🧠 What This Study Guide Is Really Saying:
This ain't the full meal — it's just a menu. You still gotta go into the textbook and class notes to
eat (learn). Don’t just skim this guide and think you’re good. Actually write stuff down — your
brain holds on to it better that way, like when you text something to remember it later.
🔁 What You Need to Re-Learn From the First Half of the Class:
💼 Big OT Values (aka how we supposed to act):
● Autonomy = Let people make their own choices.
● Beneficence = Do good. Help folks.
● Justice = Be fair. Don’t play favorites.
● Confidentiality = Don’t be messy with people’s business.
, ● Professionalism = Be on your grown woman/man game.
● Plagiarism = Don’t copy and paste and act like it’s yours. Period.
🔍 PICO: How You Ask Smart Research Questions
Think of this like setting up a Google search to solve a problem:
● P = Person/Problem (e.g., kids with ADHD)
● I = Intervention (e.g., sensory integration)
● C = Comparison (e.g., vs. no intervention)
● O = Outcome (e.g., better focus at school)
It’s part of the flow: PRETEST AND POST TEST
1. Pre-test = You test a client before treatment to see where they’re at.
2. Intervention = You do your OT magic 💪🏽
3. Post-test = You test them after to see if there’s any progress.
🧠 Real OT Example:
Let’s say you’re helping a stroke client improve upper body dressing.
● 🔍 Pre-test: You use the Barthel Index and they score 40.
● 🧑🏽⚕️ Intervention: You work with them on ADLs for 4 weeks.
● 📝 Post-test: You give the Barthel Index again — now they score 65.
,🧠 Background vs. Foreground Questions:
● Background = “What is autism?” (general info)
● Foreground = “Does OT improve social skills in teens with autism?” (specific info that
helps make decisions in OT)
🔗 Variables:
● Independent variable = What you change (e.g., therapy type)
● Dependent variable = What you’re measuring (e.g., how much they improve)
🎯 Validity:
● Internal validity = Did the therapy actually cause the change?
● External validity = Will this work on people outside the study?
🧪 Other Validity Types:
● Content = Does this cover all the things it should?
● Concurrent = Does this test match another one that already works?
● Predictive = Can this test predict XYZ?
● Construct = Does it really measure what we say it measures? (Like: does increased
arm motion really mean better daily function?)
🧬 Research Designs:
● Experimental = We fully control stuff. (like a lab test)
● Quasi-experimental = Kinda controlled, kinda real-life.
, ● Single-subject = One person is the test subject.
📊 Levels of Evidence:
Rankings that tell how strong the research is. Think of it like this:
● Level 1 = Strongest (randomized trials)
● L2-COHORTS CASE STUDIES
● L3 OPINIONS
● Level 5 = Weakest (opinions, no research)
👥 Sampling Methods (aka How They Pick People):
● Convenience = Whoever’s around (like using your classmates)
● Purposive = Picking people for a reason (e.g., only veterans)
● Snowball = One person refers another
● Stratified = Picking from each group on purpose (e.g., equal men/women)
✍🏾 Qualitative Research = Words & Stories
● Case study = Deep dive on one person
● Ethnography = Study a whole culture
● Phenomenology = Study people’s lived experience
● Grounded theory = Build a new theory from interviews and notes
🧾 Data Collection (how they get info):
● Interviews (talk to folks)
● Observations (watch)
This ain't the full meal — it's just a menu. You still gotta go into the textbook and class notes to
eat (learn). Don’t just skim this guide and think you’re good. Actually write stuff down — your
brain holds on to it better that way, like when you text something to remember it later.
🔁 What You Need to Re-Learn From the First Half of the Class:
💼 Big OT Values (aka how we supposed to act):
● Autonomy = Let people make their own choices.
● Beneficence = Do good. Help folks.
● Justice = Be fair. Don’t play favorites.
● Confidentiality = Don’t be messy with people’s business.
, ● Professionalism = Be on your grown woman/man game.
● Plagiarism = Don’t copy and paste and act like it’s yours. Period.
🔍 PICO: How You Ask Smart Research Questions
Think of this like setting up a Google search to solve a problem:
● P = Person/Problem (e.g., kids with ADHD)
● I = Intervention (e.g., sensory integration)
● C = Comparison (e.g., vs. no intervention)
● O = Outcome (e.g., better focus at school)
It’s part of the flow: PRETEST AND POST TEST
1. Pre-test = You test a client before treatment to see where they’re at.
2. Intervention = You do your OT magic 💪🏽
3. Post-test = You test them after to see if there’s any progress.
🧠 Real OT Example:
Let’s say you’re helping a stroke client improve upper body dressing.
● 🔍 Pre-test: You use the Barthel Index and they score 40.
● 🧑🏽⚕️ Intervention: You work with them on ADLs for 4 weeks.
● 📝 Post-test: You give the Barthel Index again — now they score 65.
,🧠 Background vs. Foreground Questions:
● Background = “What is autism?” (general info)
● Foreground = “Does OT improve social skills in teens with autism?” (specific info that
helps make decisions in OT)
🔗 Variables:
● Independent variable = What you change (e.g., therapy type)
● Dependent variable = What you’re measuring (e.g., how much they improve)
🎯 Validity:
● Internal validity = Did the therapy actually cause the change?
● External validity = Will this work on people outside the study?
🧪 Other Validity Types:
● Content = Does this cover all the things it should?
● Concurrent = Does this test match another one that already works?
● Predictive = Can this test predict XYZ?
● Construct = Does it really measure what we say it measures? (Like: does increased
arm motion really mean better daily function?)
🧬 Research Designs:
● Experimental = We fully control stuff. (like a lab test)
● Quasi-experimental = Kinda controlled, kinda real-life.
, ● Single-subject = One person is the test subject.
📊 Levels of Evidence:
Rankings that tell how strong the research is. Think of it like this:
● Level 1 = Strongest (randomized trials)
● L2-COHORTS CASE STUDIES
● L3 OPINIONS
● Level 5 = Weakest (opinions, no research)
👥 Sampling Methods (aka How They Pick People):
● Convenience = Whoever’s around (like using your classmates)
● Purposive = Picking people for a reason (e.g., only veterans)
● Snowball = One person refers another
● Stratified = Picking from each group on purpose (e.g., equal men/women)
✍🏾 Qualitative Research = Words & Stories
● Case study = Deep dive on one person
● Ethnography = Study a whole culture
● Phenomenology = Study people’s lived experience
● Grounded theory = Build a new theory from interviews and notes
🧾 Data Collection (how they get info):
● Interviews (talk to folks)
● Observations (watch)
