A number of resources are available for evaluating the rigor of single-case designs, including the commonly used multiple baseline design. In this article, we discuss two characteristics commonly cited as necessary for the highest rigor in multiple baseline designs--concurrence and response-guided baseline condition duration. We suggest that both…

The overarching purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to the use of rigorous single-case research designs (SCRDs) in special education and related fields. Authors first discuss basic design types and research questions that can be answered with SCRDs, examine threats to internal validity and potential ways to control for and detect…

Single-case design has a long history of use for assessing intervention effectiveness for children with disabilities. Although these designs have been widely employed for more than 50 years, recent years have been especially dynamic in terms of growth in the use of single-case design and application of standards designed to improve the validity…

Two studies regarding the graphic display of single case data are presented. First, measurement and graphical display of data from studies in highly-ranked journals in special education were assessed. Measurement of desirable behaviors rather than undesirable behaviors was common and most studies used sessions and percentages as x and y-values,…

Comparison studies conducted to determine which instructional interventions are most efficient for teaching discrete behaviors to individuals with disabilities are potentially valuable, although some threats to internal validity may be more likely in these studies. Studies included in this review typically met common internal validity standards,…

Randomization of large number of participants to different treatment groups is often not a feasible or preferable way to answer questions of immediate interest to professional practice. Single case designs (SCDs) are a class of research designs that are experimental in nature but require only a few participants, all of whom receive the…

Tools for evaluating the quality and rigor of single case research designs (SCD) are often used when conducting SCD syntheses. Preferred components include evaluations of design features related to the internal validity of SCD to obtain quality and/or rigor ratings. Three tools for evaluating the quality and rigor of SCD (Council for Exceptional…

Varying methods for evaluating the outcomes of single case research designs (SCD) are currently used in reviews and meta-analyses of interventions. Quantitative effect size measures are often presented alongside visual analysis conclusions. Six measures across two classes--overlap measures (percentage non-overlapping data, improvement rate…

Social skills interventions designed to increase pro-social interactions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders are critical, but the relative effectiveness of these interventions is not well understood. More than 250 single-case design studies in 113 articles were reviewed and described in terms of participants, settings, arrangements,…

Research in early intervention/early childhood special education (EI/ECSE) is focused on identifying effective practices related to positive outcomes for young children with disabilities and their families. Individual responses to evidence-based practices are often variable, and non-responders are common. Single case research (SCR) might be…

Social narratives (e.g., Social Stories™) are common antecedent-based interventions promoted for the purposes of improving prosocial behaviors and reducing challenging behavior for children with and without disabilities. Although they are commonly prescribed and used, their effectiveness has almost exclusively been assessed for children with…