Research topics Flashcards
What is an ABAB design?
a design in which a baseline of performance is recorded, a treatment is provided for a period of time, the treatment is removed, and then the treatment is reintroduced
What is a pretest - posttest control group design?
a design in which a person’s performance is recorded before treatment is given and after treatment is given
What is a multiple baseline design?
a design in which a baseline of a given behavior is obtained prior to a treatment being applied to multiple individuals who may exhibit that behavior
What is a cross-sectional study?
a type of research study in which a population is observed at only a single point in time; conclusions about a population’s behavior over time may be drawn from that one point.
Compare science vs research.
Science values evidence over opinion; it is conceptual and philosophical. Research is methodological and is based on a process of asking and answering questions
Wha are two distinct philosophical features of science?
Empiricism (observable and measurable) and determinism (events are caused by other events)
What is a null hypothesis?
Two variables are unrelated
What is an alternative hypothesis?
Two variables are related
What is the difference between interobserver reliability and intraobserver reliability?
interobserver reliability is when two or more observers provide similar measures for an event; intraobserver reliability is when the same observer measures the same event consistently
What is a confounding variable?
an unmeasured variable that influences cause and effect
What is internal validity?
the extent that you can be sure that a cause and effect relationship cannot be explained by other factors.
In speech-language pathology, what is the basic experimental group design?
prettest-posttest control group design; it helps to evaluate the effects of a single treatment
What is a single subject design?
an experimental design in which a participant’s performance is compared under different conditions
What is an AB design?
a single subject design in which (A) a baseline is obtained and (B) a treatment is offered followed by a summary of the effects
What is an ABA design?
a basic experimental SSD; (A) = baseline obtained; (B) = treatment given, (A) = treatment removed
What is an ABAB design?
a basic experimental SSD; (A) = baseline obtained; (B) = treatment given, (A) = treatment removed; (B) = treatment given again
What is the purpose of the multiple baseline design?
to indicate that untreated skills were not affected and only treated skills were
What is the purpose of the multiple baseline across subjects design?
to indicate the effectiveness of treatment on several subjects by first taking their baselines and then taking measurements after they’ve completed the treatment.
What may threaten the external validity of a study?
the Hawthorne Effect: the impact that participants’ knowledge of participating in a study or that they are treated differently than usual will affect the results of the study
What is external validity?
the study findings being able to be generalized
What is multiple baseline across settings design?
a single behavior being sequentially taught in different settings to demonstrate the behavior changed in a single setting, indicating that treatment was effective.
What is a multiple baseline across behaviors design?
a research design that involves several behaviors that are taught sequentially to show that only treated behaviors change, untreated behaviors did not change, and treatmetn was effective.
What are the limitations of a single subject design?
the results cannot be generalized to the general population and the results do not effectively predict the behaviors of groups of individuals.
What is descriptive research?
researchers observe a phenomenon and then describe it
In descriptive research, a _______ variable is akin to the independent variable in experimental research and a _______ variable is akin to the dependent variable in experimental research.
classification; criterion
What is an example of a classification variable and a criterion variable?
people with dementia compared to individuals without dementia on certain language measures. Group status is the classification variable and language measures would be the criterion measures.
What is ex-post facto research?
researcher searches for causes of events that already happened; this is typically used to determine causes of disease.
What is a limitation of ex-post facto research?
It only suggests, not confirm causes of disorders and diseases
What is internal validity?
The degree to which a study showed a true cause-effect relationship
What is external validity?
The degree to which a test’s results can be generalized
What is the Hawthorne Effect?
the extent to which a study’s results is affected by the participant knowing that they will be treated differently than other participants and/or they know they are taking part in an experiment; one threat to external validity
What is Multiple-Treatment Interference?
Another threat to external validity; the positive or negative of one treatment to another
What is reactive or interactive effects of pretesting?
Another threat to external validity; sensitization of the participant during a pretest of the DV impacting the effect of the treatment variable
What are threats to internal validity?
instrumentation; history; statistical regression; attrition; maturation; confounding variables; subject selection bias; testing
What is a parameter?
A population value
What is class I evidence?
randomized control trials
What is class II evidence?
well-designed studies that are not random
What is class III evidence?
expert opinion
What is most desired level of evidence?
controlled, systematically replicated evidence
What are the levels of desired evidence from least to most desirable?
expert advocacy –> uncontrolled, replicated evidence –> uncontrolled, directly replicated evidence —> uncontrolled, systematically reduplicated evidence —> controlled, replicated evidence –> controlled, directly replicated evidence —> controlled, systematically replicated evidence
What is the difference between a between subjects design and a within subjects design?
between subjects design entails each participant receives only one of the conditions or treatments
within subjects design entails each participant receives all of the conditions or treatments
What is a control?
a group in an experiment that does not receive a treatment
What is the difference between a single blind study and a double blind study?
In a single blind study, only researcher knows which treatment the participant is receiving. In a double blind study, neither the researcher nor the participant know which treatment is being administered.
The reliability of a test is measured by
correlation coefficient
What is alternate form reliability?
consistency of results of 2 forms given to the same person to assess the same behavior
What is split half reliability?
refers to the internal consistency of a test, can overestimate reliability since it does not measure stability of scores over time.
What is a multigroup pre-test post-test design?
an experimental design used to evaluate the effects of 2 or more treatments. A group is added every time there is an additional treatment tested
What are the pros of a single subject study design?
allows for the integration of research and clinical practice; clients can benefit from treatment if they are participants; can replicate; can generalize results to other clients
What are the cons of a single subject study design?
cannot be used to predict a client’s behavior; cannot be used to generalize to the public.
What is a longitudinal study?
a method used in developmental research in which the same study participants are studied over a period of time
What is a cross-sectional study?
a method used in developmental research in which study participants from different ages are selected and then observed
