Sponsored by the American Psychological Association, this is a representation of the proceedings of the National Conference on Graduate Education in Psychology. The proceedings begin with general introductory material, after which ten major issues are presented and discussed, answering such questions as: How can science and practice be combined? Should there be a core or individualized curriculum? What are the implications of the institutional and organizational setting? Are programs responsible for the marketability of their graduates? Major themes cutting across many presentations and recommendations include: the perceived unity or disunity of psychology as it is taught and as it organizationally exists; the acceptance and encouragement of diversity within a unified discipline; the quality of graduate education and its students; and recognition that graduate education involves people as well as curricula. Since the issues covered are of great concern to scientists, health service providers and educators alike, this book should have a significant impact on the field.

Sponsored by the American Psychological Association, this is a representation of the proceedings of the National Conference on Graduate Education in Psychology. The proceedings begin with general introductory material, after which ten major issues are presented and discussed, answering such questions as: How can science and practice be combined? Should there be a core or individualized curriculum? What are the implications of the institutional and organizational setting? Are programs responsible for the marketability of their graduates? Major themes cutting across many presentations and recommendations include: the perceived unity or disunity of psychology as it is taught and as it organizationally exists; the acceptance and encouragement of diversity within a unified discipline; the quality of graduate education and its students; and recognition that graduate education involves people as well as curricula. Since the issues covered are of great concern to scientists, health service providers and educators alike, this book should have a significant impact on the field.

Based on a five-year evaluation of an $80 million U.S. Army demonstration program, this first-of-its kind study explores the cost effectiveness of a managed care model of service delivery for children and adolescents with mental health and substance addiction problems. Contributions report on the quality, cost, and clinical outcome and raise critical questions about the effectiveness of mental health services and their delivery in community settings. Chapters describe new approaches to measurement and provide analyses assisting future research on managed care.

Based on a five-year evaluation of an $80 million U.S. Army demonstration program, this first-of-its kind study explores the cost effectiveness of a managed care model of service delivery for children and adolescents with mental health and substance addiction problems. Contributions report on the quality, cost, and clinical outcome and raise critical questions about the effectiveness of mental health services and their delivery in community settings. Chapters describe new approaches to measurement and provide analyses assisting future research on managed care.

The Second Edition of The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods provides students and researchers with the most comprehensive resource covering core methods, research designs, and data collection, management, and analysis issues. This thoroughly revised edition continues to place critical emphasis on finding the tools that best fit the research question given the constraints of deadlines, budget, and available staff. Each chapter offers guidance on how to make intelligent and conscious tradeoffs so that one can refine and hone the research question as new knowledge is gained, unanticipated obstacles are encountered, or contextual shifts take place.

Each chapter has been enhanced pedagogically to include more step-by-step procedures, more practical examples from various settings to illustrate the method, parameters to define when the method is most appropriate and when it is not appropriate. The editors also include numerous graphs, models, tip boxes to provide teaching and learning tools.

Key Features of the Second EditionEmphasizes applying research techniques, particularly in real-world settings in which there are various data, money, time, and political constraintsContains new chapters on mixed methods, qualitative comparative analysis, concept mapping, and internet data collectionOffers a newly developed section that serves as a guide for students who are attempting to translate the content in the chapters into action

Intended Audience

This Handbook is appropriate for introductory and intermediate research methods courses that focus intently on practical applications and a survey of the many methods available to budding researchers."

The SAGE Handbook of Social Research Methods is a must for every social-science researcher. It charts the new and evolving terrain of social research methodology, covering qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods in one volume. The Handbook includes chapters on each phase of the research process: research design, methods of data collection, and the processes of analyzing and interpreting data. The volume maintains that there is much more to research than learning skills and techniques; methodology involves the fit between theory, research questions research design and analysis. The book also includes several chapters that describe historical and current directions in social research, debating crucial subjects such as qualitative versus quantitative paradigms, how to judge the credibility of types of research, and the increasingly topical issue of research ethics. The Handbook serves as an invaluable resource for approaching research with an open mind. This volume maps the field of social research methods using an approach that will prove valuable for both students and researchers.

Leading social research methodologists and evaluators explore research design issues in this second of two volumes inspired by the work of Donald Campbell and sponsored by the American Evaluation Association. The authors address such issues as quasi-experimentation, the proper conduct of social inquiry, ways to take account of threats to validity, plausible rival hypotheses in measurement and design, subject selection and loss in randomized experiments, the use of evaluation to assess the validity of computer simulations, method variance, and time series experiments. Applied researchers who want to improve their research designs will find this book a compelling and thought-provoking read.

Leading social research methodologists and evaluators explore research design issues in this second of two volumes inspired by the work of Donald Campbell and sponsored by the American Evaluation Association. The authors address such issues as quasi-experimentation, the proper conduct of social inquiry, ways to take account of threats to validity, plausible rival hypotheses in measurement and design, subject selection and loss in randomized experiments, the use of evaluation to assess the validity of computer simulations, method variance, and time series experiments. Applied researchers who want to improve their research designs will find this book a compelling and thought-provoking read.

The leading social research methodologists and evaluators address the issues of validity, research design and social experimentation in this first of two volumes inspired by the work of Donald Campbell and sponsored by the American Evaluation Association. Each chapter is designed to offer readers insight into such issues as validity applied to meta-analysis, subject selection problems in randomized experiments, time-series designs and quasi-experiments, and the logic of ruling out rival hypotheses. Anyone engaged in social research will find this book a thought-provoking and inspiring read for their work.

The leading social research methodologists and evaluators address the issues of validity, research design and social experimentation in this first of two volumes inspired by the work of Donald Campbell and sponsored by the American Evaluation Association. Each chapter is designed to offer readers insight into such issues as validity applied to meta-analysis, subject selection problems in randomized experiments, time-series designs and quasi-experiments, and the logic of ruling out rival hypotheses. Anyone engaged in social research will find this book a thought-provoking and inspiring read for their work.

Although 14% to 26% of children under the age of 18 suffer from some type of behavioral, emotional, or developmental problem, only about one quarter of these children actually receive any care. How can we reach more of these children (and their families) and give them more effective mental health care? Aimed at finding an answer to this question, Children's Mental Health Services explores the major developments in the policy, services, and evaluations arenas that have implications for the development and refinement of service systems for children and adolescents with mental health needs. The book begins with an overview of state-level policies as well as the research development in children's mental health services. Next, the authors thoughtfully examine the components of the multiagency system--from the juvenile justice system to primary care and school-based mental health services--to see what contributions each can make in serving children with mental health needs and their families. This valuable resource also evaluates three recent examples of children's mental health service systems. Children's Mental Health Services is an important volume for students in evaluation, family studies, development psychology, public policy and social work. Researchers, evaluators, and practitioners in the teen or child mental health area will also find this book a welcome synthesis of the issues and research in this field. "I would like to congratulate the editors on the publication of this volume and on the initiation of the Sage Children's Mental Health Services series. I applaud their work in bringing together so many leaders in children's mental health to produce a very thoughtful and strategic analyses of progress that has been made and issues that remain to be addressed. I anticipate that this volume and entire series will make an important contribution to an understanding of where we have come from in developing effective service systems, where we still need to go to better support children and families, who our partners in this effort should be, and perhaps, most important strategically, how we should strive to move ahead." --from the Foreword by Robert M. Friedman, University of South Florida

"The Terry E. Hedrick, Leonard Bickman, and Debra J. Rog text provides a framework for designing research that is adaptable to almost any applied setting and constantly reiterates the need for establishing and maintaining credibility with the client at each level of the research process. Although the applied research book is a practical guide, suitable to accompany any thorough applied design textbook, it does a comprehensive job of presenting the distinction between basic and applied research. It introduces many topics found in the general methodology textbooks. This overlap will help students to feel comfortable in using the general skills in a more specific and complex manner."

--Contemporary Psychology

"For researchers needing to know how to plan and design applied research projects, Applied Research Design will be a most welcome publication. . . . The writing is clear and concise, graphics are utilized helpfully, and this book will be much appreciated by beginning social scientists who are serious but uncertain about the methodologies possible for doing applied research."

--Academic Library Book Review

Aimed at helping researchers and students make the transition from the classroom and the laboratory to the "real" world, the authors reveal pitfalls to avoid and strategies to undertake in order to overcome obstacles in the design and planning of applied research. Applied Research Design focuses on refining research questions when actual events force deviations from the original analysis. To accomplish this, the authors discuss how to study and monitor program implementation, statistical power analysis, and how to assess the human and material resources needed to conduct an applied research design to facilitate the management of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Appropriate for professionals and researchers who have had some previous exposure to research methods, this book will enable the development of research strategies that are credible, useful, and--more important--feasible.