Announcement

We are looking for books and reports on all topics related to interprofessional education and collaboration to review on the Blog. If you know of a recently published (hard copy/online) book/report, or have an interest in producing a book/report review please email: jic.editorialoffice@gmail.com

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Book Review: Methods in Psychological Research



Methods in Psychological Research (3rd Edition)
Annabel Ness Evans & Bryan J. Rooney. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2014
415 pages, $101.95
ISBN 978-1-4522-6104-1

Annabel Evans and Bryan Rooney, both professors at Concordia University College of Alberta, Department of Psychology, present an introduction to the foundational concepts of research methods in psychology.  In this introductory textbook, the authors have written a user-friendly and engaging account of core research concepts.  Topics are elucidated via a relaxed conversational style, and the reader is encouraged to apply ideas by linking them to common every-day scenarios.  The authors promote applicability by incorporating examples of specific research projects from not only professionals in the field of psychology, but also student research projects.  Thus, they see students as not only learners of research, but as active and resourceful participants in the research process itself.  In this way, the often intimidating world of research methods is transformed into a more accessible framework.

As the primary goal of this textbook is promoting an engaged understanding of the research process, the authors have cogently organized the topics to build upon each other.  Encompassing fourteen chapters in total, the first four explicate the fundamental tenets of research, including a general introduction, the literature review, ethics, and hypothesis formulation.  Chapters five through eleven focus on the specifics of methodology, such as the use of psychometric tests to operationalize and measure variables (including a discussion on reliability and validity), sample selection, different types of experimental designs, nonexperimental approaches, and data collection methods.  Finally, the textbook concludes with three chapters delineating the practical application of research methodology in the discipline of psychology.  These topics include program evaluation, archival research, meta-analytic designs, devising and implementing research projects, and written communication.

In addition to the flow of topic organization, each chapter follows a similar format.  Chapters begin with an outline of objectives, and these are subsequently reviewed in ordered detail.  Each chapter is also peppered with a variety of conceptual exercises to promote proactive learning, and the authors provide answers to these at the end of the chapters, allowing students to check their ideas relative to the authors’ ideas.  In line with the collaborative spirit of the book, they advise that differing conclusions do not necessarily indicate misunderstanding of the material.  Additionally, each chapter has practical features that are not always found in textbooks.  Perhaps most distinctly, FAQ sections are included where the reader will find common questions that the authors have been asked, and these are answered as they would have been in a classroom setting.  Finally, chapters conclude with a list of additional exercises (this time without answers so that professors may use them as assignments), potential student projects, and ancillary online learning resources related to the chapter topic.

Overall, Evans and Rooney have compiled an accessible yet thorough addition to the area of research methodology education.  It is a practical option for those interested in attaining an introduction to research methods, and I readily recommend it to both students and educators alike.

Review by: Rosita Sabzevari, Concordia University College of Alberta

Monday, April 20, 2015

Book Review: Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications & issues


Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications and Issues, 8th Edition.
Robert M. Kaplan & Dennis P. Saccuzzo
Wadsworth: Belmont, California, 2013, 639 pp, $189.95
ISBN-10: 1-133-49201-0 / ISBN-13: 978-1-133-49201-6

Robert M. Kaplan, Ph.D., Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, and Dennis P. Saccuzzo, Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University and Adjunct Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, present the 8th edition of their textbook, Psychological Testing: Principles, Applications, & Issues. This textbook provides the theoretical underpinnings of psychological test assessment.

Each chapter is laid out with learning objectives followed by a brief history of the subject, early theories on the subject, modern theories, examples of how to apply to modern research, issues relating to psychological testing, suggestions for how to correct error, and finishing off with a brief summary of the chapter - sometimes with a small section of practice questions. Chapters 1 to 3 review the basic statistics needed to understand test outputs, chapters 4 and 5 deal with reliability and validity, respectively, and the remaining 16 chapters explore test construction, test administration, ethical issues and applications of psychological testing.

Kaplan and Saccuzzo are thoughtful in their attempts to explain complex concepts, for example “reliability of a difference score”, describing each term in the formula, working through at least one example of the formula in use, and briefly summarizing the concept in simple language. There is an apparent awareness of how dense and abstract the material discussed is, demonstrated by the authors’ inclusions of multiple examples, summaries, and tables which further reduce the topic to the basic underlying principles. Examples are relevant to university students with repeated references to Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and their validity in predicting graduate student success. By using examples which the readers can relate, the concepts behind those examples become much more salient.

An understanding of reliability and validity is crucial when dealing with tests. Kaplan and Saccuzzo’s chapter on validity logically progresses from describing face validity, a superficial appearance of the items relatedness to the purpose of the test, to criterion- related validity, and ending with construct validity, which “many psychologists now believe…is the only major type of validity that need concern us.” (p.153).

Chapters 11 to 20 examine psychological assessments and their applications across a variety of professions and settings. Psychological tests are conducted in education, military, counseling, clinical, industrial/business, health care and forensic settings to measure intelligence, personality, aptitude, mental status and quality of life. All forms of tests are created and evaluated based on principles of reliability and validity, making this textbook applicable to a broad range of health professionals (e.g., psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists) who administer psychological inventories across the world.

This textbook is an especially valuable resource for graduate students and prospective health professionals interested in conducting and understanding psychological assessments. The diverse backgrounds of the Kaplan and Saccuzzo are a testament to the wide variety of settings which psychological assessments can be utilized in. The explanations are thorough, the structure of the text is well organized, examples are easy to understand, and the applications of testing beyond the discipline of psychology are clear. The result is a textbook which is intently focused on the readers and their comprehension of the material.

Review by: Katelyn Stewart