With rapid advances in the analysis of data from single-case research designs, the various behavior-change indices, that is, effect sizes, can be confusing. To reduce this confusion, nine effect-size indices are described and compared. Each of these indices examines data nonoverlap between phases. Similarities and differences, both conceptual and…

It has long been understood that food deliveries may act as signals of future food location, and not only as strengtheners of prefood responding as the law of effect suggests. Recent research has taken this idea further--the main effect of food deliveries, or other "reinforcers", may be signaling rather than strengthening. The present experiment…

Experiments allow researchers to randomly vary the key manipulation, the instruments of measurement, and the sequences of the measurements and manipulations across participants. To date, however, the advantages of randomized experiments to manipulate both the aspects of interest and the aspects that threaten internal validity have been primarily…

This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested analysis, recently presented by the American…

The students in working in laboratories in 21st century are preferred to take place as active participants in the experiments coming up with their own designs and projects by developing new ideas and problems rather than implementing the ones told and ordered by others during these experiments. The science teachers that would have the students…

This meta-analysis synthesizes the literature on interventions for struggling readers in Grades 4 through 12 published between 1980 and 2011. It updates Scammacca et al.'s analysis of studies published between 1980 and 2004. The combined corpus of 82 study-wise effect sizes was meta-analyzed to determine (a) the overall effectiveness of reading…

Data from single case designs (SCDs) have traditionally been analyzed by visual inspection rather than statistical models. As a consequence, effect sizes have been of little interest. Lately, some effect-size estimators have been proposed, but most are either (i) nonparametric, and/or (ii) based on an analogy incompatible with effect sizes from…

Researchers may be interested in examining the impact of programs that prepare youth and adults for successful careers but unable to implement experimental designs with true randomization of participants. As a result, these studies can be compromised by underlying factors that impact group selection and thus lead to potentially biased results.…

Neurophysiological studies of creativity thus far have not allowed for clear conclusions to be made regarding the specific neural underpinnings of such complex cognition due to overgeneralizations concerning the creativity construct, heterogeneity in the type of creativity tasks used, and the questionable efficacy of the employed comparison tasks.…

The process of designing an experiment is a difficult one. Students often struggle to perform such tasks as the design process places a large cognitive load on students. Scaffolding is the process of providing support for a student to allow them to complete tasks they would otherwise not have been able to complete. This study sought to investigate…

In this article, we outline a course wherein the instructors teach students how to conduct rigorous qualitative research. We discuss the four major distinct, but overlapping, phases of the course: conceptual/theoretical, technical, applied, and emergent scholar. Students write several qualitative reports, called qualitative notebooks, which…

Often, research projects are presented as final products with the methodologies cleanly outlined and little attention paid to the decision-making processes that led to the chosen approach. Limited attention paid to these decision-making processes perpetuates a sense of mystery about qualitative approaches, particularly for new researchers who will…

In this four-investigation Monte Carlo simulation study, we examined the properties of nonparametric randomization and permutation statistical tests applied to single-case ABAB...AB and alternating treatment designs based on either systematically alternating or randomly determined phase assignments. Contrary to previous admonitions, when…

Using an experimental research design, 191 working adults were randomly assigned to two experimental conditions in order to test a theoretical model linking leader and follower positive psychological capital (PsyCap). Multiple methods were used to gather information from the participants. We found when leader PsyCap was manipulated experimentally,…

The literature suggests that adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) typically are not socially engaged during unstructured school activities and do not initiate social activities with typically developing peers. This study assessed whether implementing socialization opportunities in the form of lunch clubs based around aspects of the…