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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Dec 1.
Published in final edited form as: Psychol Methods. 2012 Jul 30;17(4):10.1037/a0029312. doi: 10.1037/a0029312

Table 4.

Measurement and Assessment Standards and Guidelines

What Works Clearinghouse APA Division 12 Task Force on Psychological Interventions APA Division 16 Task Force on Evidence-Based Interventions in School Psychology National Reading Panel The Single-Case Experimental Design Scale (Tate et al., 2008) Ecological Momentary Assessment (Stone & Shiffman, 2002)
1. Dependent variable (DV)
 Selection of DV N/A ≥ 3 clinically important behaviors that are relatively independent Outcome measures that produce reliable scores (validity of measure reported) Standardized or investigator-constructed outcomes measures (report reliability) Measure behaviors that are the target of the intervention Determined by research question(s)
 Assessor(s)/reporter(s) More than one (self-report not acceptable) N/A Multisource (not always applicable) N/A Independent (implied minimum of 2) Determined by research question(s)
 Interrater reliability On at least 20% of the data in each phase and in each condition

Must meet minimal established thresholds		 N/A N/A N/A Interrater reliability is reported N/A
 Method(s) of measurement/assessment N/A N/A Multimethod (e.g., at least 2 assessment methods to evaluate primary outcomes; not always applicable) Quantitative or qualitative measure N/A Description of prompting, recording, participant-initiated entries, data acquisition interface (e.g., diary)
 Interval of assessment Must be measured repeatedly over time (no minimum specified) within and across different conditions and levels of the IV N/A N/A List time points when dependent measures were assessed Sampling of the targeted behavior (i.e., DV) occurs during the treatment period Density and schedule are reported and consistent with addressing research question(s)

Define “immediate and timely response”
 Other guidelines Raw data record provided (represent the variability of the target behavior)
2. Baseline measurement (see also Research Design Standards in Table 3) Minimum of 3 data points across multiple phases of a reversal or multiple baseline design; 5 data points in each phase for highest rating

1 or 2 data points can be sufficient in alternating treatment designs		 Minimum of 3 data points (to establish a linear trend)

  1. Minimum of 3 data points (more is preferred)

  2. Stability (limited variability)

  3. Absence of overlap between baseline and other phases

  4. Level (severe enough to warrant intervention)

  5. Absence of trends

 No minimum specified No minimum (“sufficient sampling of behavior [i.e., DV] occurred pretreatment”) N/A
3. Compliance and missing data guidelines N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Rationale for compliance decisions, rates reported, missing data criteria and actions