Premium
Single‐case Design: The Neglected Alternative for the Evaluation of Family Therapy *
Author(s) -
Cross Darryl G.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
australian journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0156-8779
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.1884.tb00103.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , family therapy , disenchantment , research design , psychology , obstacle , replication (statistics) , psychotherapist , management science , medicine , sociology , engineering , social science , political science , law , virology , politics
Family therapy (as with other treatment forms) needs to demonstrate its efficacy, but a major obstacle to the development and evaluation of therapeutic techniques in family therapy in particular, has been the almost total reliance on what is called classical group comparisons (e.g., treatment versus no‐treatment groups). The focus on group comparisons, however, has meant a complete disregard for a methodology that is also highly appropriate; single‐case design (or intrasubject replication) where the sample size is N = 1. In recent times, there has been an increasing disenchantment with classical group design for a number of reasons. For example, group comparisons are not always feasible in many clinical settings and tend to lack relevance for the practitioner's daily functioning. This paper elaborates these kinds of reasons and outlines the major advantages of using single‐case design. There is little doubt that single‐case methodology is becoming increasingly popular as an important research tool that can no longer be disregarded. Its specific applicability to evaluative research in family therapy is particularly appealing.