A Capstone Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Master of Healthcare Administration
KAPLAN UNIVERSITY
Method
This particular section will be devoted to analyzing and discussing the methods used for the overall project. Correspondingly, the purpose of this section is to discuss the methods of the research along with its appropriateness, its population, data collection and its further analysis. Just like it has been mentioned in the previous sections, the three main research concepts for the discussion are the effectiveness of ABA intensive measures in therapy treatment, the relation of the application of these measures with the development of social and personal characteristics related to understanding the adulthood for the effective social interactions and the policy implications resulted from the research on effectiveness of ABA measures for children diagnosed with autism.
Research Method and Design Appropriateness
Nowadays it appears obvious that a scholarly study or a research appears to be a popular but complicated instrument for gathering, analyzing and further reporting the corresponding information. Moreover, it is also undeniable that the large number of studies that has been completed and published so far demonstrates the great variety of methods and procedures implemented for each particular study correspondingly to a specific topic and research questions. Consequently, such variety creates additional challenges to establish reliable information background and research database on a necessary topic within a particular field of study. What is more important in this regard, such difficulty for the researchers to represent similar results to the results of their colleagues conducting similar studies leads to inadequate and sometimes insufficient presentation of the necessary results. Therefore, the related publications are necessary to become continuously updated and complemented with new improved results, which potentially enhances the adequateness of them, as a result (Ioannidis, Boyack & Klavans, 2014).
In this regard, continuous quantitative studies appear to be more than appropriate to study the effectiveness of ABA methods in treating the children diagnosed with autism. Correspondingly, it appears logical that the majority of related studies are based on the results of corresponding questionnaires and interviews completed by the children, their parents and their therapists. Such method can be considered as appropriate and adequate, as it has proved its benefits in various publications mentioned in the Literature Review section.
Population
The population of the current study has been widely defined as the children diagnosed with autism, receiving ABA-based and non-ABA-based treatment. The researched studies specifically chosen for this project tend to provide a global description of the questions and issues related to this topic, as the related studies have been gathered from the scholarly publications of United States, Canada, Western Europe and Australia. Such global scope of the current research explicitly highlights the importance of studying the effects ABA-based practices. In addition, these practices are not generally limited to a particular nation and/or social and healthcare system, as the problem of autism in children is worldwide and the ABA-based treatment is being continuously researched and studied on a global level, as well.
Sampling Frame
The sampling frame for the current study focuses the search radius within the schools and special education centers, where the children diagnosed with autism may receive education and corresponding ABA-based treatment. The majority of studies specified in the current project are particularly focusing on children diagnosed with autism of a particular age and level of IQ compared with children that have no abnormalities in their development (Peters-Scheffer, Didden, Mulders & Korzilius, 2010). In addition, the researches and studies are particularly focusing on the parents of autistic children in order to consult and train them in terms of development of their children. The last group of people remains of the highest importance due to the fact that the relationships with parents tend to significantly adjust the behavior of children diagnosed with autism resulting in gradual improvement of their status (Remington et al., 2007).
Data Collection
The collection of data for the current study has been conducted from quantitative information related to the topic. The majority of publications offered in the Literature Review section discuss the exact number of children being reviewed and analyzed along with exact percentages of children showing either no response to ABA-based treatment or some level of response instead. The exact figures related to this subject emphasize on the importance of explicitness of study and its corresponding results. With the exact outcomes and percentages of treatment’s success, further improvements in ABA-based treatment could be made, as a result.
Data Analysis
The quantitative data gathered and analyzed in terms of the current research proves the increasing effectiveness of ABA-based therapies due to the fact that they appear to be continuously updated and improved. One of the latest improvements made in this perspective is the inevitable role of parents and home treatment provided to their children. In this regard, the combination of ABA-based treatment administered by the parents shows more than promising results. However, there is still significant research required in order to provide the specialists and parents with exact figures related to the success of treatment and its potential results.
References
Ioannidis, J., Boyack, K., & Klavans, R. (2014). Estimates of the Continuously Publishing Core in the Scientific Workforce. Plos ONE, 9(7), e101698. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101698
Peters-Scheffer, N., Didden, R., Mulders, M., & Korzilius, H. (2010). Low intensity behavioral treatment supplementing preschool services for young children with autism spectrum disorders and severe to mild intellectual disability. Research In Developmental Disabilities, 31(6), 1678-1684. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2010.04.008
Remington, B., Hastings, R., Kovshoff, H., degli Espinosa, F., Jahr, E., & Brown, T. et al. (2007). Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention: Outcomes for Children With Autism and Their Parents After Two Years. American Journal On Mental Retardation, 112(6), 418. http://dx.doi.org/10.1352/0895-8017(2007)112[418:eibiof]2.0.co;2
