ERIC Number: EJ977149
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Sep
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 32
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
Goal Attainment Scaling as an Outcome Measure in Randomized Controlled Trials of Psychosocial Interventions in Autism
Ruble, Lisa; McGrew, John H.; Toland, Michael D.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v42 n9 p1974-1983 Sep 2012
Goal attainment scaling (GAS) holds promise as an idiographic approach for measuring outcomes of psychosocial interventions in community settings. GAS has been criticized for untested assumptions of scaling level (i.e., interval or ordinal), inter-individual equivalence and comparability, and reliability of coding across different behavioral observation methods. We tested assumptions of equality between GAS descriptions for outcome measurement in a randomized trial (i.e., measurability, equidistance, level of difficulty, comparability of behavior samples collected from teachers vs. researchers and live vs. videotape). Results suggest GAS descriptions can be evaluated for equivalency, that teacher collected behavior samples are representative, and that varied sources of behavior samples can be reliably coded. GAS is a promising measurement approach. Recommendations are provided to ensure methodological quality.
Descriptors: Video Technology, Research Methodology, Scaling, Teaching Methods, Autism, Goal Orientation, Intervention, Social Development, Emotional Development, Criticism, Reliability, Outcomes of Treatment, Measurement
Springer. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: service-ny@springer.com; Web site: http://www.springerlink.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers: N/A

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