Evaluating Practice

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue

Part I

• What Are You Getting Into?
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1

Integrating Evaluation and Practice

• Introduction to Single-System Designs
• What Are Single-System Designs?
• Evidence-Based Practice
• Single-System Designs and Classical Research: The Knowledge-Building Context
• Single-System Evaluation, Qualitative Research, and Quantitative Research
• Advantages of Using Single-System Designs in Practice
• A Walk through the Evaluation Process
• Summary
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• Conceptualizing and Measuring Targets and Objectives/Goals
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2

Basic Principles of Conceptualization and Measurement

• Introduction
• What Is Conceptualization?
• What Is Measurement?
• Definition as a First Step in Measurement
• Can Everything Be Measured?
• Key Characteristics of All Measures
• Summary
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3

Specifying Problems and Goals

• Introduction: From General Problems to Specific Targets of Intervention
• Specifying Client Concerns: Identifying and Clarifying Problems and Potentials
• Specifying Goals and Objectives
• Using Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) to Establish Goals
• Setting Goals in Groups
• Problems and Issues in Setting Goals
• Summary
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4

Developing a Measurement and Recording Plan

• Introduction
• Steps in Developing a Recording Plan
• Charting: Putting Your Information on Graphs
• Problem-Oriented Records (POR)
• Use of Computers in Evaluation and Practice
• Summary
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Computer Assisted Social Services (CASS): A User’s Guide

Appendix: Installing CASS

5

Behavioral Observation

• Introduction
• General Guidelines for Behavioral Observation
• Sampling Behaviors
• Instruments for Recording Behaviors
• Ensuring Accurate Observations
• Methods of Recording Behavior
• Analog Situations
• Recording Behavior in Groups
• Summary
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6

Individualized Rating Scales

• Introduction
• Uses of Individualized Rating Scales
• Constructing and Using Individualized Rating Scales
• Summary
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7

Standardized Scales

• Introduction
• What Are Standardized Scales?
• Selecting a Standardized Scale
• Administering a Standardized Scale
• Some Available Standardized Self-Report Scales
• Some Available Standardized Scales for Practitioners
• Some Available Standardized Scales for Relevant Others
• Some Available Standardized Scales for Independent Observers
• Do-It-Yourself Scales
• Using Standardized Scales in Groups
• Computer Management of Standardized Scales
• Summary
• Appendix
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Computer Assisted Assessment Package (CAAP): A User’s Guide

8

Logs

• Introduction
• Types of Client Logs
• Putting Qualitative and Quantitative Information Together
• Introducing Clients to Logs
• Practitioner Logs
• Maximizing and Verifying the Reliability and Validity of Logs
• Summary
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9

Reactivity and Nonreactive Measures

• Introduction
• Reactivity of Measures
• Unobtrusive (Nonreactive) Measures
• Summary
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10

Selecting a Measure

• Introduction
• Considerations in Deciding on a Measure
• Use of Multiple Measures
• Selecting a Measure
• Summary
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Part III

• Evaluation Designs
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11

Basic Principles of Single-System Designs

• Introduction
• An Example Connecting Practice and Evaluation Designs
• Purposes of Single-System Designs
• Unique Characteristics of Single-System Designs
• Causality in Single-System Designs
• External Validity and Generalizability
• Overview of Single-System Designs
• Summary
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12

Baselining

• Introduction
• Purposes of the Baseline
• Types of Baselines
• How Long Should Baselining Continue?
• When Are Baselines Not Necessary?
• Issues Regarding Baselining
• Summary
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13

From the Case Study to the Basic Single-System Design: A-B

• Introduction
• Case Studies or Predesigns
• Design A-B: The Basic Single-System Design
• Summary
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14

The Experimental Single-System Designs: A-B-A, A-B-A-B, B-A-B

• Introduction
• Basic Experimental Designs
• Summary
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15

Multiple Designs for Single Systems

• Introduction
• Multiple-Baseline Designs: Across Problems, Clients, or Settings
• Multiple-Target Designs
• Variations on Multiple Designs
• Summary
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16

Changing Intensity Designs and Successive Intervention Designs

• Introduction
• Changing Intensity Designs: A-B 1 -B 2 -B 3
• Successive Intervention Designs: A-B-C, A-B-A-C, A-B-A-C-A
• Summary
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17

Designs for Comparing Interventions

• Introduction
• Alternating Intervention Design: A-B/C-(B or C)
• Interaction Design: A-B-A-B-BC-B-BC
• Summary
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18

Selecting a Design

• Introduction
• Framework for Selecting a Design
• Needed: A Design for All Seasons
• Creativity in Single-System Designs: Making Your Own Designs
• Evaluation in Minimal-Contact Situations
• Single-System Designs in Managed Care: The Stretch Design
• Trouble-Shooting: “Okay, I Understand Everything That You Said, but My Case Is Different.”
• Summary
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Part IV

• Analyzing Your Results
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19

Basic Principles of Analysis

• Introduction
• Distinguishing Effort, Effectiveness, and Efficiency
• Significance—Practical, Statistical, and Theoretical
• Evaluating Goal Achievement
• Issues in Analysis of Data
• Computer Analysis of Data for Single-System Designs
• The Issue of Autocorrelation
• Tools in Analysis of Data
• Summary
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20

Visual Analysis of Single-System Design Data

• Introduction
• Definition of Terms
• Basic Patterns and Implications
• Visual Inspection of Raw Data
• Interpreting Ambiguous Patterns
• Problems of Visual Inspection
• Creating a Chart with SINGWIN
• Summary
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21

Descriptive Statistics

• Introduction
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Measures of Variation
• Using Measures of Central Tendency and Variability to Graph Group Data
• Computing and Graphing Measures of Central Tendency and Variation with SINGWIN
• Measures of Trend
• Measures of Effect Size
• Optimal Uses and Cautions for Specific Descriptive Statistics
• Summary
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22

Tests of Statistical Significance for Single-System Designs

• Introduction
• Proportion/Frequency Approach
• Three-Standard-Deviation-Band Approach (X-Moving-Range-Chart)
• Chi-Square
• Conservative Dual-Criteria (CDC) Approach
• t- Test
• General Considerations in Using Tests of Statistical Significance
• Optimal Uses and Cautions for Specific Analytic Procedures
• Summary
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23

Computer Analysis of Single-System Design Data

• Chapter Overview
• Starting SINGWIN
• Exiting SINGWIN
• Getting the Big Picture
• Using Specific Procedures
• Appendix: Installing Singwin
• Summary
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24

Selecting a Procedure for Analyzing Data

• Introduction
• Framework for Selecting a Procedure for Analyzing Data
• Other Statistical Considerations
• Nonstatistical Considerations
• Limitations
• Summary
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Part V

• The Challenge of Single-System Designs
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25

Not for Practitioners Alone

• Introduction
• Special Applications of Single-System Designs
• Recent Criticisms of Single-System Evaluation
• For the Client
• For the Administrator
• For Educators and Students
• Summary
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References

Name Index

Subject Index