What are methodological issues of research methodology?
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Research on educational interventions for young children with autism should inform consumers, policy makers, and scientists about practices that produce positive outcomes for children and families. Ultimately, such research should be able to demonstrate that there is a causal relationship between an educational intervention and immediate or long-term changes that occur in development, behavior, social relationships, and normative life circumstances. A primary goal of early intervention research is to determine the types of practices that are most effective for children with specific characteristics (Guralnick, 1997).
If young children with autistic spectrum disorders were homogeneous in intelligence, behavior, and family circumstances, and if researchers and educators could apply a uniform amount of treatment in nearly identical settings and life circumstances, then a standard, randomizedgroup, clinical-trial research design could be employed to provide unequivocal answers to questions about treatments and outcomes. However, the characteristics of young children with autistic spectrum disorders and their life circumstances are exceedingly heterogeneous in nature. This heterogeneity creates substantial problems when scientists attempt to use standard research methodology to address questions about the effectiveness of educational treatments for young children with autistic spectrum disorders.
In this chapter we examine a range of issues related to research designs and methodologies. We begin by discussing the different research literatures that could inform early intervention research but which currently are relatively independent. We then consider a range of method-
Integrity and ethical issues play a role throughout all phases of clinical research. ... Second, in conducting research, ethical aspects often play a role in specifying the question, designing the study, consent methods, statistical methodology, and interpretation of the results.