Evaluation of John Maltby's Journal - Research Paper Example

? RESEARCH EVALUATION ESSAY OF JOHN MALTBY'S JOURNAL Journal “Protecting the sacred and expressions of rituality: Examining the relationship between extrinsic dimensions of religiosity and unhealthy guilt” in the British Psychological Society's Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice Year of Publication: 2005 Volume Number: 78, Pages: 77–93 Introduction This project is a research evaluation essay. It looks at a psychological paper that involved empirical research into a specific topic. The peer reviewed academic journal chosen for this analysis is John Maltby's study on the relationship between extrinsic religiousity and unhealthy guilty. The journal appeared in the British Psychological Society's Journal Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice. This project is a critical evaluation Maltby's study. It will use traditional approaches and tools in psychological research to enquire about the fundamental concepts and ideas that are discussed. To this end, the research will utilise tools in research methods and research methodology to evaluate the various elements and components of the research that was conducted by Maltby. In doing this research, the first part will look at the research scope of the journal article under review. The research structure and elements will be examined and identified. The second part of the paper will involve a critique of the research methodology and the data collection approaches. The final part will involve an analysis of the analysis and the fundamental findings that were presented in the research. This will give way to the identification of the practical application of the research and recommendations of possible additions and/or further studies. Scope of Research Kothari identifies that a research in psychology is a structured enquiry into a given phenomenon (2009). Human societies have been known to attempt to identify knowledge and find answers to questions. However, a research in the social sciences seeks to use scientific methods and tools to enquire into a phenomenon through acceptable tools and techniques. Typically, these are ethics and principles that govern academic and/or business research. In order to conduct a research, there is the need to operationalise the research. In order to operationalise research, it is important to create two or more variables that will be matched against each other to undertake the enquiry into knowledge. Variables in research are divided into two main classes: independent and dependent variable. Babbie identifies that an “independent variable is the variable that is manipulated in a research to ascertain its impact on the dependent variable” (2012, p230). Thus, the independent variable is one variable that changes and its impact on a set of variables or contexts are observed in a general research. The relevant variables that are studied in the impact section of the changes to the independent variables is known as the dependent variable. Thus, the movements and patterns of the dependent variables, literally depends on the changes that occur to this variable as a result of changes in the independent variable. Thus, the primary job of the researcher is to observe the changes and modifications of the dependent variable as a result of changes that are inflicted on the independent variable in the process In the journal article being critiqued, Maltby examines the relationship between two variables: 1. Extrinsic Religiosity and 2. Unhealthy Guilt These two variables form the basis and the fundamental element of the research because it operationalises and gives the primary impetus to the discussions in the research. The whole process is meant to test the relationship between unhealthy guilt and extrinsic religiosity. In simple terms, it can be said that the research would test the variations in extrinsic-personal religiosity and the levels of guilt that it causes. In other words, the research sets out to test how changes in extrinsic-personal religiosity will affect how guilty a person feels. To this end, extrinsic-personal religiousity is the independent variable because it is the variable that is manipulated for the research to proceed. The level of guilty is the dependent variable. This is because the research seeks to fundamentally identify the impact of changes in the independent variable on the level of guilt that people feel about moral issues. This forms the fundamental background of the study and the fundamental background of the whole research. In order to narrow the scope of the research, Maltby comes up with two hypotheses. A hypothesis is defined as “a provisional supposition which accounts for known facts and serves as a starting point for further investigations by which it may be proved or disproved” (Reardon, 2011: p40). Another definition of hypothesis is that it is a set of “...tentative generalisations, the validity of which remains to be tested” (Kumar, 2011: p25). This means that a hypothesis is just a statement that is tentatively put forward as the obvious conclusion of the research. However, the essence of the research is to use recognised methods to identify whether the hypothesis is true or false. The two hypotheses that Maltby puts forward to commence his research are: Hypothesis 1: There will be a significant relationship between an extrinsic-social orientation towards religion and moral standards guilt; and this relationship’s variance will be unaffected by conservatism. Hypothesis 2: There will be a significant relationship between an extrinsic-personal orientation towards religion and trait and state guilt; and this relationship’s variance will be unaffected by neuroticism. As per hypothesis 1, Maltby presumes that there must be a linkage between social rules connected to religion which defines moral standards and inevitably, an individual who observes religious standards is inevitably going to live according to moral standards of guilt proportionate to the religion. From the second hypothesis, Maltby predicts that there is a strong personal relationship between religion and trait and guilt and this is not affected by emotions. In order to get the reader to understand this research, some important terms in the hypotheses ought to be defined to set the framework for the entire research. These key words are: 1. Variance 2. Conservatism and 3. Neuroticism These are technical terms which need to be discussed in order to put the research in context. These ideas and concepts are discussed in the literature review section. Structure The research follows a pattern that puts together important and vital elements. The introduction provides the scope of what is discussed in the actual research. There is a critical literature review which defines key psychological and psychotherapy terms and and ideas. This include the core ideas and concepts. The research methodology and what was done is described after the literature review culminates in the disclosure of the hypotheses. This shows how the research will be conducted and what data was used and how the data was collected. The next section discusses the findings and results. This is followed by the analysis of the implications of the findings of the study. This provides a strong background for the reader to understand the empirical findings and empirical elements of the study. Critical Analysis of Literature Review Normally, in psychological and psychotherapy research, the procedure for the research is similar to that of other social science disciplines. A literature review is “the selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which concerns information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfil certain aims or express certain views on the value of the topic and how it is to be investigated” (Hart, 2008, p13). This means that a literature review is the critique of important information, concepts and models that are relevant to the topic under discussion. This provides the opportunity for the researcher to build on previous scholarly ideas and concepts that are of academic value which helps to conduct the research or explain key concepts and ideas in the project under review. Rocco and Hatcher state that it is “a synthesis and integrative work that provides a new perspective of the work... and a convergence or review of a body of literature and integration and synthesis of what has already been done in literature” (2011 p146). In the journal, Maltby uses a very professional approach to build a strong background which systematically defines all the key concepts. In attaining this end, Maltby attempts to define the core concepts of religiosity and guilty which are everyday terms in the background. This provides the layman and the professional an everyday definition of the two ideas and concepts. Through this build up, Maltby define the two underlining concepts in the context of psychiatry, therapy and other behavioural sciences. This puts the discussion in the right context and puts it in the class of psychotherapeutic scholarly works as opposed to other genres of writing. The literature review also goes on to discuss the concept of religious orientation in the context of psychiatry and psychology. This is presented in a more scientific method. To this end, Maltby presents the concept of religion in a manner that is objective and scientific and not subjective or emotional. This sets the stage for the discussion of methods that are meant to quantify and measure these traits in the participants of the process. Perhaps, what makes the research more relevant to psychotherapy is the fact that Maltby presents the concept of psychoanalysis and Freudian doctrine in psychiatry in the literature review. This include the identification of Freud's central arguments and ideas. The theoretical model is presented and various commentaries and opinions passed on Freud's works that is relevant to the discussion is integrated in the literature review. Also, the key concepts that define the research are discussed and sources from other academics and scholars are presented. This include the concept of conservatism which is described as the internalization of moral standards. Neurotics is defined in relation to emotions. However, they are again conceptualized in the concept of psychology and psychiatry. About four or more scholars' works are brought to the fore in each of the pointers. This is then used as the basis for further analysis and discussions. Literature Review and Research Methods The research methods that are employed are also discussed via literature review. As other parts of the journal, this is done in a factual manner and each of the methods used to reconcile the different hypotheses are identified through literature review. The testing approaches and testing instruments are discussed from literature. This is done fairly thoroughly and the options and weaknesses of each method is demonstrated from academic sources. Another significant aspect of the journal is that it discusses alternative hypotheses and how the opposites to the proposed hypotheses are to be perceived. This is also done with texts and sources in psychotherapy. Critical Analysis of Data Collection and Evidence The data collected for the study is based on a clearly defined sample. “A sample is a carefully selected section of the general population that is studied in a research with the hope of identifying important trends that can be generalised to define the entire population” (Martens, 2011 p201). Urdan (2010) provides a very practical explanation for the use of sampling. According to him, a researcher can rarely cover 100% of the population under study. Hence, it is logical for a research to concentrate on a small section of the whole population in order to identify important trends about the whole population. Thus, in page 83 of the journal, Maltby identifies the core and barriers of the sample that was studied in the research. The sample was taken from 344 adults from Northern England. Out of the total number studied, 169 of the respondents were male and 175 were females. These were individuals who were chosen with the hope of identifying a kind of gender balance in order to support comparative analysis of the attitude of males and females. The participants in the survey were aged between 17 and 59. The mean or average age of the respondents was 31.20 years. The standard deviation was 9.7. Standard deviation is an evaluation of the dispersion from the mean (Anderson, 2011). In other words, it measures how dispersed the other elements are from the mean. This shows the distribution and differences in the features of the participants. And it can be used to show whether the sample is homogeneous or diverse. This study had a high standard deviation of 9.7 and this shows that the age range was broad and there was hardly any one of the same age. Meaning the age was well distributed across the range, viz 17 and 59. The data for the study was collected via a set of questions that were programmed according to dominant theories and concepts. This included four main popular approaches and themes in the four primary areas under review. And they included: 1. Extrinsic-social and extrinsic-personal subscale from religious orientation scale. 2. Guilty inventory of 45 questions 3. Neuroticism subscale 4. 12-item measure of social conservatism Critical Analysis of Research Methodology The data was collected for the research was examined and evaluated through statistical methods and tools. This involved the aggregation of each of the classes of the findings under the appropriate headings and classes. For the general question and in order to test the general population, there were seven different classes or headings that the study took place under. This include: 1. Extrinsic-social 2. Extrinsic-personal 3. Trait guilt 4. State guilt 5. Moral standards 6. Neuroticism 7. Conservatism The findings was aggregated under the Cronbach alpha. This alpha calculates the confidence levels and provides the score and rating for each item. Thus, for each of the seven items, the general population's findings were put in a continuum based on the confidence levels identified. The Cronback alpha is such that the confidence level of each and every value is calculated according to the formula: X = 1 - X/100 Thus, where confidence level is 90%, the Cronbach alpha is 0.1. Where it is 95%, the Cronbach alpha is 0.05. When it is 99%, it is 0.01 amongst others Thus, the higher it is, the closer the value is to zero. This provided a picture of the overall levels of these findings in relation to the seven variables and how it affected the respondents. The strength of this is that it provides the kind of findings that occurred in a very simple mathematical format. This can capture a lot of information without too much display of variables. However, the weakness is that it is not easy for non-technical professionals with a background in mathematics or statistics to understand the findings. From that general finding, a t-test is carried out to provide a further critique of the sub-groups within the main population. A t-test implies the comparison of the features of given section of the population with the general population (Trochim, 2006). In the comparison, Maltby examines the relationship to the different variables amongst males and amongst females. This shows how males vary from the average population and how females varied from the average as well. Then Maltby goes on to undertake a Pearson Product-Moment Orientation Correlation Coefficient. This is a linear comparison between the two fundamental variables males and females. From this test, Maltby identifies that the males are more susceptible to trait guilt, state guilt and moral standard guilt. Females are more susceptible to trait guilt, state guilt and neuroticism. The benefits of these two statistical methods is that it provides a significant analysis of a wide range of data. It provides general patterns and trends. It supports further analysis which helps the researcher to identify the different interest groups and specific patterns attributable to specific groups and units. However, the weakness is that it is difficult to undertake further analysis of the population except one undertakes a different research. It is also hard to predict patters and trends by looking at this raw statistical data. Finally, it is not easy for professionals with a weak background in mathematics to understand these calculations. Analysis of Final Findings From the study, most parts of the hypotheses were affirmed and confirmed by the study. It was understood that trait guilt and extrinsic personal religiosity dynamics has a direct influence on the state of guilt. The moral standard of guilt and extrinsic-social religiosity dynamics also contribute to the state of guilt. This forms a theory which can be defended strongly and wholly. This is because the study provided an empirical basis for the argument that extrinsic-personal religiosity dynamics influences the level of guilt in people's minds. And this is because the elements of extrinsic-social religiosity forms some kind of moral standard which leads to guilt. To the layman, a professional psychotherapist can say that there is a strong link from guilt to external show of religiosity and moral standard set in the social setting. In other words, a professional can tell the ordinary man that religiosity sets moral standards and this is expressed in the level of religiosity that a person shows and the kind of social and moral standards that exists in the dominant society. And this defines the kind of conscience that people will build. Usefulness to Psychotherapy Profession Basically, this peer reviewed journal will find its way into the world of academics and practising psychotherapists. This is because the journal is meant to be sent to such individuals and professionals. The first thing that this will do is that it will provide some kind of update of knowledge to professionals. They will see a strong correlation and linkage between religiosity, social standards and guilt. Through this, professionals can understand guilt much more accurately and easily. Thus, when they are handling a case and they realize that a person is going through some kind of guilt, they can work back and ask questions that will bring out these fundamental variables that has been shown scientifically to cause guilt. So an average psychotherapist will know how to question his client. Psychotherapists in academia or into research can undertake further research on these findings. Typically, they can go back and identify how non-religious people form guilt in their minds. In another instance, the alternative hypotheses raised in this research can be tested. Thus, there could be many approaches to study different things that relate to the variables and the concepts with the view of adding up to knowledge in the world of psychotherapy. Shortfalls and Recommendations for Possible Additions Although this research uses very strong scientific tools and models, there are some aspects and areas that are flawed. The definitions like religiosity is quite subjective and carries with itself some potential for error and flawed judgement. For instance, what religion were the participants drawn from? Is the findings going to be the same if the participants were drawn from another religion? There is also an issue of challenges with the application of the variables in other cultures and contexts. Most of the participants were taken from Northern England. Can we generalise the findings in other parts of the world like South America or Africa? This might b problematic. In the UK, will the variables apply constantly to cosmopolitan area like London where the religious have very liberal rules and standards? This provide some issues. If this research was to be done again, the scope could be expanded to include other parts of Britain to show a clearer view of the findings and enhance generalisability. References Anderson, D. R. (2011) Statistics for Business and Economics Mason, OH: Cengage Babbie, E. R. (2012) The Practice of Social Research Mason, OH: Cengage. Hart, C. (2008) Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Investigation London: SAGE. Kothari, C. R. (2009) Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques New Delhi: New Age Publishing. Kumar, R. (2011) Research Methodology New Delhi: Prentice Hall India. Martens, D. M. (2011) Research and Evaluation in Education and Psychology London: SAGE Publications Reardon, D. (2011) Academic Research Approaches London: SAGE Publications. Rocco, T. S. and Hatcher, T. (2011) The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and Publishing Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Trochim, M. K. (2006) The T-Test Analysis New York: WCSR Publishing Urdan, T. (2010) Statistics in Plain English London: Routledge Read More