Single Subject Designs in Biomedicine

About this book

Single Subject Designs in Biomedicine draws upon the rich history of single case research within the educational and behavioral research settings and extends the application to the field of biomedicine. Biomedical illustrations are used to demonstrate the processes of designing, implementing, and evaluating a single subject design. Strengths and limitations of various methodologies are presented, along with specific clinical areas of application in which these applications would be appropriate. Statistical and visual techniques for data analysis are also discussed. The breadth and depth of information provided is suitable for medical students in research oriented courses, primary care practitioners and medical specialists seeking to apply methods of evidence practice to improve patient care, and medical researchers who are expanding their methodological expertise to include single subject designs. Increasing awareness of the utility in the single subject design could enhance treatment approach and evaluation both in biomedical research and medical care settings.

Written for: Medical students, medical researchers, physicians and other healthcare providers, medical instructors who teach medical research

Keywords:

• Case study
• N-of-1
• Patient care research
• Research methodology
• Single subject designs

Table of contents

Chapter One: Overview of the Single Subject DesignSingle Subject Design Methodolog. -Chapter Two: The Application of the Single Subject DesignChoice and Measurement of Outcomes, Choice and Application of Interventions, Nomenclature of Single Subject Designs, The Family of Single Subject Designs: The Basic A-B Design 25, The A-B-A Design, A-B-A-B Design, B-A-B Single-Subject Design, Multiple Baseline Design, Alternating Treatments Design, Changing Criterion Design, Summary. -Chapter Three: Methodological Framework for Single Subject Designs, Historical Roots, Individual-Focused Designs, Group Experimental Designs, Return to Single Subject Designs, Sources of Internal Validity Threats, Sources of Threats to Internal Validity, Mortality, Regression toward the Mean, Maturation, History, Testing Effects, Instrumentation, Withdrawal Reactions, Social-Cognitive , Residual Confounding, Threats to External Validity, Generalizability across Subjects, Generalizability across Physicians or Practitioners, Generalizability across Settings, Generalizability across Time, Generalizability across Outcomes, Generalizability across Treatment Interactions, Summary. -Chapter Four: Evaluation and Analysis of Data Generated from Single Subject Designs, Experimental Control and the Single Subject Design, Techniques of Control, Elimination, Constancy, Balancing, Counterbalancing, Randomization, Interventions (Independent Variables), Outcomes (Dependent Variables), Response Guided StudiesStatistical Analysis of Data Collected using Single Subject Methodology, Graphical Display of Data and Visual Analysis, Inferential Statistical Analysis, Randomization Tests, Nonparametric Smoother, Celeration Line Methods, Sheward’s Two Standard Deviation Band, Bartlett’s Test, Mann-Whitney U, Revusky’s Rn Statistic, The W Statistic, The C Statistic, Summary. -Chapter Five: Ethics and Single Subject Research, Primer on Ethics, Philosophical Perspectives, Guiding Principles, Professional Competence, Certification and Licensure, Maintaining Professional Competence, Practicing within an Area of Competence, Patient Rights, Informed Consent, Discontinuation, Confidentiality, Deception, Conflict of Interest, Methodological Considerations, Choice of Patient, Choice of Treatment Objectives, Choice of Interventions, Choice of Control, Conditions, Withdrawal Designs, Research Context, Facilitating Research. -Chapter Six: Application of the Single Subject Design in Biomedicine, Past and Current Application of the Single Subject Design in Biomedicine, Overview for Conducting a Single Subject Design Illustrations of Single Subject Design Application, Summary. -Chapter Seven: Annotated Bibliography of Single Subject Studies Notes.