Question

Suppose you are interested in how children with severe autism experienced the receipt of special education assistance in public schools. This population is characterized by underdevelopment of social cognition, social skills, and language skills. What is the best method for collecting data to answer your research question? Why is this method best? How would you describe the research design?

Answer 1

For this study, an experimental approach with a pretest-posttest design can be used. Such designs compare participant groups and measure the degree of change occurring as a result of treatments or interventions. In this case, data with respect to the children’s performance on social cognitive, social skills and language skills can be collected before the special education assistance is provided. This data can be collected after the assistance is provided as well. Comparing the pre-intervention and post-intervention scores would allow us to trace if any measurable progress is made.