Webinar - How to plan and implement single-case designs. Part 1: an introduction to the method

This 60-minute webinar was presented by Prof Robyn Tate on 22nd May 2020. Synopsis: The past three decades have seen an exponential rise in the number of single-case designs (SCD) reported in the neurorehabilitation literature. SCDs use a prospective, quantitative, experimental methodology for the intensive study of an individual who serves as his or her own control. They are thus to be distinguished from the uncontrolled, anecdotal case description or observational study. SCDs use a specific methodology and are applicable to both the clinical setting and the research environment. This practical “how-to” webinar provides an introduction to SCD methodology. A more advanced learning module is provided in Part 2 of this series. This webinar first introduces basic concepts used in SCDs. It then describes the common types of designs encountered in the literature. The third section presents a 10-step procedure for designing and implementing an SCD, described in Tate and Perdices (2019). This procedure covers the types of issues involved in selecting the dependent variable/s (target behaviour/s) and independent variable (the intervention), as well as design selection and monitoring progress. Finally, the webinar concludes with a description of a framework for conducting SCDs in clinical practice using the Model for Assessing Treatment Effect (MATE). Webinar outcomes: at the end of this webinar, delegates will have knowledge of 1. situations in which to use an SCD; 2. basic concepts involved in SCD methodology; 3. common types of single-case designs, 4. a structure to implement an SCD for an applied research study; and 5. a framework for using single-case methods in clinical practice. Target audience: researchers; clinicians in allied-health and medicine; advanced students