“…Studies were held to be outside the parameters of the review if they employed nonclinical/patient samples (O'Laoire, 1997;Tloczynski & Fritzsch, 2002) or featured less rigorous designs, such as single case studies (Kowey, Friehling, & Marinchak, 1986;Sajwaj & Hedges, 1973) or nonrandom, voluntary assignment to control and treatment groups (Carson & Huss, 1979). As implied in the introduction, the relatively extensive research on the effects of personal prayer fell outside the study's scope (Bernardi et al, 2001;Fabbro, Muzur, Bellen, Calacione, & Bava, 1999;Sistler & Washington, 1999). Similarly, cross-sectional research on prayer was deemed beyond the purview of the study (Ellison, 1993).…”