A Time Series Design-Peer Responses

·         Response Guidelines

Respond to the posts of two peers, clarifying or expanding the discussion. Consider addressing your feelings about conducting time series research in your current or future work. Each peer response needs to be supported with two references

A Time Series Design-Peer responses

1st Peer post

The single subject research approach is the practice of taking a single client or person, and a group or larger population and condensing that research or treatment into one entity, so that it can reflect the whole  (Foster, 2010) . A simple was to explain it would for example hanging an obscure painting in a reception area, and see how many people notice it, then after time turn it upside down and see if there is a change and look at the results. The constant in single subject research is that it is systematic, repeated, and happens many times, so that it has a basis to work with, and a longevity to the research. There is no formal control group, but there is an experimental control of behavior, time, and intervention  (Foster, 2010) .

There are many designs associated with the single research approach, form A-B-A, to A-B-A-B, B-A-B, and A-B-C-D, all have different approaches, and different ways that the outcome is examined, injecting duel baselines, changes, different outcomes, there are many ways to approach this type of research, and how far down the research path the counselor wishes to go  (Foster, 2010) . The one approach that will be concentrated on is the A-B-A approach since that is the approach the journal article took when the research was conducted.

A-B-A design is an add on to the A-B design in which there is an additional baseline or component added to the time period research  (Foster, 2010) . The second baseline is research that looks at the outcome to see if there is a difference in the results, it is expected to be similar, but the outcome may be different, is allows for a more effective research approach and more data to be injected into the research project.

The Swiss Army may after their service purchase tier firearms that they had in the service and take them home. After passing a law that did not enable a Swiss soldier to purchase their service rifle there was a significant drop in the amount of suicides from Soldiers in the Swiss Army  (Reisch, Steffen, Habenstein, & Tschacher, 2013) . This was depicted in a single subject research that utilized the A-B-A design, taking all the service members and counting them as a whole, then taking the data through the years, then doing a second single subject research and looking at the results. The results for this article were really easy to read, and the results over a 13-year period were easy to read and understand. After the Swiss Army took away the ability to take their service rifle home there was a decrease of 22 percent after the new policy went into effect  (Reisch, Steffen, Habenstein, & Tschacher, 2013) t.

The effectiveness of this type of research can have a lot of advantages, and could be put into the counseling sessions as a part of the session, the drawback so that it could client may know they are being observed and act different according to this standard, putting themselves in a better light and the real actions may not be noted  (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010) . If the counselor wants to conduct this research on a client, and informed consent needs to be addressed with the client, and if the data is obtained, the counselor can’t just let the client go if there is harm that can be done with a withdraw of counseling services  (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010) . This type of research can also enhance the counseling session by giving the client some accountability, and maybe some homework for the next session.

References

Foster, L. (2010). A Best Kept Secret: Single-Subject Research Design in Counseling. Counseling Outcome Research abd Evaluation, 30-39.

Reisch, T., Steffen, T., Habenstein, A., & Tschacher, W. (2013). hange in Suicide Rates in Switzerland Before Firearm Restiction Results From the 2003 "Army XXI" Reform. AM J Psychiatry, 977-984.

Sheperis, C., Young, S., & Daniels, H. (2010). Counseling Research. Hoboken: Parsons Learning Solutions.

2nd Peet post

A Time Series Design

For this discussion, the study attempts to track the frequency of a client’s smoking habits. The client can benefit from this study through awareness of how frequently he/she is smokes a cigarette. The counselor will employ an intervention to measure for reduction in the use of cigarettes. The AB intervention model will be used to determine the effectiveness of this treatment.

The simple phase change model or AB design is the simplest method for determining the impact of an intervention (Sheperis, 2009). To measure the behavior before intervention, the client would record the dates and times of day he/she smoked a cigarette over a period of three weeks. Once all the data from that period time is collected and evaluated clients will attempt to replace as many smoke breaks with nicotine gum and a 15-minute telephone to a family or friend who will support their attempt to quit to discuss a non-stressful topic for three weeks. The target behavior will then be measure then recorded for frequency post intervention.

According to the American Counseling Association code of ethics (2014), Section G.1.3 states counselors are responsible for their clients’ welfare throughout the research process and should take reasonable precautions to avoid causing emotional, physical, or social harm to participants.  The code of ethics also states in section G.2.a that clients have the right to decline request to become research participants and consent must use language that accurately explains the purpose, risks, benefits, changes, alternative procedures, answer inquiries, and limitations to confidentiality.

Time series designs are important to the profession of counseling because it provides a source of reliability from evidence based research over a period of time. Time series designs also offer confidence that any change in the behavior is due to the treatment and intervention, not the variable (Sheperis, 2009).

                                                                                     References

American Counseling Association. (n.d.). Ethics and professional standards. Retrieved from http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics

Sheperis, Carl J., J. Young, M. D. (2009).Current View: US Counseling Research: Quantitative, Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. Pearson Learning Solutions,  VitalBook file.