Third in a series of short articles describing the ideas and methods of research in clear, understandable language. Each article will address a segment of research in a way that clinicians, prevention specialists, supervisors, and administrators will find useful and friendly. Collectively, the articles will provide a "refresher course" that can be referred to as needed.

In the last column, we learned that the best way to obtain really good, scientifically based results was to use the true experiment. This time we will work our way to a less precise method of obtaining decent results.

As an avid student of Generation X, I eagerly followed their much anticipated rite of passage — the celebration of their unique identity and the well-publicized gathering of the tribe at the 1999 Woodstock.

I began treating chemically dependent clients more than 20 years ago — for 11 years I worked at an outpatient substance abuse clinic for the state of Louisiana.

First in a series of short articles describing the ideas and methods of research in clear, understandable language. Each article will address a segment of research in a way that clinicians, prevention specialists, supervisors, and administrators will find useful and friendly. Collectively, the articles will provide a "refresher course" that can be referred to as needed.

For many in our field, the very mention of research sends shivers down the spine, and the brain goes into some kind of vapor lock. I, too, have felt those sensations. The byproduct of those negative feelings is that legions of fine professionals are intimidated out of going to libraries and finding the neat data that exist in the addictions field. It is the client who suffers when we fail to take advantage of useful information; an unread journal article may hold the key to a difficult case.