Forensic Psychological Assessment as a Convergent Side Project of Mixed Research Methods La evaluación psicológica forense como un diseño paralelo convergente desde los métodos mixtos de investigación

Abstract

Forensic psychologists perform scientific psychological evaluations to answer one or many specific questions for the justice system. Psychological forensic evaluations can be framed as a small-scale scientific investigation (Espinosa, 2015), framed in mixed methods designs. This, because it makes use of both quantitative and qualitative tools in the evaluation process. However, if it is stated that a mixed methods process is carried out, it is pertinent to clarify the specific research design used. The objective of this text is to highlight how the psychological forensic evaluation would correspond to a convergent parallel design of the mixed methods. For this, its epistemic support is presented from critical realism and the elements that make up the proposed design. Critical realism has been one of the most important epistemological paradigms in the fundament of combined investigation methods. This approach comes from Roy Bhaskar who built it as an alternative to positivism and hermeneutics (Parada, 2004). The convergent parallel design is a design of mixed research methods which includes the concurrent implementation of quantitative and qualitative tools, seeking to answer the same question. It is also shown how these are evidenced in a psychological forensic evaluation in its quantitative approach with psychometric instruments and qualitative elements with interviews and categorical analysis, and in the integral analysis of the information in the discussion and conclusions. It is concluded that the forensic psychological evaluation can be presented as a convergent parallel design, as the way it can be presented in the repor