chronic pain, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Behavioral couples therapy. For alcohol use disorders.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). For many disorders including eating disorders, depression, anxiety disorders, etc.
• Exposure therapy. For post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias.
• Exposure therapy with response prevention.  For obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Family-based treatment. For eating disorders.

For a more complete list, see the following website, which is maintained by Division 12 of the American Psychological Association, the Society for Clinical Psychology: http://www.div12.org/psychological-treatments

Many in the clinical psychology community have argued that their field has not paid enough attention to scientific research—for example, by failing to use empirically supported treatments—and have suggested a variety of changes in the way clinicians are trained and treatments are evaluated and put into practice. Others believe that these claims are exaggerated and the suggested changes are unnecessary (Norcross, Beutler, & Levant, 2005) [3] . On both sides of the debate, however, there is agreement that a scientific approach to clinical psychology is essential if the goal is to diagnose and treat psychological problems based on detailed and accurate knowledge about those problems and the most effective treatments for them. So not only is it important for scientific research in clinical psychology to continue, but it is also important for clinicians who never conduct a scientific study themselves to be scientifically literate so that they can read and evaluate new research and make treatment decisions based on the best available evidence.

• American Psychological Association. (2011). About APA . Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about ↵
• Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). 50 great myths of popular psychology . Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. ↵
• Norcross, J. C., Beutler, L. E., & Levant, R. F. (Eds.). (2005). Evidence-based practices in mental health: Debate and dialogue on the fundamental questions . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. ↵

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• Published: 09 April 2024

Predicting attitudes toward ambiguity using natural language processing on free descriptions for open-ended question measurements

• Jimpei Hitsuwari 1 , 2 ,
• Hirohito Okano 1 &
• Michio Nomura 1  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  8276 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Computer science
• Human behaviour

Individual traits and reactions to ambiguity differ and are conceptualized in terms of an individual’s attitudes toward ambiguity or ambiguity tolerance. The development of natural language processing technology has made it possible to measure mental states and reactions through open-ended questions, rather than predefined numerical rating scales, which have traditionally been the dominant method in psychological research. This study presented three ambiguity-related situations and responses collected online from 591 participants in an open-ended format. After the analysis with bidirectional encoder representations from transformers, correlations were calculated using scores from the numerical evaluation by conventional questionnaire, and a significant moderate positive correlation was found. Therefore, this study found that attitudes toward ambiguity can be measured using an open-ended response method of reporting everyday life states. It is a novel methodology that can be expanded to other scales in psychology and can potentially be used in educational and clinical situations where participants can be asked to respond with minimal burden.

Introduction

The ambiguous situations faced in the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) era are diverse, with individual differences in attitudes toward these ambiguous situations 1 . To measure individual differences, Lauriola et al. 2 developed the Multidimensional Attitude toward Ambiguity Scale (MAAS) based on the Ambiguity Tolerance Scale, which measures individuals’ tolerance degree toward ambiguous situations. This scale has been validated for construct validity and internal reliability 2 . The MAAS is utilized globally, with Japanese 3 and Swedish versions 4 also being developed. It has been used in numerous behavioral experiments and psychological surveys 5 , 6 .

However, responding to a predefined numerical rating scale is not necessarily the optimal method to capture complex mental states and personality traits (People do not usually answer or express their states and emotions on a yes or no or 1–7 point scale, and most often use natural language.; for review, see 7 ). Considering the recent popularity of ChatGPT, the development of large language models has made it possible to measure psychological states based on natural language, which was quite challenging in the past. For example, in Kjell et al.’s study, participants had to answer the question, “Overall, in your life, are you satisfied or not?” 8 . They examined the correlation between the values calculated by bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT), a large language model, and the scores of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) 9 , which has been conventionally used to measure life satisfaction. The BERT regression model transforms the participant’s free text into a multidimensional vector and uses that vector representation to predict the individual’s questionnaire score. The results indicated r  = 0.74, implying that life satisfaction can be accurately measured using open-ended responses. In another study 10 , BERT was used to predict the Big Five personality traits based on user comments and posts comprising fiction (e.g., short stories) in a novel-writing community on Reddit (a bulletin board social site). The results indicated an average performance of r  = 0.33, suggesting that personality can be predicted using free text. The present study asked participants to respond to open-ended questions in three situations (see below in the Method section) involving ambiguity (from the MAAS subscale), and the obtained texts were analyzed. The study aimed to determine the extent to which the survey methods consisting of free-text and natural language processing (NLP) predicted ambiguity tolerance in comparison to conventional numerical scores. Additionally, this study examined whether the texts answered from the respective MAAS subscales could discriminate between the respective subscales answered with numerical values.

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Graduate School of Education at Kyoto University (CPE-571) and conducted in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. We obtained informed consent from the study participants before their participation.

Participants

A total of 600 native English speakers of British nationality (the language used in most of the previous studies 8 is English, so we targeted British nationals referring to those NLP studies) were recruited using an online survey platform Prolific ( https://www.prolific.com/ ). Nine were excluded because of duplicate IP addresses, extremely short response times (less than 255 s), and attention-checking errors, resulting in 591 participants (M age  = 43.35, SD = 14.44, 325 males, 255 females, 11 others) for the final analyses. A question for the attention check (For this question, select “5. I mildly agree”) was added to MSTAT II (detailed in Procedure section) to exclude participants who selected anything other than the required answer. They were paid￡0.6 as a reward for their participation.

The participants provided open-ended responses to three ambiguous situations. The three situations correspond to the three factors of the MAAS: “How do you typically react when you are uncertain about the responsibilities of a job? (Discomfort with Ambiguity; DA),” “How do you typically react when ambiguous words like ‘probably,’ ‘approximately,’ or ‘perhaps’ are used? (Absolutism; AB),” and “How do you typically react when you are in situations which can be interpreted in more than one way? (Need for Complexity and Novelty; NC)” The responses were required to have at least 100 characters (approximately 20 words), and at least 45 s had to pass before answering the next question. Subsequently, participants responded to a questionnaire containing the MAAS and the Multiple Stimulus Types Ambiguity Tolerance Scale-II (MSTAT-II) 11 . The MSTAT-II is a general measure of ambiguity tolerance and was employed to determine whether it could predict this scale score from the three situations created from the MAAS (usually, in MAAS, the average of each subscale score is calculated but not the overall score). Finally, respondents’ demographic data (sex, age, nationality, and education) were collected. Descriptive statistics from the MAAS and MSTAT-II and examples of open-ended responses obtained from the three texts are presented in Table 1 .

The model for predicting the questionnaire scores was developed by fine-tuning the pre-trained BERT-base-cased model ( https://huggingface.co/bert-base-cased ). Closed models like ChatGPT raise scientific reproducibility and ethical concerns, as the precise architecture and training data are not disclosed, and updates are made without revealing the differences 7 . Therefore, for this study, a more open model, BERT, was used. Regarding hyperparameter selection during fine-tuning and final model evaluation, five-fold nested cross-validation (nested CV) was used. The nested CV has a low bias in estimation accuracy 12 and is particularly effective for machine learning on small samples 13 . It allows obtaining an estimate of the model’s predictive accuracy, independent of the data used to build the model (see Supplementary Material for more information).

The correlation coefficients between the BERT-predicted and true values of the questionnaire scores when using free-text responses to the three open-ended questions were calculated (Table 2 presents the medians; see Supplementary Table 1 for the minimum and maximum values). Results indicated that text NC ( r  = 0.38, p  < 0.001) and the text combining all three texts ( r  = 0.41, p  < 0.001) moderately predicted the MSTAT-II scores, which measure general ambiguity tolerance. Additionally, texts from the DA ( r  = 0.28, p  = 0.002), AB ( r  = 0.23, p  = 0.01), and NC ( r  = 0.19, p  = 0.04) were weakly correlated with their respective MAAS subscale scores.

The findings of this study are novel as they indicate that even free text can predict psychological states and traits 8 , 10 with regard to ambiguity.

Three questions were asked in this study; however, only one question from NC, “How do you typically react when you are in situations which can be interpreted in more than one way?” was moderately predictive. This question is more general than the other two questions and applies to various situations. This suggests that refining situation settings and how questions are asked may allow attitudes toward ambiguity to be measurable, even with only one open-ended response. The DA, AB, and NC texts showed weak but significant correlations with their respective scores. Future studies should consider making it possible to discriminate between subscales, for example, by devising how the questions are asked.

This survey method consisting of free-text and NLP will allow for the measuring of an individual’s personality in a more ecologically valid form; that is, an open-ended response method when expressing emotions and states in everyday life 8 , 10 , 14 , 15 . In Kjell et al.’s study 8 , questions aimed to examine overall life satisfaction, such as “Overall, in your life, are you satisfied or not?”; however, in this study, the question was constructed by specifying the situation and asking the respondent to imagine the situation, where “it can be interpreted in more than one way.” This allows the use of open-ended surveys that measure not only abstract concepts, such as life satisfaction, but also other personality traits and psychological states that are more specific.

While moderate correlation coefficients were observed, aligning with previous studies 10 , there is scope for further improvement in correlation by employing alternative language models (e.g., RoBERTa), a topic of interest for future studies. Consistent with previous studies, the results of this study are limited to English-language data. However, given the translation of the scale into various languages, efforts will be made to globally predict its scores in open-ended surveys in the future study. Both the MAAS and MSTAT-II used in this study were self-reported, and future research can attempt to predict a behavior (e.g., decision-making in ambiguous situations) based on participants’ open-ended responses and BERT scores.

In conclusion, this study successfully predicted attitudes toward ambiguity by NLP of open-ended responses using BERT. Through the utilization of these technologies, complex human minds can be measured in a way that is natural to the participants, with little concern that the content of the questionnaire items will influence participants’ cognitions. Academically, as the scale is translated into other languages, attempts can be made to predict its scores in open-ended surveys globally to increase its accuracy and discrimination to apply it to social surveys, education, clinical situations, among other spheres.

Data availability

All data and script are available online ( https://osf.io/jza53/?view_only=dbdc4b4c82f94410aed7e5ccbb22a98d ).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows Grant Number 22KJ1813, Leave a Nest Grant Incube Prize, and 3rd academist Prize. We also thank Katarina Woodman (Kyoto University) for the English proofreading of the questionnaire. Finally, this manuscript was reviewed in English by Editage ( http://www.editage.com/ ) with the support of Global Education Office, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University.

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J.H.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Writing—Original Draft, Visualization, Funding. H.O.: Methodology, Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing—Review & Editing. M.N.: Writing—Review & Editing, Supervision.

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Hitsuwari, J., Okano, H. & Nomura, M. Predicting attitudes toward ambiguity using natural language processing on free descriptions for open-ended question measurements. Sci Rep 14 , 8276 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59118-z

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Firsted.publishedundertitle:Researchmethodsinclinicalandcounselling psychology.Chichester:Wiley,1994. Includesbiblographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-471-49087-3(cased)–ISBN0-471-49089-X(pbk.) 1.Clinicalpsychology–Research–Methodology.2. Counselling–Research–Methodology.3.Psychotherapy–Research–Methodology.I. Pistrang,Nancy.II.Elliott,Robert,1950–III.Barker,Chris,1948–.Researchmethodsin clinicalandcounsellingpsychology.IV.Title. RC467.8.B372002 616.89’0072–dc21 2002069167 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary ISBN0-471-49087-3(hbk) ISBN0-471-49089-X(pbk) Typesetin10/12ptPalatinobyDobbieTypesettingLimited,Tavistock,Devon PrintedandboundinGreatBritainbyTJInternationalLtd,Padstow,Cornwall Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaperresponsiblymanufacturedfromsustainableforestry inwhichatleasttwotreesareplantedforeachoneusedforpaperproduction. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THE AUTHORS .............................................. x PREFACE ............................................................ xi PREFACE FROM THE FIRST EDITION .............................. xiii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION: THE RESEARCH PROCESS . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Research Process..................................... 4 Chapter 2 PERSPECTIVES ON RESEARCH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Philosophical Issues........................................ 7 What is Research? ....................................... 7 What is Science?........................................ 13 Social and Political Issues................................ 19 Professional Issues........................................ 20 The Intuitive Practitioner ................................ 20 The Scientist-Practitioner ................................ 21 The Applied Scientist ................................... 22 The Local Clinical Scientist............................... 22 The Evidence-based Practitioner.......................... 23 The Clinical Scientist.................................... 24 Comparison of Models .................................. 24 Current Developments .................................. 25 Personal Issues ........................................... 25 Why do Clinical Psychologists do Research?............... 26 Why don’t Clinical Psychologists do Research?............. 27 Summary .............................................. 28 Chapter Summary ........................................ 29 Further Reading .......................................... 29 Chapter 3 DOING THE GROUNDWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Formulating the Research Questions ........................ 31 Choosing the Topic ..................................... 32 Developing the Questions................................ 32 Hypothesis-testing versus Exploratory Research Questions ............................................ 33 Some Types of Research Questions ....................... 35 Literature Review....................................... 38 The Proposal........................................... 40 vi CONTENTS Consultations........................................... 42 Piloting................................................ 42 Funding ............................................... 43 The Politics of Research in Applied Settings ................. 44 Access................................................. 44 Responding to Doubts................................... 45 Authorship............................................. 47 Chapter Summary ........................................ 47 Further Reading .......................................... 48 Chapter 4 FOUNDATIONS OF QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT . . 49 The Process of Measurement............................... 51 Domains of Variables.................................... 51 Measuring Psychological Constructs ...................... 51 Measurement Sources and Approaches.................... 53 Foundations of Quantitative Methods....................... 54 Positivism.............................................. 55 Psychometric Theory...................................... 57 Definitions............................................. 58 Reliability.............................................. 59 Reliability Statistics ..................................... 62 Validity................................................ 65 Generalizability Theory.................................. 67 Item Response Theory................................... 68 Utility ................................................. 69 Standards for Reliability and Validity ..................... 69 Chapter Summary and Conclusions......................... 70 Further Reading .......................................... 71 Chapter 5 FOUNDATIONS OF QUALITATIVE METHODS . . . . . . . . 72 Historical Background................................... 74 Phenomenological Approaches ............................. 76 Types of Phenomenological Research ..................... 78 Social Constructionist Approaches.......................... 81 Background to Social Constructionism .................... 82 Types of Social Constructionist Research .................. 86 Ways of Evaluating Qualitative Studies ..................... 89 Conclusions.............................................. 91 How do you choose between a Qualitative and a Quantitative Approach?................................. 91 Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods.......... 92 Chapter Summary ........................................ 92 Further Reading .......................................... 93 Chapter 6 SELF-REPORT METHODS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Mode of Administration................................. 97 Open-ended and Closed-ended Questions ................. 98 vi CONTENTS Consultations........................................... 42 Piloting................................................ 42 Funding ............................................... 43 The Politics of Research in Applied Settings ................. 44 Access................................................. 44 Responding to Doubts................................... 45 Authorship............................................. 47 Chapter Summary ........................................ 47 Further Reading .......................................... 48 Chapter 4 FOUNDATIONS OF QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENT . . 49 The Process of Measurement............................... 51 Domains of Variables.................................... 51 Measuring Psychological Constructs ...................... 51 Measurement Sources and Approaches.................... 53 Foundations of Quantitative Methods....................... 54 Positivism.............................................. 55 Psychometric Theory...................................... 57 Definitions............................................. 58 Reliability.............................................. 59 Reliability Statistics ..................................... 62 Validity................................................ 65 Generalizability Theory.................................. 67 Item Response Theory................................... 68 Utility ................................................. 69 Standards for Reliability and Validity ..................... 69 Chapter Summary and Conclusions......................... 70 Further Reading .......................................... 71 Chapter 5 FOUNDATIONS OF QUALITATIVE METHODS . . . . . . . . 72 Historical Background................................... 74 Phenomenological Approaches ............................. 76 Types of Phenomenological Research ..................... 78 Social Constructionist Approaches.......................... 81 Background to Social Constructionism .................... 82 Types of Social Constructionist Research .................. 86 Ways of Evaluating Qualitative Studies ..................... 89 Conclusions.............................................. 91 How do you choose between a Qualitative and a Quantitative Approach?................................. 91 Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Methods.......... 92 Chapter Summary ........................................ 92 Further Reading .......................................... 93 Chapter 6 SELF-REPORT METHODS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Mode of Administration................................. 97 Open-ended and Closed-ended Questions ................. 98

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