On the equivalence of clinical and statistical methods

Abstract

Based on material from a doctoral thesis, an attempt was made to resolve an inconsistency in Meehl's analysis of statistical vs. clinical methods of assessment (see 29: 3991). "Eight interviewers assessed from 14 to 50 Canadian Army applicants using information obtained from biographical and test data, and from interview conversation. Each applicant was described on a 120-item Q-sort check list. These data were quantified and combined into composite statistical scores (biographical and test data) and clinical scores (Q-sort data). The results indicated that: (a) clinical scores were associated more closely with decisions than were statistical scores; (b) statistical and clinical scores correlated at a low level; (c) the decisions of different interviewers were associated with the same Q-sort, biographical, and test data; and (d) statistical and clinical scores were comparable in reliability." "… this study… strengthens the status of the clinical assessment." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)