Logo Forensic
Psychiatry
Research
Society
FACULTY OF FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY, Annual Conference
Hilton Gateshead Hotel, Newcastle
2nd February 2006
Programme
1045-1215 hours
Workshop summary: Update on Research Design
Chair: Dr Lindsay D.G. Thomson, Forensic Psychiatry Research Society
Aims

To impart up to date knowledge of research methodology for clinical trials and qualitative research.
To examine issues of qualitative research using 2 research proposal under design.

Presentations
10:45 - 11:15 Clinical Trials of Medicines in Forensic Psychiatry
Dr Janine Gray, Deputy Director of the Newcastle Clinical Trials Unit, Centre for Health Services Research, Newcastle University
Clinical trials are often seen as the gold standard for medical research. On 1st May 2004 the law governing clinical trials of medicines came into effect which seeks to regulate good clinical practice. The scope of the law is wide and sets down very specific requirements for the set-up and running of trials. The impact of the clinical trials legislation will be discussed, with specific reference to a trial of SSRI medication as part of the HM Prison Sex Offender Treatment Programme Healthy Sexual Functioning module.
11:15 - 11:45 Qualitative research in clinical settings
Dr. Barbara Rawlings, Honorary Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Manchester
Qualitative research differs from quantitative research in several ways, including design, choice of research questions, data collection, data analysis and the identification of evidence. It is often used to explore issues in depth, sometimes to complement or question numerical findings, sometimes as a stand-alone project. This paper is will briefly explain and describe a piece of qualitative research which spanned three therapeutic communities in secure and non-secure settings. The focus will be on the research design and methodology, in particular the difference between research which sets out to answer particular questions at the start and research which develops theory as the data collection progresses.
11:45 - 12:00 "Fairness of Interview"
Dr Liz Willox, Specialist Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry, Grampian Primary Care Division
Forensic psychiatrists are currently receiving requests from the courts to consider whether a police interview with a suspect was ?fair?. No legal or medical criteria exist to consider this request in a consistent way and it is a different issue from fitness for interview. This presentation will outline a proposed methodology to collect those factors being considered by practitioners considering "fairness of interview" with a view to creating guidelines.
12:00 - 12:15 Attitudes of Consultant Forensic Psychiatrists in a medium secure unit to relationships between inpatients
Dr Kalpana Thomas, SpR, Camelot Lodge, Middlesex
To look at the attitudes of Consultant Forensic Psychiatrists to relations between psychiatric inpatients in a medium secure unit. To use this information to design a semi-quantitative questionnaire to be used for a larger survey among consultant forensic psychiatrists.