Using single-case designs in practical settings: Is replication always necessary?
Is within-subject replication always necessary?
Article [Accepted Manuscript]
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Perspectives on behavior science ; vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 153-162.Publisher(s)
SpringerAbstract(s)
Behavior analysts have widely adopted and embraced within-subject replication through the use
of reversal and multielement designs. However, the withdrawal of treatment, which is central to
these designs, may not be desirable, feasible, or even ethical in practical settings. To examine
this issue, we extracted 501 ABAB graphs from theses and dissertations to examine to what
extent we would have reached correct or incorrect conclusions if we had based our analysis on
the initial AB component only. In our first experiment, we examined the proportion of datasets
for which the results of the first AB component matched the results of the subsequent phase
reversals. In our second experiment, we calculated three effect size estimates for the same
datasets to examine whether these measures could predict the relevance of conducting a withinsubject replication. Our analyses indicated that the initial effects were successfully replicated at
least once in approximately 85% of cases and that effect size may predict the probability of
within-subject replication. Overall, our results support the rather controversial proposition that it
may be possible to set threshold values of effect size above which conducting a replication could
be considered unnecessary. That said, more research is needed to confirm and examine the
generalizability of these results prior to recommending changes in practice.
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