Statistics for Applied Behavior Analysis Practitioners and Researchers

David J. Cox, Ph.D., M.S.B., BCBA-D currently works as the VP of Data Science at RethinkFirst and is faculty at the Institute for Applied Behavioral Science at Endicott College. Dr. Cox has earned a M.S. in Bioethics from Union Graduate College; a PhD in behavior analysis from the University of Florida; a post-doctoral fellowship at the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and a post-doctoral fellowship at Insight! Data Science. Since 2014, Dr. Cox’s research and applied work has focused on how to effectively leverage technology, quantitative modeling, and artificial intelligence to ethically optimize behavioral health outcomes and clinical decision-making. Based on his individual and collaborative work, he has published 50+ peer-reviewed articles, three books, and 150+ presentations at scientific conferences. Jason C. Vladescu, Ph.D., BCBA-D, NSCP, LBA (NY), is a Founding Partner at The Capstone Center and Professor in the Department of Applied Behavior Analysis at Caldwell University. Jason completed his pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Munroe-Meyer Institute. He has published 80+ peer-reviewed articles and book chapters spanning his research interests in early behavioral intervention for children with autism spectrum and related disorders, increasing the efficiency of academic instruction, staff and caregiver training, equivalence-class formation, and mainstream applications of behavior analysis. Jason is on the Science Board of the Association for Behavior Analysis International; the President-Elect of the New Jersey Association for Behavior Analysis; a member of the Autism Advisory Panel for the New Jersey Department of Education; and is a current or former Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice and Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He currently or previously served on the editorial board for Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, Behavioral Interventions, The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, The Psychological Record, School Psychology, Behavioral Development, and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. He was the 2020 recipient of the APA (Division 25) New Applied Researcher Award.

1. The requisite boring stuff Part I: Defining a statistic and the benefit of numbers 2. The requisite boring stuff Part II: Data types and data distributions 3. How can we describe our data with numbers? Central tendency and point estimates 4. Just how stable is responding? Estimating variability 5. Just how good is my intervention? Statistical significance, effect sizes and social significance 6. Oh, shoot! I forgot about that! Estimating the influence of uncontrolled variables 7. How fast can I get to an answer? Sample size, power, and observing behavior 8. Wait, you mean the clock is always ticking? The unique challenges time adds to statistically analyzing time series data 9. This math and time thing is cool! Time series decomposition and forecasting behavior 10. I suppose I should tell someone about the fun I’ve had: Chapter checklists for thinking, writing, and presenting statistics 11. Through the looking glass: Probability theory, frequentist statistics and Bayesian statistics