The written research proposal will be created based on a narrowly defined aspect of the topic selected in Week One. A research proposal is a detailed plan for a specific study to be conducted at a fut

Experimental Research Study

Heather Yant

PSY 635 Research Design and Methods
Instructor: Mary Kraft

4/1/18

Experimental Research Study

Summary of the experimental research study:

The experimental research study is based on identifying evidence-based, focused intervention practices for children and youth with autism spectrum disorders. The research study will provide intervention and treatments for patients who may be affected by this disorder. The researchers based their preference of interruption on empirical evidence of value. Moreover, the research literature provides sources in identifying intervention and therapy that can promote a beneficial outcome for children, youth, adolescents with ASD and families (Wong, Odom, Hume, Cox, Fettig, Kucharczyk, & Schultz, 2015).

Hypotheses summary:

The hypothesis based on two types of practices that is comprehensive treatments model and focused intervention model. Comprehensive treatments model (CTMs) consists of a set of practice ordered around a conceptual structure. The goals of the model help in achieving broad learning or developmental impact on the core deficits of ASD. Comprehensive treatment model has not been proved to be efficient, but the efficiency of the study is currently in progress (Wong, Odom, Hume, Cox, Fettig, Kucharczyk, & Schultz, 2015). The second model includes focused intervention. This practice addresses the issues of ASD by single skill or goal of a student with ASD. The focused intervention is done through discrete trial teaching, pivot response training, prompting and video modeling. The concentrated intervention is a stepping block of educational and teaching for children, youth and adolescents with ASD.

Sampling strategy

The sampling strategy includes population sampling whereby the research include participant whose age was birth to 22 years of age. The participants having autism spectrum disorders (ASD), autism, Asperger syndrome, pervasive development developmental disorder, pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified or high functioning autism. The participant also included individuals with intellectual disability, and hereditary syndromes such as Retts, fragile X or Down syndrome also incorporated in the research. The individuals incorporated in the study were examined in a study on their behaviors, developmental and education in nature.

The research design:

The research employed experimental group design, quasi-experimental design or SCD to test the effectiveness of focused practices. Besides, the research additional designs used randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental design (QED) or regression discontinuity design (RDD) that compares the experimental /treatments group receiving the intervention. The sample size for research included 38 individual who randomly examined through a controlled trial. The multiple baseline designs applied to a sample size of 183 participants.

Results of the study:

The study expands and enhances on the previous reviews of the published writings conducted five years. The experimental research was useful in examining the impact of a focused intervention. The researcher based their research on features of AS, social communication, and behaviors that challenge these individuals. Attention to play and joint were reported in a substantial number of research in this preliminary study review. School fluency and the pre-academic outcome were also observed in some studies conducted which reflected that the participant used for the research most are in the elementary school age. The research on adult revealed that there was minimal occurrence adolescent with vocational skills and mental health. The research was based on the several studies conducted on adolescents and young adults.

Approximately, twenty-seven studies conducted on children, youth with ASD revealed that the research meets the evidence-based criteria (Wong, Odom, Hume, Cox, Fettig, Kucharczyk, & Schultz, 2015). Evidence-based standards consist of intervention that is fundamentally applied on behavioral analysis, assessments, and analytic techniques that are based on the intervention and combination of primarily behavioral practices used in routine and systematic that fit together as replicable procedures. Several intervention methods were applied such as parent-implemented intervention, peer-mediated intervention, and instruction, technology –aided intervention. The technology supported outcomes of intervention for a student with ASD were categorized differently. The technology-aided instruction included computers aided instruction and speech generating devices.

Evaluation of the experimental research study, threats and Ethics:

The research in this exploratory study focused their research on intervention measures which can be applied children and youths with ASD. The research was based on sampling children and youth below 22 years of age. Several statistical methods applied including regression and the results reveal the majority of the research conducted was based on children. To conclude the experimental study, the researcher faces a variety of limitation, for example, the analysis did not include a study conducted in 1990. The study conducted in 1990 was of more essence and could provide fair practices. The time limit is another challenge because the researchers were not able to do a review of an extensive database which involves a national set of the reviewer.

The research implied the older individual with ASD because it could not identify EBPs (Evidence-based Practices) in adults with ASD (Wong, Odom, Hume, Cox, Fettig, Kucharczyk, & Schultz, 2015). The authors were able to handle some of the threat to research such as biases on research by including only peer review sources which comprises of a variety of knowledge from different scholars. The authors applied ethical principles in the study by adding research conducted by a range of researchers and reviewed by other experts in the field. This action ensures the information presented was accurate and not biased.

Conclusion:

Professionals and teachers can apply the evidence-based approach to improve speech for children and youth with ASD by utilizing technologically aided intervention. The technology aided intervention is comprised of computer-aided instruction and speech generating device. The use of technology is useful in cognitive behavioral intervention, exercise, and imitating script, designed or structured play. The experimental research was useful and could be relied upon by other researchers who need to expand the research on the same. The limitation faced by the researchers includes inadequate time to review the database to have effective and reliable information which can be used as intervention practices for children.

References

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., ... & Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 1951-1966.

Smith, T., & Iadarola, S. (2015). Evidence base update for autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 44(6), 897-922.