Newsletter
Volume 30 | 2007| Number 2
Evidence-Based Practice
By Dr. Ronnie Detrich
The Evidence-Based Practice SIG is one of the newest of the ABA special interest groups. At first blush, a special interest group for evidence-based practice within ABA seems to be redundant at best and unnecessary at worst. After all, ABA has always placed great emphasis on evidence as the best means for evaluating effects of interventions; however, there are larger issues at play that make the Evidence-Based Practice SIG especially timely. Even though behavior analysts have always given primacy to data in evaluating the impact of their interventions, the larger movement of evidence-based practice does not give great weight to single subject research as a means for establishing an evidence-base for interventions. Most published standards of evidence give clear superiority to randomized clinical trials and relegate single subject research to a much lower status in the hierarchy of evidence. Within the field of behavior analysis, there has been little discussion of standards for using single subject research for establishing an evidence-base. One of the primary functions of the Evidence-Based Practice SIG is to identify appropriate methods for evaluating evidence developed from single subject methods and to promote those methods both within ABA and in the larger context of the evidence-based practice movement.
Evidence-based practice is more than establishing an evidence-base for effective interventions. It is also necessary to address issues of dissemination, implementation, and sustainability of effective interventions. It is important to get the research on interventions into the hands of policy-makers and practice level decision-makers in a format that is useful to them. In most cases, publication in scholarly journals is not the most effective means of dissemination to this audience. A second function of the SIG would be to promote activities, papers, and symposia within ABA that address issues of large scale implementation of evidence-based practices and building systems so that these interventions are sustainable with existing organizational resources.
The evidence-based practice movement is spreading across disciplines and will impact all behavior analysts. One of the most important goals of this SIG is to assure that the power of behavioral interventions is recognized and valued by the larger professional community. Many other professional organizations are establishing positions regarding evidence-based practice and the standards of evidence by which interventions will be judged. It is important that behavior analysts have a voice in these discussions to assure that behavioral interventions are represented in the evidence-base.
To accomplish the objectives, it is important to have a membership that is committed to working toward the goals of the organization. All interested parties are welcome and invited.