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EDI TOR 'S NOT E A Primer for the Clinician on Research Methods and Statistics I am delighted to introdu ce in this issue a new series of invited columns, designed to guide the clinical reader throu gh the increasingly dense thicket of research methods and statistics in child and adolescent psychiatry. T he editors and principal authors are Bob Harmon, M.D., and George Morgan, Ph.D. Bob is Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Uni- versity of Colorado and Deputy Editor of the Journal. George is Professor of Education and Human Development at Colorado State University. Both authors are experienced researchers themselves and experts at making the science of developmental psycho- pathology understandable to clinicians. T hese columns are the next generation after Joe Strayhorn's excellent series of vignettes about statistical techniques that appeared in the Journal a number of years ago. Bob and George begin in this issue with a Preface that lays out the goals for the series. The first columns will appear monthly, to give child and adolescent psychiatry resid ents and practicing clinicians a runn ing start. Th e remainder of the 31 columns plann ed for the series will appear bim onthl y. For those (like this Ed itor) who can't wait for the end of a story and who would like to peek at the ending, these columns have been ada pted (with perm ission) from a forthcomin g book by Gliner and Morgan, Research Design and Analysis in Applied Settings:An IntegratedApproach. to be published by Lawren ce Erlbaum. T he advantage of these columns is that they are in digestible bites and seasoned by the wisdom and experience of Bob Harmon , a child and adolescent psychiatrist who directs a well-established research training postdoctoral fellowship program for psychiatrists and psychologists. Both the aut hors and I would welcome feedback as we pursue th is new venture for the Journal. O nward and upward! M.K.D. J, AM, ACAD , C H I !. D ADOl. ES C , PSYCHIATRY, .lH: 1, JA NU A RY I ') ') ')
