Quantitative Data Analysis: Statistical Techniques-Peer Response

·     Response Guidelines

Respond to the post of two peers, offering an expansion of what your peer said, or asking a probing question. Consider commenting on how you might find the statistical technique in the learner's study to be useful for answering questions of interest to you in your current or future work as a counselor. There needs to be a response to each peer’s posting, your response needs to be supported with two references for each peer’s posting.

1st Peer Posting

Quantitative Data Analysis: Statistical Techniques

This article is a systematic study that evaluates the efficacy of MDMA on the treatment of PTSD.  The article cites different studies on the treatment of PTSD using pharmaceuticals, psychotherapy, or a combination of the two as a way of building baseline data that the results of the MDMA treatment can be compared to.  The data from these different studies are presented statistically in t-test format.  The objective of this article is to examine the impact of  3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on PTSD and try to determine if this drug holds any promise as a method of treatment for the disorder (White, 2014).  The article examines trials that span from 1960-2014, but the article itself was first published in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy in 2014.  The summary of the information presented in the article was interpreted with the use of information taken from Counseling research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (2014) to ensure that the interpretation of the data in the article is as accurate as possible.  The specific pharmacology of MDMA is discussed as well as the effects of the drug on the user.  There is a discussion on the potential negative effects of the drug and precautions that should be taken.  The findings suggest that there is potential for MDMA assisted therapy to be an effective form of treatment for PTSD, but there is a need for much more research on the topic before that conclusion can be confidently stated.  This quantitative study is useful as starting point that further research into this topic can be built upon.  Perhaps the most valuable information presented in the article is what methods of MDMA assisted treatment were not effective.  Since this information is supported by statistical data, it serves as a guide to future researchers on methods to avoid and will, hopefully, produce more meaningful gains in the research moving forward.

James Naylor

References

Sheperis, C. J., Young, J. S., & Daniels, M. H. (2010). Counseling research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

White, C. M. (2014, April). 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine's (MDMA's) Impact on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 48(7).

2nd Peer Posting

u04d1 - Quantitative Data Analysis: Statistical Techniques - Maggie Jones

Weisman de Mamani, Weintraub, Gurak and Maura (2014) conducted a study that sought to find out if use of culturally informed treatment for schizophrenia (CIT-S) was more successful in reducing the severity of symptoms posttreatment than psychoeducation (PSY-ED).  This study was a family treatment focused study.  Inferential statistics were gained from this study as the use of chi square and t-tests were used to determine the statistical difference between the results of the two groups (CIT-S and PSY-ED).  Use of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was used to collect data from the schizophrenic individuals.  This information was used to compare the rating prior to the two different treatment models, and then again after.  By comparing the ratings both before and after the two treatments, the differences in the ratings of the individuals with schizophrenia were able to indicate the level of change for each treatment type.  These results were then compared against each other to see if there was any indication that one treatment was more successful over the other.  The main hypothesis of this study was that patients in the CIT-S group would have a significant decline in psychiatric symptoms at the time of their treatment termination compared to those in the PSY-ED group.  

The results supported the hypothesis by computing a mean score of 43.44 for the CIT-S group and a mean score of 53.71 for the PSY-ED group.  These results show that in this study, the psychiatric symptoms decreased about 20% when CIT-S was used compared to PSY-ED.  The mean scores of this study were used for much of the comparisons between the CIT-S and PSY-ED group.  Mean scores are calculations of the average score; taking into account all scores and dividing them by the number of total scores.  The mean is often used in studies to describe the central tendency of the results (Sheperis, Young & Daniels, 2010).   

References

Sheperis, C. J., Young, J. S., & Daniels, M. H. (2010). Counseling research: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Weisman de Mamani, A., Weintraub, M. J., Gurak, K., & Maura, J. (2014). A randomized clinical trial to test the efficacy of a family-focused, culturally informed therapy for schizophrenia. Journal Of Family Psychology, 28(6), 800-810.