Post by mgm on Sept 14, 2017 19:37:37 GMT
The relevant variables in this study I would say are:
- the severity of the depression, which would be the dependent variable.
- the independent variable would be the type of treatment the patient is recieving - behaviour modification, cognitive therapy, or rational-emotive therapy.
Some other possible variables that might have to be controlled and some possible ways to control them are:
- perhaps time of year could influence the outcome. A lot of people experience a dip in mood as a result of the dreariness of the winter months. A possible way to control this is to try and keep the study from crossing over from one season to another. For example conducting the study from June 1- Sept. 1, when the weather is more or less consistent, rather then say Oct.1 - Jan.1, when there is a more drastic change. There’s also the option of introducing a fourth group that receives no treatment. This group can be used as a basis for comparison, to try and see how time and other external factors (such as seasonal changes) naturally affect the course of the depression when no intervention takes place in the form of therapy.
- changes in lifestyle are another possibility. For example, If someone in the study changes their diet in the 12 week period or the amount of daily exercise they receive, those are influences that could affect level of depression. This is very difficult to control, but you could ask the participants to keep a brief daily log of their activity and diet so that you could at least be aware of any changes that took place in other areas when reviewing your data.
- another question to consider is how and where the initial sample of 30 people seeking assistance with depression were found. There might be factors relating to their composition that could skew the study and affect it’s validity. For example, if the 30 people seeking assistance all belonged to a specific group, say all were paramedics, then this innate factor would prevent the findings from being applicable back to the general population (eg. to those who are not paramedics).
I would say that this is cause and effect research because they are looking at the relationship between the assumed cause (the method of therapy) and the assumed effect (the level of depression).
- the severity of the depression, which would be the dependent variable.
- the independent variable would be the type of treatment the patient is recieving - behaviour modification, cognitive therapy, or rational-emotive therapy.
Some other possible variables that might have to be controlled and some possible ways to control them are:
- perhaps time of year could influence the outcome. A lot of people experience a dip in mood as a result of the dreariness of the winter months. A possible way to control this is to try and keep the study from crossing over from one season to another. For example conducting the study from June 1- Sept. 1, when the weather is more or less consistent, rather then say Oct.1 - Jan.1, when there is a more drastic change. There’s also the option of introducing a fourth group that receives no treatment. This group can be used as a basis for comparison, to try and see how time and other external factors (such as seasonal changes) naturally affect the course of the depression when no intervention takes place in the form of therapy.
- changes in lifestyle are another possibility. For example, If someone in the study changes their diet in the 12 week period or the amount of daily exercise they receive, those are influences that could affect level of depression. This is very difficult to control, but you could ask the participants to keep a brief daily log of their activity and diet so that you could at least be aware of any changes that took place in other areas when reviewing your data.
- another question to consider is how and where the initial sample of 30 people seeking assistance with depression were found. There might be factors relating to their composition that could skew the study and affect it’s validity. For example, if the 30 people seeking assistance all belonged to a specific group, say all were paramedics, then this innate factor would prevent the findings from being applicable back to the general population (eg. to those who are not paramedics).
I would say that this is cause and effect research because they are looking at the relationship between the assumed cause (the method of therapy) and the assumed effect (the level of depression).