Of rigor and relevance

Abstract

A review of the literature on child behavior therapy reveals an inverse relationship between scientific rigor and clinical relevance. It appears that the differences in the constraints operating on the role of the clinician and the role of the scientist force a choice between rigor and relevance and create a dilemma. Occasional studies combine scientifically sound methodology with clinically meaningful conclusions, particularly where the single-S design is employed, but these inevitably suffer from a lack of generalizability. It is felt that one way of resolving the dilemma is to combine detailed studies of individual cases with sound group-comparison studies in the context of comprehensive research programs. Another is the "tracer" method in which extensive information on each participant is available so that it can be retrieved after the data from group-comparison studies have been analyzed. As a less costly alternative to this, the deviant case analysis is proposed wherein detailed case studies are conducted on only those individuals whose data ran counter to the trend displayed by the group. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1981 American Psychological Association.