Case Study

Based on the concept of a multiple-baseline design across behaviors, design a specific implementation plan for this study and justify how you would conclude whether the app is effective.

Case context: A researcher wants to evaluate the effectiveness of a new scheduling app on a college student's academic behaviors: studying for exams and completing homework assignments. They decide to use a multiple-baseline design across behaviors.

Question: Based on the concept of a multiple-baseline design across behaviors, design a specific implementation plan for this study and justify how you would conclude whether the app is effective.

Sample answer: The researcher should first measure the amount of time the student spends studying for exams and completing homework assignments without the app to establish baselines. Next, the researcher should introduce the scheduling app exclusively for the studying behavior, continuing to monitor both behaviors. After some time, the app should be introduced for the homework behavior as well. If the time spent studying increases only when the app is used for studying, and the time spent completing homework increases only when the app is used for homework, the researcher can justify concluding that the app caused the improvement.

Key points:

  • Measure baseline time spent on both studying and homework.
  • Introduce the scheduling app for studying while keeping homework at baseline.
  • Introduce the scheduling app for homework at a later time.
  • Conclude effectiveness if improvement on each behavior only occurs following the introduction of the app for that specific behavior.

Rubric: The response must apply the multiple-baseline design across behaviors to the new scenario, detailing the baseline phase, staggered intervention, and the specific pattern of results needed to infer causality.

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Updated 2026-05-27

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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