Tom Sharpe teaches at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He draws from varied experiences and settings: teaching at public and private schools, coaching, and education and social science work at Research Institutions. Trained at a leading behavior analysis program (West Virginia University), he has pursued academic work in observational methods as applied to education and the social sciences and in related computer-based tool development. He has authored over 75 refereed articles and book chapters and additionally contributes to the principles and practice of applied behavior analysis through conference and workshop presentations and consulting activities.
This book provides a step-by-step approach to the principles and practices of direct observation and behaviour analysis research and evaluation procedures. Emphasis is on computer-facilitated methods designed to collect and analyze both the multiple characteristics of behaviour and events of interest and the time-based or sequential characteristics of behaviour and event relationships. Particularly designed for highly interactive applied settings, the methods and procedures outlined are presented in an introductory manner that should, nonetheless, still prove relevant to advanced students and seasoned researchers across the social and behavioural sciences and education. The text includes background and philosophy of applied behaviour analysis methodology, procedures for observation system construction and recommendations for handling reliability and treatment fidelity issues, a variety of data recording methods and research design types, graph preparation and visual and statistical discrete and sequential data analysis procedures, and an overview of recommended research, evaluation, and instructional applications for education, psychology and social science settings. The book contains references to software resources, including the BEST and BESTPCC data collection and analysis package developed by the authors, highlighting technological innovations in methods for this field. BEST is distributed by Scolari, the software division of SAGE Publications (www.scolari.co.uk).
