Running head: SINGLE SUBJECT RESEARCH DESIGN

Single Subject Research Design

Abstract
The following paper presents the use of an ABA single subject research design in evaluating a 16 year old foster youth’s behavior, and the use of an intervention on decreasing negative behavior and increasing positive behavior. Use of the ABA design, factors to be evaluated, treatment variables, implementation of the research design, data gathering, and data analysis are all discussed. Limitations of single subject research designs are also presented. Finally, graphed data is attached in the appendix.

Single Subject Research Design
Factors to be Evaluated
Halle is a 16-year-old female who currently resides in foster care. Over the past few …show more content…

For walking, the upper boundary was 1.71 and the lower boundary was -.21. Next, a line graph for cutting and for walking would be generated in Excel (see Appendix A). By conducting a visual of the data, the social worker can determine if it appears that behavior change occurred; in other words, did Halle’s negative behavior decrease and positive behavior increase during the intervention phase? It is clear that Halle’s walking did increase and cutting decreased, both target behaviors of the intervention. To determine if the intervention is statistically significant, the social worker would refer to the binomial table to determine the number of observations during the intervention phase versus the baseline phase that are needed to determine if the intervention was significant. In other words, how many days must the number of cuts fall below the lower boundary, and the number of walks fall above the upper boundary during the intervention phase. The intervention was significant at the .05 level, based on this analysis that shows that Halle’s cutting falls below the lower boundary 12 out of 14 weeks, and her walking falls above the upper boundary 13 out of 14 weeks during the intervention. Additionally, in the follow-up phase, Halle’s behavior changes appear to be maintained.
Limitations of a Single Subject Research Design (SSRD) A major limitation of SSRD’s is the possible lack of external validity. It may be difficult to generalize the findings of one