Practitioners are under increased pressure to demonstrate effectiveness and to do so in as short a time as possible. In addition, evidence-based practice calls for practitioners to take into consideration not only best research evidence but also the wants and preferences of patients, and their own clinical expertise. In light of these demands, standardized assessment tools are likely to become increasingly central in clinical practice in a variety of health care fields, such as nursing, social work, psychiatry, psychology, and medicine. In this article, the author uses two case studies to show how qualitative methods can contribute to the development and evaluation of clinical assessment tools that are responsive to contemporary pressures. She also shows that evaluations of clinical instruments are incomplete if they do not include a qualitative component.
Bloom, M., Fischer, J., & Orme, J. G. (1999). Evaluating practice: Guidelines for the accountable professional (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
2.
Brendtro, L., Brokenleg, M., & Van Bockern, S. (1990). Reclaiming youth at risk: Our hope for the future. Bloomington, IN: National Educational Service.
3.
DeVellis, R. F. (1991). Scale development: Theory and applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
4.
Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. (1992). Evidence-based medicine: A new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 268, 2420-2425.
5.
Faul, A. C. (2002).Comprehensive assessmentin occupational social work: The development and validation of the corporate behavioral wellness inventory. Research on Social Work Practice, 12(1), 47-70.
6.
Gilgun, J. F. (1990). Factors mediating the effects of childhood maltreatment. In M. Hunter (Ed.), The sexually abused male: Prevalence, impact, and treatment (pp. 177-190). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
7.
Gilgun, J. F. (1991). Resilience and the intergenerational transmission of child sexual abuse. In M. Q. Patton (Ed.), Family sexual abuse: Frontline research and evaluation (pp. 93-105). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
8.
Gilgun, J. F. (1994). A case for case studies in social work research. Social Work, 39, 371-380.
9.
Gilgun, J. F. (1996a). Human development and adversity in ecological perspective, Part 1: A conceptual framework. Families in Society, 77, 395-402.
10.
Gilgun, J. F. (1996b).Human development and adversity in ecological perspective, Part 2: Three patterns. Families in Society, 77, 459-576.
11.
Gilgun, J. F. (1999a).CASPARS: Clinical Assessment Instruments that measure strengths and risks in children and families. In M. C. Calder (Ed.), Working with young people who sexually abuse: New pieces of the jigsaw puzzle (pp. 49-58). Dorset, UK: Russell House.
12.
Gilgun, J. F. (1999b). CASPARS: New tools for assessing client risks and strengths. Families in Society, 80, 450-459. Retrieved March 29, 2004, from http://ssw.che.umn.edu/faculty/jgilgun.htm
13.
Gilgun, J. F. (1999c). Fingernails painted red: A feminist, semiotic analysis of “hot” text. Qualitative Inquiry, 5, 181-207.
14.
Gilgun, J. F. (1999d). Mapping resilience as process among adults maltreated in childhood. In H. I. McCubbin, E. A. Thompson, A. I. Thompson, & J. A. Futrell (Eds.), The dynamics of resilient families (pp. 41-70). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
15.
Gilgun, J. F. (2002a).Completing the circle: American Indian medicine wheels and the promotion of resilience in children and youth in care. Journal of Human Behavior and the Social Environment, 6(2),65-84.
16.
Gilgun, J. F. (2002b). Social work and the assessment of the potential for violence. In T. N. Tiong & I. Dodds (Eds.), Social work around the world II (pp. 58-74).Berne, Switzerland: International Federation of Social Workers.
17.
Gilgun, J. F. (2003). The 4-D: Strengths-based instruments for the assessment of youth who’ve experienced adversities. Unpublished manuscript.
18.
Gilgun, J. F., & Connor, T. M. (1990). Isolation and the adultmale perpetrator of child sexual abuse. In A.L. Horton, B. L. Johnson,L. M. Roundy, & D. Williams (Eds.), The incest perpetrator: The family member no one wants to treat (pp. 74-87). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
19.
Gilgun, J. F., Keskinen, S., Marti, D. J., & Rice, K. (1999). Clinical applications of the CASPARS instruments: Boys who act out sexually. Families in Society, 80, 629-641.
20.
Gilgun, J. F., & McLeod, L. (1999). Gendering violence. Studies in Symbolic Interactionism, 22, 167-193.
21.
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. New York: Aldine.
22.
Levitt, J. L., & Reid, W. J. (1981). Rapid-assessment instruments for practice. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 17, 13-19.
23.
Lazarsfeld, P. F. (1958). Evidence and inference in social research. Daedalus, 97, 47-67.
24.
Lazarsfeld, P. F., & Thielens, W. (1958). The academic mind. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
25.
Mezzich, J. E. (2002). Comprehensive diagnosis: A conceptual basis for future diagnostic systems. Psychopathology, 35(2/3), 162-165.
26.
Morse, J. M., & Doan, H. M. (1987).Adolescents’ response to menarche. Journal of School Health, 57(9), 385-389.
27.
Morse, J. M., Hutchinson, S. A., & Penrod, J. (1998). From theory to practice: The development of assessment guides from qualitatively derived theory. Qualitative Health Research, 8(3), 329-340.
28.
Morse, J. M., & Kieren, D. (1993). The adolescent menstrual attitude questionnaire, Part II: Normative scores. Health Care for Women International, 14, 63-76.
29.
Morse, J., Kieren, D., & Bottorff, J. (1993). The adolescent menstrual attitude questionnaire, Part I: Scale construction. Health Care for Women International, 14, 39-62.
30.
Morse, J. M., Morse, R. M., & Tylko, S. J. (1989). Development of a scale to identify the fall-prone patient. Canadian Journal on Aging, 8(4), 366-377.
31.
Nunnally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
32.
Pike, C. K. (2002). Measuring racial climate in schools of social work: Instrument development and validation. Research on Social Work Practice, 12(1), 29-46.
33.
Sackett, D. L., Straus, S. E., Richardson, W. S., Rosenberg, W., & Haynes, R. B. (2000). Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach EBM (2nd ed.). Edinburgh, UK: Churchill Livingston.
34.
Schafer, M. (1999). Nomothetic and idiographic methodology in psychiatry: A historical-philosophical analysis. Medicine, Health Care & Philosophy, 2(3), 265-274.
35.
Springer, D. W., Abell, N., & Nugent, W. R. (2002). Creating and validating rapid assessment instruments for practice and research: Part 2. Research on Social Work Practice, 12(6), 768-795.
36.
Straus, S., & McAlister, F. A. (2000). Evidence-based medicine: A commentary on common criticisms. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 163(7), 837-841.
