ABSTRACT
The experimental-clinical method requires the use of experimental designs in routine clinical practice. The critical elements of an experimental procedure are the measurement of dependent variables and the systematic presentation of independent variables. Pure behavioral research provides the guidelines for measurement and design in experimental-clinical studies but, unfortunately, fails to answer many of the specific questions which arise in making practical application. ·
Idiographic studies, as described in Chapter 1, present difficult measurement and design problems. The measurement procedures and experimental designs that have proven highly satisfactory for nomothetic or laboratory studies often appear irrelevant for idiographic research. The naturalistic setting of experimental-clinical studies rarely permits the precisely mechanized measurement that is possible in the laboratory. Favorite laboratory forms of experimental control rely upon pools of subjects randomly assigned to different treatment conditions. Idiographic experiments, however, require the use of subjects as their own controls. Thus, idiographic and naturalistic aspects of experimental-clinical studies require many innovations in measurement and design.
