Research Design
Tina Howell
PSY 326: Research Methods
Instructor, Pamela Murphy

Step 1 Hypothesis:
• A hypothesis is generally considered as an educated guess as to how things work and why. My hypothesis for this discussion will focus on the effectiveness of the different kind of medications that are used to treat a mental illness called schizophrenia.
• Schizophrenia is a mental illness that causes a person to have difficulty in distinguishing what is real and what is not; people with schizophrenia experience symptoms such as: delusions (unrealistic beliefs), disorientated speech (incomprehensible), and hallucinations
(seeing things that are not there).

Purpose:
The overall purpose of this discussion is to demonstrate the effectiveness of a drug(s) by comparing and contrasting its effectiveness and the degree of deliverance of the drug. The purpose of the test is to also determine how the patient will be able to function as close to normal as possible. The importance of prescribing and/or choosing a kind of medication must be based on the severity of the patient’s condition as well as the patient’s needs.

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Collect the data:

• Here are a list of drugs for treating schizophrenia here as followed:
• Quetiapine:
• Side effects: chills, confusion, dry mouth, increased appetite, and more
• Abilify:
• Side effects: chills, drowsiness, tiredness, and more
• Risperidone:
• Side effects: drowsiness, tiredness, dry mouth, and more

Compare to critical value:

Calculating Statistics:
• The next slide will feature a graph that will show a different dosage for each drug, also presented in the graph will illustrate a breakdown of the efficacy ratings for each of the medications.

Compare to critical value:
The one way to compare one thing and/or product with another would be to test the effectiveness of each; testing should also include taking note of both the pros and cons for each. In the case of testing different brands or a class of medications for treatment of an illness one should test the side-effects, actions, as well as the dosage. Experimenting with the drug on a patient who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia would be a good place to start; however, the person who is