Describe the conditions under which this will be done.

In a one-page essay, propose a fictional study you would like to do. This proposal should incorporate all the material you have learned in this course.

This study needs to be related to autism so the target behavior you can choose is something like “the use of visual prompts to reduce out of seat behavior in class”

The essay asks you to discuss an intervention and evaluate using the single case designs and measurement techniques we’ve learned about all semester. If you do it right, the length should be no more than one-page single space. Its more about content, then length. Make sure to answer each question in the essay and don’t spend too much space on one question. For example, despite me sending this message each semester, some students will use a lot of space describing the rationale or type of the intervention. That won’t get you any more points.
Focus more on the experimental design and measurement. Tell me about your target behaviors and definitions, how you’re measuring them, and the design you used and data paths that will allow you to determine there was an effect. Here is some friendly advice (based on past experience): If you conduct a group design, you will fail the final. We don’t cover group designs and statistics. Remember this is a course on applied behavior analysis and many of you will go on to be BCBA’s. Thus, our content is based on their requirements.
I also want to stress that for the essay you don’t have to actually be able to conduct the study. Don’t skimp on details b/c you are writing a study designed for your workplace. For example, not mentioning interobserver agreement b/c you plan to run a study at a facility that doesn’t have the staff will lead to a loss of points. Even if you don’t have the staffing, the concepts that we covered (operational definitions, data paths-trend, variability, and level, phase changes, interobserver agreement functional relations, experimental designs) should be addressed (even if only as a limitation).

State your experimental question in the general form of: What are the effects of [independent variable/s] on [dependent variable/s] among [participants]? You should choose a dependent variable that can be objectively measured. Furthermore, you should provide a clear and concise operational definition for the dependent variable. Provide a clear and concise description of your independent variable.
Describe the conditions under which this will be done. This includes a description of your observation and measurement procedures, setting(s) in which this will be conducted, how frequently observations will be conducted, inter-observer agreement #;s, etc.
Finally, describe how you will demonstrate experimental control. That is, what experimental design will you use? Provide a rationale as to why that experimental design is the best choice for your proposed study. Furthermore, discuss how and when you will introduce your independent variable. Additionally, discuss what the outcome of your data analysis must be in order for you to have demonstrated experimental control. Make sure to discuss level, trend, and variability of each phase of your treatment evaluation and provide a graph of the analysis (hand-written or computer generated). Keep in mind this is fictional study, so all options are available to you to generate a well-designed study with clear experimental control.

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