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Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses of Single-subject Experimental Designs (SSEDs)

About the Webcast

The webcast will highlight the rationale for and potential contributions of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of SSEDs, and discuss issues related to how syntheses of SSEDs differ from traditional systematic reviews and meta-analyses. SSEDs typically rely on within-subject experimental controls and use of time series data to establish the effectiveness of an intervention (Kennedy, 2005). The adoption of evidence-based practice (EBP) in disability, health care and rehabilitation fields demands that practitioners do not rely on any one individual study but rather the aggregated evidence from a synthesis of studies using SSEDs. In EBP, systematic reviews and meta-analysis of SSEDs constitute one of the most persuasive forms of scientific evidence (Schlosser, 2003). Analog to the meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (Sackett et al., 2000), meta-analyses of SSEDs rank higher on evidence hierarchies than an individual SSED (Schlosser & Raghavendra, 2004). The presenters recently conducted a workshop on this topic, sponsored by the NCDDR.

This webcast is supported through the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR), which is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) in the U.S. Department of Education, and is supported in part by ILRU. The opinions and views expressed are those of the presenters and no endorsement by the funding agency should be inferred.

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