Search

This article introduces readers to the present PCSP issue on the "adjudicated case study method." This method employs concepts from the law for evaluating qualitative information to determine the truth of statements about human psychology and behavior, including causal statements about psychotherapy outcome. Two models of the adjudicated case study method, which were originally presented in PCSP in 2011, are covered: Ronald Miller’s "Panels of Psychological Inquiry" (PPI), and Arthur Bohart’s "Research Jury Method." The issue concludes with a Commentary by Robert Elliott, Susan Stephen, and Anna Robinson.

This article is a brief orientation to the current PCSP issue, which presents and compares two contrasting, interpersonal theories—Interpersonal Defense Theory and Interpersonal Reconstructive Therapy—for developing a case formulation and treatment plan for the case of "Sharon," a 28-year, unmarried social worker with no children. At the beginning of Sharon’s therapy, which was part of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), Sharon presented with comorbid anxiety and personality disorders. A major focus of her problems was being stuck between being simultaneously drawn to and repelled by "Jeff," her former finance. In reading this article series, a number of important themes to keep in mind are mentioned, including (a) comparing theoretical similarities and differences between the two theories; (b) the differences in the information selected by each theory from the large database of quantitative and qualitative clinical information in the database generated by the RCT; and (c) the enrichment of theory that occurs when it is applied to an individual case.

At least as far back as Plato and Aristotle, psychology began as a stepchild of philosophy. The establishment by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 of the first formal psychological laboratory focused on studying psychophysiological phenomena was psychology’s declaration of independence as a discipline. By positioning itself as the application of natural-science-based, empirical methods involving quantitative, group-based approaches to psychological topics, the discipline consolidated its independence and its societal status and clout. This paper first summarizes these developments, to highlight the causes of psychology’s historical resistance to qualitative case studies, and to qualitative research generally. I then briefly review three movements that have stimulated psychology to slowly but surely embrace qualitative case study research, with the addition of complementary, quantitative data: the rise of postmodern philosophy, the related “cognitive revolution” in psychology, and the “mixed methods” model of research in the social sciences that synergistically combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The result of this embrace, in the context of psychology’s established science-oriented identity, has been for psychology to add quality-of-knowledge guidelines for elevating the yield of case study knowledge. This result is illustrated by three examples: Kazdin’s (J Consult Clin Psychol 49:183–192, 1981) strategies for reducing threats to the validity of conclusions from case studies; Elliott, Fischer, and Rennie’s (Br J Clin Psychol 38:215–229, 1999) development of methodological standards for both quantitative and qualitative research; and my own work in developing the Pragmatic Case Study (PCS), which particularly reflects three of the recent trends in psychology: pluralism, pragmatism, and the mixed methods approach. Comparisons between organized social work’s and organized psychology’s approach to psychotherapy training and research is noted, with the two fields starting off in opposite directions and recently coming together.

Psychotherapy case studies have the capacity to link directly to the work of practitioners because these studies are grounded in the same type of setting in which clinicians function, that of the single case. Not surprisingly, then, case studies have played a most important role in the development of a wide range of therapy models, like psychoanalysis, behavioral therapy, and client-centered therapy. However, until recently, case studies as a method of research have fallen into disuse because they have been viewed as subjective and journalistic. This situation has changed with the growth of the philosophical movement of postmodernism, which has encouraged pluralism in the social sciences, and in turn stimulated new approaches to the case study as a serious method for psychotherapy research. This paper reviews one such approach, the pragmatic case study method, which is grounded in the fast-growing "mixed methods" model in the social sciences that seeks new ways to integrate qualitative and quantitative research designs and data. This paper begins with an overview of the growing variety of types of psychotherapy research, indicating where case studies fit in and describing a new design that integrates the use of pragmatic case studies with randomized clinical trials. The paper then lays out the basic structure of the pragmatic case study, in the context of viewing therapy as a complex adaptive system and, in a related fashion, as an example of Peterson's (1991) "Disciplined Inquiry" model of professional practice. The paper next provides a more concrete idea of the pragmatic case study by summarizing guidelines for writing such a case study for this PCSP journal, and by describing the structure of a specific example of a pragmatic case study published in the journal, the case of Caroline by Ueli Kramer. Finally, the paper describes how the pragmatic case study can be integrated with other types of case study designs.

This case study deals with Sara, a 37-year-old social phobic woman who suffered from a primary fear of blushing as well as comorbid disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and spider phobia. The client was treated in an intensive, one-week group cognitive-behavioral therapy program in an educational university clinic in Aarhus, Denmark. She achieved a remarkable and durable change in her longstanding social phobia after two in-session behavioral experiments conducted during the third and fourth days of the program. After treatment, the client was interviewed about her sudden gain, and she read and commented on the case study report. The primary aim of the study was to investigate the micro-level mechanisms of change for this particular client, and thereby illustrate the prospects of pragmatic case studies in meticulous process research focusing on one of the most intricate problems in psychotherapy: how does treatment work.

The paper is a response to a commentary by Rogojanski and Rego (2013) on our case study of Sara (Jensen, Hougaard, & Fishman, 2013). Sara was a client who achieved a remarkable and durable change in her longstanding social phobia (SP) after short-term group cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT). Our response deals with the following topics: (1) safety behavior; (2) the idiographic arrangement of exposure as behavioral experiments; (3) acceptance as a mechanism of action in CBT; (4) the specific format of the Aarhus treatment program; and (5) recent advances in quantitative research on change mechanisms in CBT for anxiety disorders. We conclude that Rogojanski and Rego's commentary and our further reflections underline the original conclusion from our case study: that generally, change mechanisms in psychotherapy are highly complex, and that specifically, the data from Sara’s case could be consistent with several disparate theories of change mechanisms in CBT, revealing a high degree of overlap and intertwining among the theories.

While the nature of research, practice, and training in psychotherapy makes it possible for them to be synergistic in advancing best practice and continuous improvement in the field, this potential is just beginning to be mined. In this process, the systematic case study has important roles to play since it captures and analyzes the contextually complex, qualitative and quantitative data that constitute the basic phenomena of the field. This article briefly reviews the dynamics of the research-practice-training synergy and illustrates how they are embodied in the work of Dr. Mikael Thastum at The Anxiety Disorder Clinic for Children and Adolescents (TADCCA) of Aarhus University. As a second example of this synergy and as a comparison to Thastum's Clinic, the parallel work of Brian Chu at the Youth and Depression Clinic (YAD-C) at Rutgers University is reviewed.

Les etudes de cas en psychotherapie permettent de se relier directement au travail des praticiens parce qu’elles sont basees sur le meme type de situation avec laquelle travaillent les cliniciens : le cas unique. Il n’est donc pas surprenant que les etudes de cas aient joue le role le plus important dans le developpement d’un large eventail de modeles therapeutiques, tels que la psychanalyse, la therapie comportementale ou la therapie centree sur le patient. Cependant, jusqu’a recemment, les etudes de cas comme methode de recherche sont tombees en desuetude, etant considerees comme subjectives et journalistiques. Cette situation a change avec le developpement du mouvement philosophique postmoderne, qui a encourage le pluralisme dans les sciences sociales, et qui a stimule en retour de nouvelles approches de l’etude de cas comme methode serieuse de recherche en psychotherapie. Cet article examine l’une de ces approches, l’etude de cas pragmatique, fondee sur le modele des « methodes mixtes » qui se developpent rapidement dans les sciences sociales et qui cherchent de nouvelles voies pour integrer les plans et les donnees de recherches qualitatives et quantitatives. L’article commence par une revue des divers types de recherches en psychotherapie, puis presente la structure de base d’une etude de cas pragmatique, dans la perspective de la therapie vue comme un systeme adaptatif complexe et comme un exemple de ce que Peterson (1991) decrit comme modele de « l’investigation disciplinee » de la pratique professionnelle. L’article fournit ensuite une idee plus concrete de l’etude de cas pragmatique en resumant les directives pour ecrire une telle etude pour le journal en ligne Pragmatic Case Studies in Psychotherapy (PCSP), et en decrivant la structure d’un exemple specifique d’une etude de cas pragmatique publiee dans ce journal, le cas de Caroline de Ueli Kramer.

Although much has been written about the basic incompatibility of the dominant quantitative research model in psychotherapy and the qualitative preferences of the practitioner community, the recent developments detailed in this chapter have resulted in a growing rapprochement on both sides in the service of pragmatically improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Examples of these developments include (a) the growing mixed-methods movement; (b) the creation of the American Psychological Association’s evidence-based practice in psychology and evidence-based relationships models, to complement traditional empirically supported treatments; (c) the growth of the “practice-based evidence” model to complement evidence-based practice; (d) the organization of the case study field into a coherent whole with a variety of types of complementary approaches; (e) the emergence of “theory-building” case studies; (f) the development of case-study-based thinking within the cognitive-behavioral therapy movement; and (g) government support of initiatives that link traditional randomized controlled trial research to approaches that emphasize both qualitative and quantitative methods.

Case Studies Within Psychotherapy Trials: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods presents a specific, mixed-methods approach, called the “Cases Within Trials” (CWT) model, to psychotherapy research. The CWT model combines the randomized clinical trial (RCT) research design, based on quantitative group research, with richly, qualitatively detailed systematic case studies involving contrasting outcomes drawn from the experimental condition of the RCT. Specifically, the CWT model involves three components: results gained from the RCT, results gained from the case studies; and a synthesis of the two types of knowledge. Chapter 2 of the book is a “reader’s guide” to the details of the CWT method and its application to four illustrative RCT projects in Chapters 3–6 of the book.

Case Studies Within Psychotherapy Trials: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods presents a specific, mixed-methods approach, called the “Cases Within Trials” (CWT) model, to psychotherapy research, combining the results from a randomized clinical trial (RCT), from case studies drawn from the RCT, and a synthesis of the two types of knowledge. Chapter 6 of the book applies this model to a study of the application of a three-session, individual, “motivational interviewing” therapy—specifically labeled “motivational enhancement therapy for antidepressants” (META). META was employed for treating disadvantaged, predominantly Spanish-speaking Latinos with depression. Finding META plus routine individual psychiatric therapy based in a community mental health center (CMHC) to be statistically and substantially superior to the CMHC-therapy-only condition, the authors then analyze and compare the positive-outcome case of Lupe, the mixed-outcome case of Ana, and the negative-outcome case of Maria, all drawn from the META condition.

Phytoplankton and Microcystis aeruginosa (Kütz.) Kütz. biovolumes were characterized and modeled, respectively, with regard to hydrological and meteorological variables during zebra mussel invasion in Saginaw Bay (1990-1996). Total phytoplankton and Microcystis biomass within the inner bay were one and one-half and six times greater, respectively, than those of the outer bay. Following mussel invasion, mean total biomass in the inner bay decreased 84% but then returned to its approximate initial value. Microcystis was not present in the bay during 1990 and 1991 and thereafter occurred at/in 52% of sample sites/dates with the greatest biomass occurring in 1994-1996 and within months having water temperatures19°C. With an overall relative biomass of 0.03 ± 0.01 (mean + SE), Microcystis had, at best, a marginal impact upon holistic compositional dynamics. Dynamics of the centric diatom Cyclotella ocellata Pant. and large pennate diatoms dominated compositional dissimilarities both inter- and intra-annually. The environmental variables that corresponded with phytoplankton distributions were similar for the inner and outer bays, and together identified physical forcing and biotic utilization of nutrients as determinants of system-level biomass patterns. Nonparametric models explained 70%-85% of the variability in Microcystis biovolumes and identified maximal biomass to occur at total phosphorus (TP) concentrations ranging from 40 to 45 μg · L(-1) . From isometric projections depicting modeled Microcystis/environmental interactions, a TP concentration of30 μg · L(-1) was identified as a desirable contemporary "target" for management efforts to ameliorate bloom potentials throughout mussel-impacted bay waters.

The target article in the current issue of PCSP by Fredrik Folke and associates (2012) documents and interprets six case studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. This introduction places the article in a larger methodological context from my perspective as editor of the PCSP journal. I first review five types of case studies identified by McLeod (2010) in his seminal book on case study research. These include the main type of case study employed in PCSP, the Pragmatic Case Study, and four other kinds, including those that focus on theory-building, the adjudication of truth claims, the narrative experience of the participants, and single-case experimental designs. I then discuss the advantages of combining Pragmatic Case Study designs with these other types. The Folke et al. article is an example of a successful such combination, integrating parallel pragmatic case studies within a single-case experimental design structure.

Phytoplankton and Microcystis aeruginosa (Kutz.) Kutz. biovolumes were characterized and modeled, respectively, with regard to hydrological and meteorological variables during zebra mussel invasion in Saginaw Bay (1990-1996). Total phytoplankton and Microcystis biomass within the inner bay were one and one-half and six times greater, respectively, than those of the outer bay. Following mussel invasion, mean total biomass in the inner bay decreased 84% but then returned to its approximate initial value. Microcystis was not present in the bay during 1990 and 1991 and thereafter occurred at/in 52% of sample sites/dates with the greatest biomass occurring in 1994-1996 and within months having water temperatures >19°C. With an overall relative biomass of 0.03 ± 0.01 (mean + SE), Microcystis had, at best, a marginal impact upon holistic compositional dynamics. Dynamics of the centric diatom Cyclotella ocellata Pant. and large pennate diatoms dominated compositional dissimilarities both inter- and intra-annually. The environmental variables that corresponded with phytoplankton distributions were similar for the inner and outer bays, and together identified physical forcing and biotic utilization of nutrients as determinants of system-level biomass patterns. Nonparametric models explained 70%-85% of the variability in Microcystis biovolumes and identified maximal biomass to occur at total phosphorus (TP) concentrations ranging from 40 to 45 μg · L(-1) . From isometric projections depicting modeled Microcystis/environmental interactions, a TP concentration of

This issue of PCSP explores a promising approach for bridging the gap in communication and mutual respect between therapy group researchers and therapy practitioners: the "Individual Case-Comparison" (ICC) method. This method consists of systematically comparing good-outcome and poor-outcome cases that have both been drawn from a successful randomized controlled trial (RCT) treatment condition. As such the ICC method adopts a "mixed methods" model that integrates group-based, quantitative results with the case-based results of systematic and contextualized, narrative case studies—viewing both types of knowledge as complementary. To illustrate the ICC method, two pairs of case comparisons between a good-outcome and a poor-outcome client are presented. One pair is drawn from the successful condition of an RCT on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder; and one pair, from the successful condition of an RCT for Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) for depression. In each instance, the comparative analysis incorporates detailed qualitative data from the individual cases along with standardized, quantitative process and outcome measures drawn from the RCT studies—showing the "value added" of a mixed methods model. The issue is capped by a wide-ranging and incisive commentary by the Japanese clinical psychologist Shigeru Iwakabe, who discusses the history, logic, and cultural context of the comparative case study method, together with a critical analysis of the DBT and EFT case studies comparisons.

This introduction is designed to orient the reader to the 11 articles that comprise this issue of PCSP. The theme of the articles is an exploration of the adjudicated case study method. The rationale for this approach is first outlined below. This is followed by a brief description of the three different types of adjudicated case study methods presented and illustrated by specific case studies in this issue. These include: Ronald B. Miller's "Panels of Psychological Inquiry" model; Arthur C. Bohart's "Research Jury Method"; and Robert Elliott's "Hermeneutic Single Case Design" model. This article series ends with a commentary by Susan Stephen and Robert Elliott on issues that cross cut the three models, with the implications of these issues for improving the overall adjudication method.

This article addresses the long-standing divide between researchers and practitioners in the field of psychotherapy, regarding what really works in treatment and the extent to which interventions should be governed by outcomes generated in a "laboratory atmosphere." This alienation has its roots in a positivist paradigm, which is epistemologically incomplete because it fails to provide for context-based practical knowledge. In other fields of evaluation research, it has been superseded by a mixed methods paradigm, which embraces pragmatism and multiplicity. On the basis of this paradigm, we propose and illustrate new scientific standards for research on the evaluation of psychotherapeutic treatments. These include the requirement that projects should comprise several parallel studies that involve randomized controlled trials, qualitative examinations of the implementation of treatment programs, and systematic case studies. The uniqueness of this article is that it contributes a guideline for involving a set of complementary publications, including a review that offers an overall synthesis of the findings from different methodological approaches.

The colonization of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in Saginaw Bay dramatically altered the phytoplankton community composition resulting in exclusion of light sensitive species and dominance of species with oligotrophic preferences and light resistance. In 1990, the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory initiated a 7-year survey program to monitor changes in the lower food web of Saginaw Bay, where zebra mussels became established in the fall of 1991. To investigate shifts in the phytoplankton community composition over the 7-year period from 1990 to 1996 we searched for clusters of similar composition using multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) on proportions of 22 taxonomic groupings of the total phytoplankton density (cells per milliliter). We then used an agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis of the PCA scores. We identified five characteristic phytoplankton communities in configurations that allowed recognizing four distinct periods in Saginaw Bay linked to the zebra mussel invasion. Significant changes were indicative of increased water clarity and eutrophic conditions being replaced by more oligotrophic conditions as clusters dominated by light sensitive species, such as the cyanobacteria Oscillatoria redekii, became immediately rare and clusters dominated by diatoms such as Cyclotella spp. became common. Microcystis spp., a light tolerant cyanobacteria not grazed by zebra mussel, dominated assemblages after 1994. The shifts in phytoplankton composition confirm that zebra mussels effects on phytoplankton communities are mediated by both direct (filtration) and indirect (nutrient cycling) mechanisms and also suggests that increased light penetration is an important mechanism behind some changes.

Colonization of the Laurentian Great Lakes by the invasive mussel Dreissena polymorpha was a significant ecological disturbance. The invasion reached Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron, in 1991 and initially cleared the waters and lowered algal biomass. However, an unexpected result occurred 3 years after the initial invasion with the return of nuisance summer blooms of cyanobacteria, a problem that had been successfully addressed with the implementation of phosphorus controls in the late 1970s. A multi-class phytoplankton model was developed and tested against field observations and then used to explore the causes of these temporal changes. Model scenarios suggest that changes in the phytoplankton community can be linked to three zebra mussel-mediated effects: (1) removal of particles resulting in clearer water, (2) increased recycle of available phosphorus throughout the summer, and (3) selective rejection of certain Microcystis strains. Light inhibition of certain phytoplankton assemblages and the subseq...

This issue’s target article by William Stiles (2009) presents a general paradigm that explains how the "logical operations" of deduction, induction, and abduction can be applied to case-study-level observations in order to build, test, and refine applied psychology theories in areas like psychotherapy. Stiles’ paradigm is exemplified in the development of his own "assimilation model" of psychological change across many types of successful therapy. The subsequent commentaries, written by nine well-known psychologists representing a wide diversity of perspectives and expertise, fall into three general categories. These include illustrations of the usefulness of Stiles paradigm, and critiques of the Stiles paradigm as either being "insufficiently grounded" in mainstream scientific method and philosophy of science, or being "too grounded" in traditional science and not open to new philosophical developments in the areas of moral theory, pragmatic approaches to truth, and methodical hermeneutics. Because of the richness of the issues raised here, publication of further dialogue between Stiles and the commentators is planned for 2010.

This is a response to the commentaries by Dr. Knight (2008) and Dr. Hyer (2008) on “The Case of Geoffrey” (Mohlman et al., 2008). The response focuses on three major themes: the notion of cultural competence in the psychotherapeutic setting; possible risks inherent in and alternatives to the medicalization of mental health treatment for older adults; and the growing use of cognitive remediation in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. We also address some of the other excellent issues raised by Drs. Knight and Hyer regarding cohort effects in the study of older therapy clients and missing elements in the case of Geoffrey.

Research in late life mental health has not kept pace with the rapidly aging population of the U.S. Older adults (over age 65), more specifically the “baby boomer” cohort, are likely to pose unique challenges to mental health care providers. This report describes the case of Geoffrey, a 66-year-old African American male who presented with a complex range of psychiatric conditions (e.g., major depressive disorder, social anxiety disorder, and a history of polysubstance dependence), and challenging life circumstances (e.g., limited financial and social resources, and poorly controlled medical illness). Because Geoffrey also evidenced impairment in several cognitive domains (attention, memory, executive functions), a combined intervention of executive skills training (Sohlberg, Johnson, Paule, Raskin, & Mateer, 2001) and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) was selected. Furthermore, because time for conducting therapy was limited (fourteen, 90-minute sessions over a ten-week period), a “transdiagnostic” approach was taken to maximize efficiency. Results suggest the utility of augmented, transdiagnostic therapies to achieve optimal response with older clients. Although Geoffrey’s intervention progressed well, an event occurring late in treatment changed the course of therapy and led to an unexpected outcome. Several noteworthy aspects of the intervention, including the relevance of Geoffrey’s case to the current aging trend in the U.S., the use of a combined transdiagnostic intervention, and aspects of the therapy process are discussed throughout.

The articles in this issue are analyzed for integrative themes, with a special focus on their relevance for the development of a “Psycholegal Lexis” (PL). These themes include (a) whether forensic case studies fall within the purview of “science,” as envisioned by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; (b) issues in implementing the PL proposal, such as the need for more systematic forensic case outcomes and the possible rigidity of a stare decisis use of forensic case studies; (c) the synergistic interconnection between the pragmatic psychology underlying the PL proposal and therapeutic jurisprudence; and (d) ways in which the 8 case studies in this series illustrate the value of creating a new, peer-reviewed, electronic journal database, with the tentative working title, “Pragmatic Case Studies in Forensic Psychology: Method and Database.” The article concludes with a series of conceptual and practical recommendations for justifying and establishing such a journal.

This article describes the increasing use of the courts and the jails as “institutions of last resort” for multi-problem clients suffering the effects of mental retardation combined with other life challenges, such as mental illness, substance abuse, homelessness, and a history of physical and/or sexual abuse. The authors label these individuals as suffering from “Horrible Life Disorder” (HLD), and characterize them, for the most part, as lacking the comprehension necessary to navigate through the complexities of the court and probation systems. The article describes and evaluates the development of a program, within the Office of the Defender General of the State of Vermont, to (a) identify and accommodate such mentally retarded, HLD clients in the criminal justice system and (b) train public defense attorneys, judges, police, and probation officers to respond more effectively to the special issues of these citizens.

A ‘MicroSociety w ’ School includes time during all or most days for students to take on roles in developing and operating a miniature society, including, for example, such ‘institutions’ as businesses, consumers, elected officials, a money system, a tax collection system, police and courts. This case study, conducted by the first author, looks in detail at Mesquite, a school with a highly effective MicroSociety program, to discover the organizational factors and processes that appear to account for its success. This case is part of a larger, formative evaluation project, sponsored by MICROSOCIETY, Inc., the national organization that provides support for individual MicroSociety programs. The case took place in the context of the first author’s multiyear relationship as a type of ‘developmental evaluator’ for MICROSOCIETY, Inc., combining both evaluation and organizational consultation functions. The findings of the case study and the potentials and challenges of the author’s developmental evaluation role are described and discussed. q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the introduction to this Special Section, we proposed “the creation of a database of systematic, pragmatically focused case studies in program planning and evaluation [that] will be useful to both theorist and practitioner.” Six case studies have been presented to ‘pilot test’ the value and feasibility of this proposal. This concluding statement offers lessons learned from these case studies that argue for the database proposal's viability and that point to its future prospects.

The present Special Issue proposes that the creation of a database of systematic, pragmatically focused case studies in program planning and evaluation will be useful to both theorist and practitioner. This knowledge-base can (a) facilitate cross-case comparisons for inductively deriving generalizations of best practice; (b) allow practitioners to use the experience of past cases to guide their practice in present cases; and (c) further explore the foundational nature of evaluation as a discipline. This introduction first explores why there are so few published evaluation case studies. It then describes the development of a pragmatic paradigm, including a common analytic framework for facilitating the conduct, documentation, and discussion of individual case studies and for organizing them into a database. The introduction concludes with a cross-case summary comparison of the three cases in this first part of the Special Issue. In the next issue of this journal, a second part of the Special Issue will be presented. This will include three additional case studies and an analysis of all six of the case studies in terms of what we have learned about the theoretical and practical values—as well as the challenges—of creating a database of systematic, pragmatic case studies in evaluation.

Is there a therapy research paradigm that is suited to the models of clinicians who do not use a CBT approach? This article says yes, and describes that alternative: the collection into an organised database of systematic, 'pragmatic case studies' conducted by individual therapists. A review of this paradigm reveals that it can also serve the needs of CBT clinicians and researchers who, it turns out, are actually closet case-study advocates. (author abstract)

Case study research in counselling and psychotherapy, by J. McLeod, London, Sage, 2010, 272 pp., £21.99 (paperback), ISBN 9781849208055 Reviewed by Professor Daniel B. Fishman, 1 Graduate School of...

Costs, emissions, and resource availability were modeled for the production of 5 billion gallons yr(-1) (5 BGY) of renewable diesel in the United States from Chlorella biomass by hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). The HTL model utilized data from a continuous 1-L reactor including catalytic hydrothermal gasification of the aqueous phase, and catalytic hydrotreatment of the HTL oil. A biophysical algae growth model coupled with weather and pond simulations predicted biomass productivity from experimental growth parameters, allowing site-by-site and temporal prediction of biomass production. The 5 BGY scale required geographically and climatically distributed sites. Even though screening down to 5 BGY significantly reduced spatial and temporal variability, site-to-site, season-to-season, and interannual variations in productivity affected economic and environmental performance. Performance metrics based on annual average or peak productivity were inadequate; temporally and spatially explicit computations allowed more rigorous analysis of these dynamic systems. For example, 3-season operation with a winter shutdown was favored to avoid high greenhouse gas emissions, but economic performance was harmed by underutilized equipment during slow-growth periods. Thus, analysis of algal biofuel pathways must combine spatiotemporal resource assessment, economic analysis, and environmental analysis integrated over many sites when assessing national scale performance.

Balanced and restorative justice argues for greater accountability, competency, and public safety through community care of juvenile offenders. Toward these ends, the Prosocial Communities Solution builds an infrastructure around key elements of information sharing, coordinated supervision, and immersion in prosocial activities. Assisted by a clinical, cross-organizational management information system, each community horizontally aligns parents with professional caregivers responsible for at-risk youth. The caregiver alliance deploys a cross-organizational ad hoc caregiver team for each juvenile offender on community diversion, probation, or parole. Ad hoc teams negotiate individualized risk reduction contracts with youth and parents providing round-the-clock caregiver-supervised prosocial activities, including restorative justice practices. Through prosocial activities, at-risk youth get natural lessons in self-regulation. The caregiver alliance can learn from locally collected data about the procedures that successfully embody restorative justice goals and elevate the standard of care for at-risk youth.

This article proposes a new model for knowledge generation in applied and professional psychology—the pragmatic case study (PCS) method. Drawing from both psychology's traditional, quantitative and alternative, qualitative approaches, the PCS method involves the creation of systematic, peer-reviewed case studies (in all areas of applied psychology) that follow D. Peterson's “disciplined inquiry” epistemological model. The studies would be organized into “journal-databases” that combine (a) individual studies; (b) articles that address epistemological, theoretical, methodological, logistical, economic, political, and ethical issues in the PCS method; and (c) substantive cross-case analyses of groups of individual cases already published in the database. To lay out the proposal's arguments, the article begins by setting forth relevant historical and philosophical context, and then examines a possible set of initial methodological guidelines for ensuring rigorous quality in each case study. Next the PCS method's value in creating new and useful applied knowledge is demonstrated for two areas: psychotherapy efficacy research and forensic psychology. Finally, the implications of the present proposal are explored. Throughout, the emphasis is on creating an integrative, pragmatic alternative for gaining new useful knowledge in our discipline.

Stringer's Action Research: A Handbook for Practitioners reflects the impact of postmodern critical thinking upon models of human service practice. This includes such a radical break from traditional applied social science research methods — including Lewin's original concept of “action research” — that Stringer's model seems better termed “humanistic practice” than “action research.” The book itself does a fine job in spelling out the appealing values of critical-theory-informed practice: it is “democratic,” “equitable,” “liberating,” and “life-enhancing”; and it involves relationships that are “equal” and “cooperative,” communication that is “attentive” and “advisory”, participation that is “involving” and “personal”, and participation that is highly “inclusive.” In addition, Stringer makes the model very accessible to practitioners by packaging it in a “look-think-act” format. Concerns raised about Stringer's model include the lack of empirical evidence presented for its effectiveness, its apparent antagonism to the concept of such evidence, and its lack of consideration of the issue of “quality criteria” in knowledge generation (such as positivistic “reliability” and “validity”, or postmodern “credibility,” “authenticity,” and “fairness.”) In addition, the book suffers from the lack of an extended case study to illustrate the model in action across the total context and complexity of a complete social program.

To unify or not to unify applied psychology: that is the question. In this article we review pendulum swings in the historical efforts to answer this question���from a comprehensive, positivist, ���top-down,��� deductive yes between the 1930s and the early 60s, to a postmodern no since then. A rationale and proposal for a limited, ���bottom-up,��� inductive yes in applied psychology is then presented, employing a case-based paradigm that integrates both positivist and postmodern themes and components. This paradigm is labeled ���pragmatic psychology��� and, its specific use of case studies, the ���Pragmatic Case Study Method��� (���PCS Method���). We call for the creation of peer-reviewed journal-databases of pragmatic case studies as a foundational source of unifying applied knowledge in our discipline. As one example, the potential of the PCS Method for unifying different angles of theoretical regard is illustrated in an area of applied psychology, psychotherapy, via the case of Mrs. B. The article then turns to the broader historical and epistemological arguments for the unifying nature of the PCS Method in both applied and basic psychology.

Denzin and Lincoln's Handbook of Qualitative Research represents a major publishing event. It comprehensively gathers together and organizes rapidly growing developments in the philosophy, theory and method of conducting qualitative research. While this sounds innocent enough, the power and foundational core behind these developments is explosive: it is the postmodernist attack on the traditional, quantitative methods of positivist social science (including positivist program evaluation). In fact, this book might have well been titled the “Handbook of Postmodern Research.” Postmodernism brings with it highly controversial themes, such as the impossibility of objective knowledge, relativism, the blurring of boundaries between the social sciences and the humanities, and the politicization of social science by such ideologies as feminism, neo-Marxism, and anti-racism. The present review of the Handbook begins with a general orientation to postmodernism and the philosophical paradigms it has nourished. The implications of these paradigms for the organization of the book are then explored. Specifically, Denzin and Lincoln organize the book by the phases of a research study — introduction, research design and method, results, and discussion — with many of the chapters reviewing their topic across paradigms. It is argued that this organization results in two problems: redundancy in the comparison of different paradigms, and violation of the concept of a paradigm as an organizing framework. The review concludes with a discussion of the major significance of the Handbook as a documentation and reflection of the profound changes taking place in the basic assumptional systems that guide all social science.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Biomass Program has begun an initiative to obtain consistent quantitative metrics for algal biofuel production to establish an 'integrated baseline' by harmonizing and combining the Program's national resource assessment (RA), techno-economic analysis (TEA), and life-cycle analysis (LCA) models. The baseline attempts to represent a plausible near-term production scenario with freshwater microalgae growth, extraction of lipids, and conversion via hydroprocessing to produce a renewable diesel (RD) blendstock. Differences in the prior TEA and LCA models were reconciled (harmonized) and the RA model was used to prioritize and select the most favorable consortium of sites that supports production of 5 billion gallons per year of RD. Aligning the TEA and LCA models produced slightly higher costs and emissions compared to the pre-harmonized results. However, after then applying the productivities predicted by the RA model (13 g/m2/d on annual average vs. 25 g/m2/d in the original models), the integrated baseline resulted in markedly higher costs and emissions. The relationship between performance (cost and emissions) and either productivity or lipid fraction was found to be non-linear, and important implications on the TEA and LCA results were observed after introducing seasonal variability from the RA model. Increasing productivity and lipidmore » fraction alone was insufficient to achieve cost and emission targets; however, combined with lower energy, less expensive alternative technology scenarios, emissions and costs were substantially reduced.« less

This is the Editor's Introduction to this Issue on case formulation and therapist responsiveness.

Quality Circles (QCs), a form of participatory management, have been shown to roduce positive effects on the job satisfaction and performance of workers in industry and in the public sector. These structured, problem-solving oups can be useful in addressing the needs of classroom teachers or improved morale, job satisfaction and job enrichment, and in alleviating job-related stress. Higher morale and job satisfaction, coupled with a lower level of stress, can serve to enhance the job performance of teachers. The major components of the QC approach are explained in this article, a case illustration of an actual QC for teachers in a school setting is described, and guidelines for consideration in adopting the QC approach for teachers in schools are included.

To cope with the current diversity and centrifugal trends in our field, the National Conference on Graduate Education in Psychology recently proposed that each department and school of psychology conduct a self-study to clarify its goals, values, and curricular emphases. This article provides a blueprint to enable programs in any area of applied or professional psychology to engage in such a process of intensive self-scrutiny. The model adopted is based chiefly on four features of organizational development: open systems theory, the distinction between process and task emphases, democratic values, and action research. A case example is provided to illustrate how application of the model helps to insure the active collaboration of faculty, students, and alumni, resulting in a ready acceptance and implementation of recommended curricular changes.