Children, Research, and Public Policy
Establishing Interventions via a Theory-Driven Single Case Design Research Cycle
Stephen P. Kilgus and
T. Chris Riley-Tillman
University of Missouri
Thomas R. Kratochwill
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Correspondence concerning this article should be sent to Stephen P. Kilgus, PhD,
Department of Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65203
; e-mail:
Stephen P. Kilgus, PhD, is an assistant professor of school psychology at the University of Missouri. His primary research interests pertain to social–emotional and behavioral assessment and intervention. Of particular interest is the validation of universal screening and problem analysis tools, as well as the development of Tier 2 interventions. Dr. Kilgus currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of School Psychology. He received the Lightner Witmer Award for early career scholarship from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association.
T. Chris Riley-Tillman, PhD, is a professor of school psychology and chair of the Department of Educational, School & Counseling Psychology at the University of Missouri. Dr. Riley-Tillman is a recognized authority in evidence-based practice in schools. He is the creator and lead developer of the Evidence Based Intervention Network, the editor of the Practical Interventions in Schools book series for Guilford Press, and a senior adviser for the National Center for Intensive Intervention.
Thomas R. Kratochwill, PhD, is Sears Roebuck Foundation-Bascom Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, director of the School Psychology Program, and a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin. His research interests include problem-solving consultation, transportability of evidence-based interventions to practice, and single case research design and data analysis.
Associate Editor: Matthew Burns
Recent studies have suggested single case design (SCD) intervention research is subject to publication bias, wherein studies are more likely to be published if they possess large or statistically significant effects and use rigorous experimental methods. The nature of SCD and the purposes for which it might be used could suggest that large effects and rigorous methods should not always be expected. The purpose of the current paper is to propose and describe a theory-driven cycle of SCD intervention research. The proposed SCD-specific cycle serves several purposes including (a) defining the purposes for which SCD research might be adopted, (b) specifying the types of evidence to be collected in establishing an intervention for applied use, and (c) illustrating the phases of SCD-based intervention research (i.e., development, efficacy, effectiveness, contextualization, and implementation). The proposed model is intended to serve as an intermediary between theory and research, facilitating the consideration of theory-driven expectations when selecting particular SCDs (e.g., reversal, multiple baseline) and interpreting SCD data. Next steps and future directions for research are included.
Received: December 8, 2015; Accepted: February 13, 2016;
Copyright 2016 by the National Association of School Psychologists
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