LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Explain some of the points of disagreement between advocates of single-subject research and advocates of group research.
- Identify several situations in which single-subject research would be appropriate and several others in which group research would be appropriate.
Single-subject research is similar to group research—especially experimental group research—in many ways. They are both quantitative approaches that try to establish causal relationships by manipulating an independent variable, measuring a dependent variable, and controlling extraneous variables. But there are important differences between these approaches too, and these differences sometimes lead to disagreements. It is worth addressing the most common points of disagreement between single-subject researchers and group researchers and how these disagreements can be resolved. As we will see, single- subject research and group research are probably best conceptualized as complementary approaches.
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