
Why do we need to assess the quality of treatment?
On the clinical side, treatment providers need instruments with which to assess the quality of treatment provision, as well as the progress of their clients during treatment. Their motivation is the same as that among researchers: Such instruments are seen as essential elements in the effort to improve clinical care.
Which research methodologies should you choose for your study?
It is hence essential to get the initial stage of your research right. In this article, we discuss the research methodologies in detail and help you identify which method should you choose for your study. There are two general approaches to collecting data: quantitative and qualitative research. Let us understand in detail.
How do we measure the need for treatment?
Some needs assessments use publicly-available vital statistics, such as deaths due to opioid overdose, to estimate need for treatment, especially to identify trends. Two SAMHSA resources for assessing system capacity are the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS) and the Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) (SAMHSA, 2017a).
How is treatment provided and compliance with treatment assessed in pharmacology?
In pharmacologic studies, treatment provided and patients’ compliance with treatment are assessed in terms of medications taken.

What is an assessment for treatment?
Assessment is the process of obtaining information about the patient's drug use and how it is affecting his or her life. It is an essential part of treatment and care for people who use drugs.
What are the 4 types of study design?
Four major design types with relevance to user research are experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational and single subject. These research designs proceed from a level of high validity and generalizability to ones with lower validity and generalizability.
When is a qualitative research methodology appropriate?
When and How to Use Qualitative Research. Qualitative research is by definition exploratory, and it is used when we don't know what to expect, to define the problem or develop an approach to the problem. It's also used to go deeper into issues of interest and explore nuances related to the problem at hand.
What is qualitative research methodology?
Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data (e.g., text, video, or audio) to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It can be used to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas for research.
How many types of research methodologies are there?
There are two main categories of research methods: qualitative research methods and quantitative research methods. Quantitative research methods involve using numbers to measure data.
What is research methodology?
What is Research Methodology? Research methodology is the specific procedures or techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information about a topic. In a research paper, the methodology section allows the reader to critically evaluate a study's overall validity and reliability.
When is quantitative research methodology appropriate?
The goal of quantitative research methods is to collect numerical data from a group of people, then generalize those results to a larger group of people to explain a phenomenon. Researchers generally use quantitative research when they want get objective, conclusive answers.
What is quantitative research methodology?
Quantitative research methods emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques.
Why is qualitative methodology appropriate?
Qualitative research can be especially useful in both exploratory and explanatory contexts. For exploration, it allows you investigate situations where you would not know what hypotheses to examine or how to measure the concepts that interest you.
What is exploratory research method?
What is exploratory research? Exploratory research is a methodology approach that explores research questions that have not previously been studied in depth. It is often used when the issue you're studying is new, or the data collection process is challenging in some way.
What are the 5 methodology of quantitative research?
The following precedes the different types of Quantitative research types with the description of each.Survey Research. Survey Research is the most elementary tool for all sorts of quantitative research techniques. ... Descriptive Research. ... Experimental Research. ... Correlational Research. ... Casual-Comparative Research.
What are the 5 methodology of qualitative research?
The Five Qualitative approach is a method to framing Qualitative Research, focusing on the methodologies of five of the major traditions in qualitative research: biography, ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, and case study.
What are the five treatment approaches?
2001#N#Description: This multidimensional instrument assesses five treatment approaches: psychodynamic or interpersonal, cognitive–behavioral, family systems or dynamics, 12–step, and case management. For each of the first four modalities, items assess beliefs underlying the approach, practices appropriate in individual therapy, and practices appropriate in group therapy. Case management is an individual approach, so no group practices items were included. In addition, items were developed to tap general “group techniques” (e.g., “encouraging peer social support”) and “practical counseling” (e.g.,“developing rapport and trust”). The instrument consists of 48 items that assess 14 subscales. Construct validity was supported by the results of a confirmatory factor analysis in which subscale items loaded on the factor they were intended to assess, but not on other factors. Corresponding belief and practice subscales correlated highly, except for case management. Cronbach alphas for all subscales except psychodynamic and family systems beliefs were above 0.50 and most were over 0.70 (Kasarabada et al. 2001, p. 287). The fact that some of the subscales consist of only three items contributed to low internal consistency estimates.
Why do treatment providers need instruments?
On the clinical side, treatment providers need instruments with which to assess the quality of treatment provision, as well as the progress of their clients during treatment. Their motivation is the same as that among researchers: Such instruments are seen as essential elements in the effort to improve clinical care.
How is quality of alcohol treatment determined?
The quality of alcohol treatment is determined, not only by the therapeutic techniques applied, but also by the characteristics of individual treatment providers (panel III in figure 1). In particular, this domain of variables refers to within–program variation in provider characteristics (aggregate, program–level staff characteristics are considered in panel II). Gerstein (1991) argued that “the competence, quality, and continuity of individual caregivers are likely to be critical elements in explaining the differential effectiveness of [substance abuse] treatment programs” (p. 139). In the alcohol treatment field, the few studies that have been conducted (e.g., W.R. Miller et al. 1980; Valle 1981; McLellan et al. 1988; Sanchez–Craig et al. 1991; Project MATCH Research Group 1998; for reviews, see Najavits and Weiss 1994; Najavits et al. 2000) indicate that therapist characteristics play an important role in determining clients’ treatment retention and outcomes.
What is the National Drug and Alcoholism Treatment Unit Survey?
Measure: National Drug and Alcoholism Treatment Unit Survey (NDATUS)#N#Citation: Office of Applied Studies 1991#N#Description: The NDATUS is a brief questionnaire (five pages) that covers (a) the overall organization and structure of programs (ownership, funding sources and levels, organizational setting, capacity in different treatment settings using different treatment modalities, hours of operation, etc.), (b) staffing and staff characteristics, (c) services (e.g., methadone dosages), (d) policies, and (e) clients and client characteristics. The 1989 NDATUS was augmented in 1990 by the Drug Services Research Survey (DSRS) (Office of Applied Studies 1992 a, 1992 b) to obtain additional data in the areas of facility organization and staff, client data, services, and costs and charges. Using data from the 1991 NDATUS, Rodgers and Barnett (2000) found that private, for–profit substance abuse treatment programs tended to be smaller and more likely to provide treatment in only one setting. Public programs and nonprofit programs generally had more treatment staff; Federal and for–profit programs had more psychologists and physicians. In 1992, the NDATUS evolved into the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), sponsored by the Office of Applied Studies.
What is alcohol treatment?
Alcohol treatment programs typically provide psychosocial and/or pharmacologic interventions to patients. To the extent that it is constant across all patients, treatment provided is a program–level characteristic (panel II in figure 1). In most programs, however, the treatment provided varies across patients (panel V).
What are the factors that affect the impact of alcohol treatment?
Therapeutic Alliance. One of the key factors affecting the impact of alcohol treatment, especially psychosocial treatments, is the quality of the alliance or relationship that is developed between the therapist and client (panel IV in figure 1).
Which type of programs had more treatment staff?
Public programs and nonprofit programs generally had more treatment staff; Federal and for–profit programs had more psychologists and physicians. In 1992, the NDATUS evolved into the Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), sponsored by the Office of Applied Studies.
Which methodology should be used to evaluate adherence to topical treatment?
Adherence to medication can be defined as “the process by which patients take their medications as prescribed”. Adherence to topical treatment has been less studied in comparison with systemic therapeutic regimens and is poorly understood.
Publication
Methodologies for medication adherence evaluation: Focus on psoriasis topical treatment. Teixeira A, Teixeira M, Almeida V, Torres T, Sousa Lobo JM, Almeida IF J Dermatol Sci. 2016 May
What is direct method?
Direct methods. Direct methods include measurements of the drug(or a metabolite) concentration in body fluids. Although it may be considered as being an adequate and precise method, which can offer strong evidence of the ingestion of the drug, there are some variables that should be considered.
Why is adherence to treatment important?
Optimal treatment adherence is essential for the management of chronic conditions and the effectiveness of prescribed therapies. A World Health Organisation (WHO) report underlines the fact that adherence to chronic treatments is as low as 50% [1].
What is the effect of low adherence in chronic conditions?
A low rate of adherence in chronic conditions is associated with poor outcome and decreased quality of life , which constitutes an additional burden for the healthcare systems.
What is treatment adherence?
The current definition of treatment adherence, as given by the WHO, is “the extent to which a person’s behavior- taking medication, following a diet, and/or executing lifestyle changes- corresponds with the agreed recommendations from a healthcare provider” [1].
Is the adherence method supplementary data?
The method is appropriate for the measurement of adherence to one drug therapy regimen only and it offers no supplementary data on the additional causes of non-adherence and does not report on any patterns of non-adherence. It is also quite expensive, and could be viewed as interventional by some patients.
What is qualitative analysis?
In qualitative research, the analysis will be based on image, language, and observations (generally involving form of textual-analysis). Specific methods might include: Content-analysis: Discussing and categorizing meaning of sentences, words, and phrases.
What is quantitative research?
Quantitative research. In this type of research, the data collected is generally expressed in numbers and graphs to confirm theories and assumptions. The data collected are factual information on the topic. Under the quantitative research method, the factual information can be collected in many ways such as:
Which is better, qualitative or quantitative?
A thumb rule for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative data is: Using quantitative analysis works better if you want to confirm or test something (a theory or hypothesis) Using qualitative research works better if you wish to understand something (concepts, thoughts, experiences)
Why does semi-quantitative analysis exist?
This method exists because a purely quantitative risk assessment can not exist; A semi-quantitative analysis attempts to find a middle ground between the previous two risk analysis types to create a hybrid method.
What is the weakness of qualitative risk analysis?
A weakness of qualitative risk analysis lies with its sometimes subjective and untestable methodology. The goal of qualitative assessment is to rank the risks. Quantitative analysis. This method is based entirely on numeric values. Quantitative analysis may be weak in situations where Risk is not easily quantifiable.
What is risk analysis?
The risk analysis methods used to calculate for exposure can fall into one of three categories: Qualitative analysis. This method uses descriptions and words to measure the likelihood and impact of Risk.
How are assets categorised?
Asset categorization depends on the asset's nature as different types of assets have different types of vulnerabilities and threats that might affect it.
Why should risk activities and results be reported in risk reports?
Risk activities and results shall be reported in risk reports to enable the Risk Management Team to follow up with such risks and the status of implementing the suggested action plan. Those reports shall provide clear visibility into key risk indicators and event data for the management.
Why is it important to understand research methods?
An understanding of the research methods is important to verify and validate the research in different fields.
What type of research uses the facts that have been confirmed already to form the basis for the research?
Many variables can be used in descriptive research to explain the facts. 4. Analytical Research. Analytical research uses the facts that have been confirmed already to form the basis for the research and critical evaluation of the material is carried out in this method.
Why is qualitative research important?
Though not reliable as much as quantitative, qualitative research helps to form a better summary in terms of theories in the data. Based on the nature of the research, 3. Descriptive Research. Facts are considered in descriptive methods and surveys and case studies are done to clarify the facts.
Why do we use surveys in research?
Not least considered, but Surveys play a main role in the research methodology. It helps to collect a vast amount of real-time data and helps in the research process. It is done at a low cost and can be done faster than any other method. Surveys can be done in both quantitative and qualitative methods.
What is quantitative research?
As the name suggests, quantitative refers to the numbers where data is collected based on numbers, and a summary is taken from these numbers. Graphs help to quantify the results in quantitative research.
How do case studies help in research?
Case studies help to form an idea of the research and helps in the foundation of the research . Various facts and theories can be considered from the case studies that help to form proper reviews about the research topic. Researchers can either make the topic general or specific according to the literature reviews from the studies. A proper understanding of the research can be made from the case study.
What is the purpose of applied research?
Based on the purpose of the study, 5. Applied Research. Applied research is action research where only one domain is considered and mostly the facts are generalized. Variables are considered constant and forecasting is done so that the methods can be found out easily in applied research.

Patient Characteristics
Program–Level Characteristics
Provider Characteristics
Therapeutic Alliance
Treatment Provided/Treatment Involvement
Proximal Outcomes
Ultimate Outcomes
Table 1.—Measures of General Program–Level Characteristics
Table 2.—Measures of Treatment Orientation
Treatment Provided/Patient Involvement in Treatment
- In pharmacologic studies, treatment provided and patients’ compliance with treatment are assessed in terms of medications taken. Developments such as Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS) vials that record the dates and times they are opened (e.g., Namkoong et al. 1999; Krystal et al. 2001) can yield more accurate compliance data than patient r...