Single-Case Experimental Designs for Clinical Research and Neurorehabilitation Settings: Planning, Conduct, Analysis and Reporting (Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: A Modular Handbook)

This book is a practical resource designed for clinicians, researchers, and advanced students who wish to learn about single-case research designs. It covers the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of single-case designs, as well as their practical application in the clinical and research neurorehabilitation setting. The book briefly traces the history of single-case experimental designs (SCEDs); outlines important considerations in understanding and planning a scientifically rigorous single-case study, including internal and external validity; describes prototypical single-case designs (withdrawal-reversal designs and the medical N-of-1 trial, multiple-baseline designs, alternating-treatments designs, and changing-criterion designs) and required features to meet evidence standards, threats to internal validity, and strategies to address them; addresses data evaluation, covering visual analysis of graphed data, statistical techniques, and clinical significance; and provides a practical ten-step procedure for implementing single-case methods. Each chapter includes detailed illustrative examples from the neurorehabilitation literature. Novel features include: A focus on the neurorehabilitation setting, which is particularly suitable for single-case designs because of the complex and often unique presentation of many patients/clients. A practical approach to the planning, implementation, data analysis, and reporting of single-case designs. An appendix providing a detailed summary of many recently published SCEDs in representative domains in the neurorehabilitation field, covering basic and instrumental activities of daily living, challenging behaviours, disorders of communication and cognition, mood and emotional functions, and motor-sensory disabilities. It is valuable reading for clinicians and researchers in several disciplines working in rehabilitation, including clinical and neuropsychology, education, language and speech pathology, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. It is also an essential resource for advanced students in these fields who need a textbook for specialised courses on research methodology and use of single-case design in applied clinical and research settings. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 5 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Dedication 8 Table of Contents 10 List of illustrations 11 Series editors’ preface 13 Foreword 16 Preface 19 1. Introduction to single-case experimental designs: Historical overview and basic concepts 24 Historical overview 24 Basic concepts 33 Concluding remarks 44 2. Maximising validity in single-case designs 46 Internal validity 49 External validity and generality 53 Case illustration: addressing threats to validity 58 Critical appraisal scales to measure scientific quality of single-case reports 63 A reporting guideline for SCEDs 67 Concluding remarks 73 3. The dependent variable: measuring the outcomes 74 Identifying, defining, and understanding the target behaviour 75 Measuring the target behaviour 82 Data integrity and reliability 90 Concluding remarks 93 4. The independent variable: implementing the intervention 94 Defining the intervention and its theoretical underpinnings 95 Describing the intervention 98 Practitioner competence 104 Treatment 107 Concluding remarks 112 5. Withdrawal/reversal designs 113 A brief note on terminology 114 Rationale of withdrawal designs 114 Evidence standards and internal validity 115 Types of withdrawal designs 116 Concluding remarks 130 6. Multiple-baseline designs 131 Rationale of MBDs 131 Evidence standards and internal validity 134 Advantages and disadvantages 135 Types of MBDs 138 MBDs across behaviours 141 MBD across settings 144 Variants of MBDs 145 Concluding remarks 152 7. Alternating-treatments designs 154 Rationale of ATDs 155 Evidence standards and internal validity 157 Types of ATDs 159 Advantages and disadvantages 162 Concluding remarks 165 8. Changing-criterion designs 167 Rationale of CCDs 167 Evidence standards and internal validity 169 Types of CCDs 171 Design issues 174 Advantages and disadvantages 175 Concluding remarks 175 9. Data evaluation 177 Visual analysis 178 Statistical analysis 185 Evaluation of applied criteria 201 Concluding remarks 205 10. Practical application of single-case methods in the neurorehabilitation setting: Hints for the researcher and clinician 206 Ten steps for implementing a single-case experiment 206 A model for neurorehabilitation practice in the clinical setting 227 Concluding remarks 229 Appendix: Summary components of selected neurorehabilitation studies 232 References 254 Index 281 A practical resource on single-case experimental designs for clinical and reseach neurorehabilitation settings, covering planning, implementation, and assessment.