Qualitative and Quantitative Method Comparison in Animal-Assisted Therapy Research

• Main Author: Denenholz, Laura
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2011
• Subjects: animal-assisted therapy; animal-assisted activities; animal-assisted interactions; alternative therapies; Biological Psychology; Child Psychology; Health Psychology; Psychology; Quantitative Psychology; Social Psychology
• Online Access: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/232; http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1305&context=cmc_theses

While there have been many presentations and anecdotal evidence in support of AAT, quantitative empirically validated studies are very limited. Without quantitative empirical studies to support the effectiveness of AAT, it remains an unproven complement to traditional physical and psychotherapeutic practices (Kruger & Serpell,2010). The value and importance of non-empirical literature on AAT,including therapists’ observations, various author’s personal experiences, and unstructured interviews with patients, will be explored in the next section. Empirical literature on AAT, including scientific experiment and controlled research studies, will also be addressed. Finally, a conclusion providing ideas for future directions in research in this discipline will be presented.