Reading and Evaluating Quantitative Research in Body Psychotherapy.

Many arguments have been made in the literature for why research is considered important for health practitioners. One of the most important has to do with continuing growth of practitioners and guarding against falling into practices that are based only on personal opinion. While most body psychotherapists would endorse the idea that research can affect and inform practice, many would also admit that they do not regularly read quantitative or evidence-based research studies, the type of research that can be generalized to their own clients. Feeling comfortable with and using suitable criteria for reading quantitative research articles and reports is often experienced as difficult. It requires the use of concepts and information that may not be employed in everyday clinical practice settings. Reviewing that content and its associated skills can help to make it more available, so that one may adequately critique and get more out of one's professional reading and ultimately, provide better service to clients. To that end, in this paper three related areas central to understanding quantitative research are reviewed: (a) the logic of research design; (b) how internal and external validity are judged; and (c) the basics of statistical inference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]