Open Science and Single-Case Design Research

Abstract

Research indicating many study results do not replicate has raised questions about the credibility of science and prompted concerns about a potential reproducibility crisis. Moreover, most published research is not freely accessible, which limits the potential impact of science. Open science, which aims to make the research process more open and reproducible, has been proposed as one approach to increase the credibility and impact of scientific research. Although relatively little attention has been paid to open science in relation to single-case design, we propose that open-science practices can be applied to enhance the credibility and impact of single-case design research. In this article, we discuss how open-science practices align with other recent developments in single-case design research, describe four prominent open-science practices (i.e., preregistration, registered reports, data and materials sharing, and open access), and discuss potential benefits and limitations of each practice for single-case design.

Structured visual analysis of single‐case experimental design data: Developments and technological advancements

“…Mean IRR was 99.39% for if the study incorporated structured visual analysis and 100% for the type of tool that was used in the study. In an effort toward opensource behavior science (Hales et al, 2019; Hantula, 2019) and opensource SCED (Cook et al, 2021), supplemental materials are available and stored on the Open Science Framework (OSF; see Dowdy, Jessel, et al, 2021).…”

Between-case standardized mean differences: Flexible methods for single-case designs

“…In order to maintain comparability with these other studies, we would recommend calculating a BC-SMD effect size for the clustered multiple baseline design that does not include school-level variance. Regardless of which variance components are used in the effect size, improvements in open data practices (Cook et al, 2021;Ledford et al, 2022) would facilitate effect size calculations for clustered multiple baseline designs.…”

Considering Instructional Contexts in AAC Interventions for People with ASD and/or IDD Experiencing Complex Communicative Needs: a Single-Case Design Meta-analysis

“…Thus, the true extent of publication bias remains difficult to gauge. Effectively mitigating the inferential threat posed by publication bias may require changes in journal publication practices (Kittelman et al, 2018) and wider adoption of pre-registration and registered reports of single-case research (Johnson & Cook, 2019;Cook et al, 2021).…”