Evaluation of a Published Clinical Trial - Report Example

and The was visibly written but ignored other requirements for a trial research. on the other hand was not clearly written and reported. The title, missed the important component of “randomized” in its inscription. It was not identified as randomized in the report. This is only indicated in the abstract yet it was supposed to appear in the title upfront. Without that word, a person superficially looking for such related papers may set it aside as not relevant. The abstract in the paper was well reported with the author clearly describing the background of disruptive behaviors in children and supporting with past research findings. The author was not keen in providing a structured brief on the designs used, methods results and conclusions in the abstract. In fact that abstract itself was not even marked as so. However, a brief on the history of the school based play therapy as a method of counselling intervention was quite prompt. This is also true to the need for this method of intervention as well as justifying the need for further research on other methods that can also prove valuable. Introduction The author did well in reporting the theoretical part of how AdPT as a counselling intervention is grounded in the tenets of individual psychology. The scientific part was though lacking. The researchers quoted only supported the theoretical views. He also did well in reporting the kind of children who qualifies for this trial research making the reader know clearly the importance/need of this study to the said children as well as the society by extension. He clearly reported how the process works basing his arguments on past studies to point out the rationale of the experiment. He justified his choice by pointing the friendly nature of AdPT. It allows children to, either directly or indirectly, rehearse their changing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors through language or metaphor. Specific objectives were put in form of research questions asking if there was a mean reduction in children’s disruptive behavior over time for those receiving AdPT compared to those who receiving active control condition. Second specific objective was to investigate if there was a mean reduction in teacher stress over time (pre-to posttest) for children who received AdPT compared to children who received an active control condition. Methods The author described well the trial design by indicating that they used of a randomized active control group with a reading mentoring to compare the effects of AdPT. He also discussed the software they used in the analysis to reduce statistical differences. He also described his participants to give a clear picture of the right choice. Participants he reports were from different racial backgrounds and from different elementary schools. This was to show unbiasness of the choice of participants and to ensure generalization. He also reported well on qualification criteria for participants. The intervention for each group to allow for replication was also covered well (Kristin K. Meany-Walen, 2014) p3. Primary and secondary outcome measures were properly defined and the way they were assessed was also reported. The sample size was originally 67 but reduced to 58 due to attrition. This was well reported especially the changes that were made with reasons. The process of determining the sample was clearly reported and conforms to the standard requirements. What was not very clear is the of sequence concealment mechanism. Blinding and the people blinded was well reported. Teachers and DOF raters were blinded and randomly assigned to groups apart from being monitored continuously as reported in the paper. Results This section was generally well reported. The participant flow report was very good though there was no table drawn to explain the participant’s demographic characteristics either for experimental group or control group. The report on this was all verbal essay. Dates defining periods of recruitment was reported but under methods section. As well as reasons for termination of trial which was also in section. A table showing baseline demographic and clinical characteristics for each group was included in the report. The estimated precision was also reported in terms of statistical significant interaction effect of time. All important harms to the groups were well reported as well as the result analysis of the dependent variable and their revelation on the significant statistical interaction effect of time. Basically, the report showed statistically significant results. Again, this section of the research article was well reported and could be inferred easily by any researcher explicitly. The general confidence level was not directly reported implying that a person of limited research could not make sense of that from this section. The terms and numerical used are not basic and therefore would require interpretation for a layman. Discussion This section of the report came out very basic to any report reader. The author report on trial limitations was a four wordy paragraphs that also included recommendations. He admits to a smaller size of the sample as well as less than a hundred percent surety teachers and raters over students. He also clearly reported the need to observe that this research was to investigate the immediate effect of AdPT on students but the long term effect are still not known. He also reported well the possible sources of potential bias like including teachers in the consultation groups. Study parameters was also reported to cause lack of strict adherence to AdPT protocol as teachers had to consult. The researcher was also keen to report that THE small sample size of students coming from only a region of U.S.A could hinder generalization of the findings to the real world where some of such students have access to counselling. Generally, the interpretation was consistent with the results and the recommendation was keen on the limitation of the research project especially when it came to the generalization part. References Referencing both in text and bibliography were prompt. There was the use of et al in cases when the reporter had already quoted the name which is the correct and recommended way according to APA formatting. The list of bibliography was arranged in alphabetical order. The other fact that was obviously mentioned was the source of funding for the project under footnotes. It was also indicated that it is a journal of counselling and development and that the owner is Wiley-Blackwell as the registry and the address for any correspondences given in the footnotes. Words: 1065 Reference Kristin K. Meany-Walen, S. C. (2014). Effects of Adlerian Play Therapy on Reducing Students Disruptive Behaviors. Counselling And Development, 1-56. Read More