Single-case experimental designs are rapidly growing in popularity. This popularity needs to be accompanied by transparent and well-justified methodological and statistical decisions. Appropriate experimental design including randomization, proper data handling and adequate reporting are needed to ensure reproducibility and internal validity. The degree of generalizability can be assessed through replication.
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Acknowledgements
R.T. and J.W.S.V. disclose support for the research of this work from the Dutch Research Council and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (NWO gravitation grant number 024.004.016) within the research project ‘New Science of Mental Disorders’ (www.nsmd.eu). R.M. discloses support from the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Agència de Gestió d’Ajusts Universitaris i de Recerca (grant number 2021SGR00366).
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Tanious, R., Manolov, R., Onghena, P. et al. Single-case experimental designs: the importance of randomization and replication. Nat Rev Methods Primers 4, 27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-024-00312-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-024-00312-8
