Introduction To Behavioral Research, Chapter 11 Of Paul C. Cozby's Text

Front 1

Describe single case experimantal designs. What settings is this type of design commonly used in? Also, name an advantage and a problem with this method.

Back 1

In a single case design, the subject's behavior is measured over time during a baseline control period. The manipulation is then introduced during a treatment period, and the subject's behavior continues to be observed. A change in the subject's behavior from baseline to treatment periods is evidence for the effectiveness of the manipulation. This type of research design is commonly used in clinical, counceling, educational, and other applied settings.
Advantage: Complex statistical analyses are not required for single case studies.
Problem: There could be alternative explanations for the chages on behavior. This problem is addressed in the Reversal and the Multiple Baseline single case designs.

Hint 1

Single case = one subject

Front 2

Describe Reversal Designs. Include its advantages and disadvantages.

Back 2

This is a type of Single Case experimental design that demonstrates the reversibility of the manipulation as a way to prove that the I.V. had an effect. This is also called ABA design, after its 3 steps:
1. A (baseline control period)
2. B (treatment period)
3. A (baseline period/ withdrawal period)
The behavior is observed through all 3 periods; if the behavior in the withdrawal period reverts back to the behavior in the control period then this is evidence that the I.V. had an effect.
Problems:
1. A single reversal is not extremely powerful evidence that the I.V. had an effect.
2. Not ethical to end with a withdrawal period.
Solution: extend experiment to ABAB...
3. Reversal may be unethical in some situations. (Solution: used a multiple baseline design)

Hint 2

How does it rule out alternative explanations?
ABA Design

Front 3

Describe Multiple Baseline Designs. Include all of the variations of this design.

Back 3

This is a type of Single Case experimental design in which multiple circumstances are used to rule out alternative explanations. There are several variations to this design:
1. Across subjects - the behavior of several subjects is measured over time. Change in all of the subjects would rule out explanations based on chance or major events, etc.
2. Across behaviors - several different bahaviors of a single subject are measured over time. At a different point in time, the same manipulation is applied to each of the behaviors.
3. Across situations - the same behavior is measures in different settings (home or work, etc.). A manipulation is introduced at a different time in each setting.

Hint 3

How does it rule out alternative explanations?

Front 4

Describe program evaluation research, and name its five phases.

Back 4

Program evaluation is research on the effects of programs that have been proposed or implemented (e.g. community drug abuse program). There are 5 types of evaluations involved in this research that each attempt to answer a different question about the program (5 phases).
1. Needs Assesment
2. Program Theory Assessment
3. Process evaluation
4. Outcome Evaluation
5. Efficiency Evaluation

Hint 4

The 5 phases answer 5 questions about each program.

Front 5

Describe Needs Assessment

Back 5

The first phase of a program evaluation. Needs assessment studies ask (though surveys or interviews, etc.) whether there are, in fact, problems that need to be addressed in a target population. Is there need for a program at all?? What type of program is needed? Once the need is established a program can be planned to address that need.

Hint 5

What is needed?

Front 6

Describe Program Theory Assessment

Back 6

This is the second phase of program evaluation which determines whether the proposed program appropriately address the needs of the target population.

Front 7

Describe Process Evaluation

Back 7

This is the third phase of program evaluation. In this phase, the researcher monitors whether the implementation of the program being carried out correctly.

Front 8

Describe Outcome Evaluation

Back 8

This is the fourth phase of program evaluation which questions whether the intended outcomes of the program are being realized. Here (in an ideal situation), a true experimantal design with randon assignment to conditions would be carried out to answer this question. However, other other research approaches (quasi-experimantal, or songle case designs)are also useful.

Front 9

Describe Efficiency Assessment

Back 9

This is the final phase in program evaluation. Once it is shown that a program has its intended effect, researchers must determine whether it is "worth it". Did it cost too much? Could the resourses used be put to better use?

Hint 9

costs vs. outcomes

Front 10

Describe Quasi-experimental designs. Name six designs.

Back 10

These experimental designs address the need to study the effect of an I.V. in settings in which the control features of true experimental designs cannot be achieved. E.g. Used in Program evaluation research. Types of Quasi-experimental designs include:

1. One-Group Posttest-Only design
2. One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design
3. Nonequivalent Control Group Design
4. Nonequivalent Control Group Pretest-Posttest Design
5. Interrupted Time Series Design
6. Control Series Design

Front 11

Describe the one-group posttest-only design.

Back 11

A type of Quasi-experimantal design. This type of experimant lacks a control group and therefore makes creating an experimant that has internal validity, exteremly difficult. This design may be used as evidence for the effectiveness of a program.

Hint 11

Almost like posttest-only design

Front 12

Describe the one-group Pretest-posttest design.

Back 12

A quasi-experimantal design in which the experimenter measures the participants before the manipulation and again afterward. This experimant only includes one group of test-subjects; it is missing a control group. There are several alternative explanations that this type of experimant fails to account for: history, maturation, testing, instrument decay, and regression towards the mean.

Hint 12

Almost like pretest-posttest design.

Front 13

Describe the threats to internal validity(alternative explanations) that may occur in the one-group pretest-posttest experimental design.

Back 13

History - an confounding event that occurs between the first and second measurements. It is not part of the manipulation, but it is confounded with the manipulation.

Maturation - the change that naturally occurs in people over time. Systematic changes (gradually occur over time) are called maturation effects. (e.g. an increased concern for one's health)

Testing - a problem occurs when simply taking the pretest changes the person's behavior. (E.g. they become more aware of their problem and try to change, but change has nothing to do with the I.V.)

Instrument Decay - the basic characteristics of the measuring instrument may change over time. (E.g. Human observers may gain skill, change their standards, etc.)

Regression towards the mean - a.k.a. statistical regression; likely to occur whenever participants are selected because they score extremely high or low on some variable. When they are selected again, their scores tend to change in the direction of the mean.

Front 14

Describe the nonequivalent control group design. What is the major problem with this design called?

Back 14

The nonequivalent control group design is a quasi-experimantal design that employs a control group, but the participants in the two conditions are not equivalent. The differences become a confounding variable taht provide an alternative explanation for the results. This problem is called selection differences, and it usually occurs when the participants are chosen from two different existing natural groups, and the researcher has no control over who is in each group. (e.g. choosing people in a stress release program and people not in a stress release program to measure the effects of stress release on quiting smoking; the people in the stress release could have different personality characteristics than the people in the control group.)

Front 15

Describe the nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. What is the major advantage of this design?

Back 15

This is an improvement on the nonequivalent control group design in which a pretest is given. This is one of the most useful quasi-experimantal designs. This is not a true experimantal design because assignment to groups is not random; however, this design has the advantage of knowing the pretest scores. If the groups are not equivalent to begin with, then the experimenter can look at the changes in the scores from the pretest to the posttest.

Hint 15

Improvement on another design.
Changes in scores.

Front 16

Discuss the advantages of having a control group. (Even if it is a nonequivalent control group.)

Back 16

The experimanter can compare her experimantal group to her control group to see if the I.V. had an effect. (Improves the internal validity if the study.) Even if the two groups are not equivalent to begin with, with a pretest, the researcher ca compare the result of the pretest to the posttest to varify the effects of the I.V.

Front 17

Distinguis between interrupted time series design and control series design.

Back 17

Interrupted time series design - measures a variable for an extended period of time befor and after the I.V. is implemented. For example, in the case of a program to chack down on speedy drivers, the Interrupted Time Series Design would examine the traffic fatality rates over an extended period before and after the implementation of the speeding program.

Control Series Design - this is an improvement on the interrupted time series design because it involves a control group of some sort. For example, the experimenter in the above study could compare their results to the traffict fatalities in another state.

Front 18

Describe cross-sectional research design and its advantages and disadvantages.

Back 18

In a study using this method, persons of different agas are studies at only one point in time. This is the most common developmental research design.

Advantages:
1. It takes less time
2. It is less expensive

Disadvantage:
1. Differences among groups may result from cohort effects.

Front 19

Describe longitudinal research design and its advantages and disadvantages.

Back 19

In a study using this method, the same groupof people is observed at defferent points in time as they grow older.

Advantage:
1. Eliminates the cohort effect
2. Best way to study how scores on a variable at one age are related to another variable at later age.

Disadvantages:
1. People may die or loose interest in the study.
2. Requires a lot of time patience and resources

Front 20

Describe sequential research design and its advantages and disadvantages.

Back 20

This developmental research design is a compromise between the longitudinal and cross-sectional methods. The first phase of this method begins with the cross-sectional method. These individuals are then studied using the longitudinal method with each participant being tested at least once more at a later time.

Advantages:
1. Takes fewer years to complete than the longitudinal study.
2. Researcher gets data immediately in the first phase of the study.

Front 21

Define cohort effect

Back 21

A cohort is a group of people born at about the same time, exposed to the same societal events and influenced by the same demograhic trends (divorce rates, family size, etc.)
Differences among cohorts reflect different economic and political conditions on society, different music and arts, different educational systems, etc.
This effect is significant in Cross-sectional experimental designs.

Front 22

Describe developmental research and name three methods.

Back 22

Develomental psychologists study the ways that individuals change as a function of age. E.g. The changes in reasoning ability as children grow older. There are two general methods for studying individuals of different ages, and one hybrid method:
1. Cross-Sectional Method
2. Longitudinal Method
3. Sequential Method