Single-Subject Research Method: The Needed Simplification (Published)
Research, the scientific quest for knowledge discovery and dissemination, is done in accordance with specific research methods. Using documental analysis research method and a randomly drawn sample of 1557 from a population of 46,376 lecturers, results showed that single-subject research is the least adopted method in Nigeria; probably because it has the greatest dearth of readily available information. Single-subject research method is however very appropriate for establishment of cause-and-effect relationships between variables. It is a special experimental methodological approach for investigation of the effects of intervention measures on an individual’s clinical behavior; using the very subject as his own control by changing the intervention treatment conditions presented to him and carefully assessing via repeated measurements, the impact of the changes on the subject as he exhibits certain new behavior a number of times. This paper has provided elaborate information on five single-subject designs (A→B→A→B, multiple-baseline, interaction, alternating-treatment, and changing-criterion); and four single-subject data analysis techniques (visual analysis, therapeutic criterion study, interrupted time-series statistics, and statistical analysis) to fill the existing knowledge gap.
Keywords: Alternating-treatment design, A→B→A→B design, Cause-and-effect relationships; Single-subject designs, Changing-criterion design, Documental analysis, Interaction design, Multiple base-line design, Research Methods, Single-subject data analysis techniques, Single-subject research