Table 1.

Types of research activity in clinical psychology, requirements, aims, and potential team member involvement

Type of research	Practical requirements	General aim	Team members
Audit	Ongoing or fixed‐period data collection about an aspect of routine clinical practice	To assess whether current clinical practice is meeting a predetermined standard	C, M, T, J, A
Service evaluation/improvement	Fixed‐period data collection about an aspect of current clinical practice	To evaluate current clinical practice with a view to making improvements	C, M, T, J, A
Literature reviews	Searching, reading, and synthesizing existing data on a given topic	To summarize current literature and consider directions for further research	C, T, J
Meta‐analysis/synthesis	Combining and analysing data from multiple existing studies	To examine common research questions by pooling data from multiple sources	C, E, S
Case studies/seriesa	Conducting and describing a piece of clinical work with a person, group, or service, or a series of similar interventions	To describe clinical work that may be of interest to others (e.g., due to client presentation, method used, clinical reflection) and inform future clinical practice	C, T
Single‐case experimental designsb	Conducting and evaluating a piece of clinical work with a person, group, or service	To compare differences in an outcome before and after an intervention	C, T
Qualitative designsb	Obtaining and analysing interview, discourse, or written data from participants	To explore participants’ understandings and experiences	C, T, J
Experimental designsb	Research participants completing a fixed study paradigm	To evaluate the effect of manipulating a variable(s) on a particular outcome	C, T, J
Survey/questionnaire designsb	Research participants completing questionnaires	To explore the prevalence and range of participants’ responses on a given topic	C, T, J
Effectiveness studiesb	Delivering and monitoring the effects of an intervention on participants in routine clinical settings	To examine the effectiveness of an intervention when delivered in a routine clinical context	C, M, T, J, A
RCTsb	Delivering and monitoring the effects of active or control interventions on participants under controlled conditions	To examine the efficacy of an intervention compared to a control group	C, T, J, A, E, S

C = clinicians; M = managers; T = trainees; J = junior staff (e.g., assistant psychologists, research assistants, other junior staff members); A = administrative staff; E = external collaborators; S = statistical advisors; RCT = randomized controlled trial.

^aEthical review may be required.

^bEthical review required