The Accuracy of Peer Comparison Observations: A Simulated Analysis

Abstract

Classroom observations are frequently conducted with the purpose of comparing the behavior of a target student to that of other peers within the same classroom. A variety of procedures may be utilized by researchers and practitioners to collect such data; however, little is known of the accuracy of estimates of behavior produced by such procedures relative to continuous behavior recording for the target student, peers sampled as a representation of the class, and the class as a whole. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of estimates of frequently utilized peer comparison observation procedures relative to duration recording. Data were simulated for 4,000 classroom observations, with variations in level of classroom behavior and length of observation being simulated. Results indicated that an Every Fifth interval procedure resulted in the lowest levels of absolute error during single observations for target students, with planned activity checks resulting in the most accurate estimates of class-wide behavior. Despite differences being apparent in level of accuracy of single observations, differences in accuracy across procedures were not apparent when all observations of the same type (i.e., duration, level of classroom behavior, and observation procedure) were compared.

The effects of x‐axis time compression on the visual analysis of single‐case data

“…Data were simulated using a Markov Chain data simulator within Microsoft Excel. The simulator generated binary data indicating on‐task (1) or off‐task (0) behavior of a single student across a 10‐min observation (see Radley et al, 2021 for a detailed description of the data simulator). As previously described, the simulator generated data conforming to an ABAB design with 5 data points per phase.…”

Increasing teachers' use of behavior specific praise via Apple Watch prompting

“…Once all students in the classroom were observed, the observer again observed the first student, with this pattern repeating until the observation was completed. Individual fixed methods of observation have previously been found to produce estimates of classwide behavior that closely approximate true rates of behavior (e.g., Briesch et al, 2015;Dart et al, 2016;Radley et al, 2021)…”