RESEARCH PSYCHOLOGY

Clinical Design In Research Psychology

Clinical Design in Research Psychology

Introduction

In clinical research the giving of consent by the patient generally lies within the context of illness or the doctor/patient relationship. On exploration of these issues it would appear unlikely that the patient's consent is free of significant influences, some of which may be strong enough to be controlling. Five categories of consent are suggested: voluntary, involuntary, coerced, enforced and partially voluntary. It is argued that consent in clinical research is substantially influenced and thus only partially voluntary. Several empirical strategies are proposed to ensure adequately voluntary consent by reducing some circumstantial influences when consent to clinical research is obtained. Clinical research is necessary to establish the safety and efficacy of a therapy. It may include, for example, the testing of nursing or physiotherapy techniques, as well as the testing of new drugs, the focus of this paper. Clinical testing of a new drug is required by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) before a product licence for that the drug can be given. As the drug is being tested for safety and efficacy, patients taking part will be put at risk of unknown side-effects and may also be randomised to receive either the unproven drug or a placebo. When we enter a patient into such a clinical trial we are mainly testing a drug appropriate to his or her condition. However, because of randomization we may not always be selecting a particular drug for a particular patient's needs. If the comparator drug is a placebo then we may not be acting in that patient's best interests. In some cases the patient is being used as a means to an end: establishing the safety and efficacy of a new drug for the benefit of future patients.

The justification for this is that the only way to establish the most effective and safe treatments to improve health (desired by most members of society) are by clinical research. By consenting, the patient knowingly agrees to this goal and makes it his own, becoming an active participant in the research so that it cannot then be said that the patient is being used as a means to an end. Clearly the quality of that consent is therefore vital.

Research involves two steps, generating scientific hypothesis & testing hypohtesis. Generating Hypothesis: Hypothesis: a statement that can be tested - about the topic of interest e.g. adolescents tend to be more moodier than children or adults How to generate hypothesis: by general observation It also helps to be very familiar with the relevant scientific literature Research Methodology: Literature: previously published books and studies about the topic of interest Often the most imp source Of Scientific Hypotheses, is Scientific Theory - an interrelated set of propositions about a particular phenomenon Example of hypothesis Hypothesis: sexual orientation may depend on Genetic Predisposition toward heterosexuality or homosexuality This leads to testable scientific hypothesis that Pairs of Identical twins who have identical genes- should be more likely to have same ...