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Forensic Psychology

Effect size can be described as the size, magnitude and size of an effect. The effect size can be calculated from any number of statistical outputs and consequently expressed as the strength or magnitude of the desired reported relationship. The basic formula when it comes to the calculation of the effect size is to essentially subtract the mean from the control group and proceed to divide the numerator by the standard deviation that is found in the control group. The effect size is often expressed as a decimal number, and it is of the essence to note that although numbers that are greater than 1.0 are possible statistically, they often do not occur.

An effect size that is near to 0.00 essentially means that on average the experimental and control groups basically performed in an identical manner. A negative effect size, on the other hand, means that the control group was able to perform better than the experimental group. In fact, for positive sizes, the larger the number of the effect size the more the effective the experimental treatment. It is of the essence to understand the rule of the thumb which states that an effect size in the 0.2 often indicates a treatment that produces a relatively small effect whereas an effect size that stands at its 0.8 shows an extremely powerful experimental treatment. For this issue, it can be shown that the greater the effect size the scientist desires, therefore, the greater the disparity has to be between the control group and the experimental group.

Statistical significance can be described as a low probability that comes with obtaining at least an extreme result when the null hypothesis is true. It is of significance as it helps researchers to make an informed experimental decision of whether the null hypothesis can be rejected. In any research, there is often the probability that the observed effect might have occurred because of sampling error only.

However, if the probability that exists of obtaining at least an extreme large results; the large difference that exists between two or more samples), given that the hypothesis is true can be said to be less than a popularly pre-determined threshold for example a 6% chance. When this occurs, a research can be able to conclude that the observed effect is a strong reflective of the characteristics of the sampled population as compared to sampling error. In order to determine whether a result is statistically significant, a researcher in many cases needs to calculate the p-value that is the probability of observing the desired effect given that the null hypothesis holds true. Under research terms, the null hypothesis is often rejected if the probability value is less than that of the significance or alpha level. The most commonly used alpha level is 0.05. The alpha level plays a crucial role in that it is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis that is true.

Therefore, in statistics terms, a statistically significant finding is one that the observed p-value is less than 5% and is often written as p<0.05. However, in some cases if the observed probability value is not lower than the significance level, as compared to just accepting the null hypothesis, where it is attainable a researcher often needs to increase the sample size and see whether or not the significance level will be reached. It is always advisable for researchers to carry out one tailed tests because they are more powerful as compared to the two tailed test. In a one tailed test, the null hypothesis in many cases can be rejected with a less extreme result

The statistical significance is related to effect size as it could gauge the probability that exists of getting a result that is extremely large if there was no existence of any underlying effect. In fact, the outcome of any test is often conditional probability of the p-value. If the p-value by a case below the scientifically conventionally accepted threshold for example 0.05 then the result is judged to be statistically significant. It is only when the researcher understands that he, or she is dealing with a large sized effect is when one can interpret the meaning of the experiment. It is extremely crucial to understand the while the size of the effect size must be correlated with its importance; there are certain cases where even small effects that are observed may be judged as being important.

(Mart, 2010) Research often shows that it is of the essence to integrate hypothesis testing model in sexual abuse cases. The researcher should use accepted hypotheses and use the effect size and statistical significance to show whether or not they are true. In fact according to (Mart, 2010), the evaluator should not by any chance favor any of the possibilities. A confirmatory bias should be used; this is when the researcher asks questions in an expected direction. (Wakefield, 2012) In his study shows the effect of not putting into place considerable statistical significance. He can demonstrate that because of improper statistical analysis, potential invalid inflation of diagnostic categories was made. This was mainly because the statistical significance was deemed important when it was not.

References
Mart, E. (2010). Common errors in the assessment of allegations of sexual abuse. The Journal of psychiatry and Law, 325-343.
Wakefield, J. (2012). The DSM-5’s Proposed New Categories of Sexual Disorder The Problem of False Positives in Sexual Diagnosis. Clinical social work, 213-223.

Guidelines of Forensic Psychology

Abstract
Forensic psychology has grown as a discipline and with time, there has been the need to establish several guidelines that will ensure the smooth sailing of the discipline. These guidelines are extremely important as they are the ones that are responsible for the conduct of the forensic practitioners. These guidelines range from confidentiality to communication and are a must have in the profession. This paper will examine these guidelines and give appropriate examples as to why they are important.

Guidelines
Forensic psychology has been growing over the years and with time, there has come a need to ensure that there are several guidelines that have been put in place in order to ensure the professional conduct of the forensic psychologists. These guidelines are important as they give a sense of boundary to each and every forensic psychologist as they are able to understand the extent to which they can go and what they should not do in regards to their profession. The Guidelines are intended to increase the professionalism of the forensic psychologists.
The first important guidelines are that there is a need for the appreciation of both individual and group differences. This guidelines is important as it encourages the forensic practitioners to strive to their level best to ensure that they understand how factors that are related and associated with gender identity, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation and other relevant cultural differences may at times affect and be related to the way people related with the environment and their involvement with the legal system.

This guideline ensures that the forensic psychologist understands the environment in which a person has come from and therefore, decisions are based on the factor. For example, a Native American should be understood differently in terms of culture and relation to the environment as compared to a white suburban male in New York. The second guideline is that there is a need for communication with other forensic examines, this is important as the forensic practitioners can be able to understand the nature as well as the purpose of the examination.

This often includes the potential consequences of participation or lack of participation. This guideline ensures that there is always adequate communication and that all the relevant and important information is shared. Without this guideline, there would have been a lot of information that would have been lost because it was not adequately shared in the right channels. The third important guidelines are the focus on legally relevant factors. This guideline has been put there to ensure that the forensic psychologists are encouraged to often consider the different problems that might arise because of different and diverse clinical diagnosis in several different forensic contexts.

There is also a need to ensure that those that gave the diagnosis were experts in their field and they had qualified. Further, those that testify in court should also have qualified to give their opinions as well as testimony in an appropriate manner. This guideline ensures reliability and validity in the courtroom and can be described as being extremely important. The testimony from the practitioners are often given a lot of weight by both the Jury and the Judge, therefore, it is of the essence to understand that there is a need for this information that is fed to the jury and the judge to be extremely credible and reliable. This is the main reason as to why this rule exists.

One of the most important guidelines is the ensuring of a comprehensive as well as accurate presentation of opinions in reports or testimony. The forensic psychologists are often encouraged to ensure that they limit their discussion of the different background information which does not bear any known direct legal purpose on the examination or even the consultation. The forensic practitioners should therefore, at all costs be able to avoid offering information that is considered irrelevant and that which does not provide any substantial basis for the support of the practitioner’s opinions. However, it is of the essence to understand that this should only occur when the law wants the information; that is the only time where information that might not bear directly to the examination in question can be provided.

The main goals of these guidelines are to ensure that there is improvement of quality of forensic psychological services, and to ensure that indeed there is the enhancement of the practice. The guidelines are intended to facilitate what can be described as a systematic development of forensic psychology and to encourage a high level of quality in this ever growing professional practice. Further, the guidelines are also intended to encourage the forensic practitioners to be able to acknowledge and also respect the rights of the people they serve. They are intended to be used by psychologists that are often engaged in the practice and they give a sense of how a professional conduct should be in the legal system.

In conclusion, these guidelines are continuously changed as the field of forensic psychology is continuously evolving. However, the fundamental skeletons can be said to have remained the same because they are what constitute the discipline of the entire discipline. The guidelines play a pivotal role in ensuring justice prevails in the court system and to also keep the forensic practitioners at their toes in terms of their professional conduct and the way that they are supposed to behave, act and relate with the people that they intend to serve.

References

Consent, Disclosure, and Waiver for the Forensic Psychological Evaluation: Rethinking the Roles of Psychologist and Lawyer.
Forensic Matters and the New APA Ethics Code: Grea
t Care Went Into Crafting How the New Code Addresses Forensic Matters
Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychologists