What is evidence-based behavior analysis?
Bundle your single-case wins into a manualized program and test the whole package, not just the pieces.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Smith (2013) wrote a position paper, not an experiment.
He argues that single-case studies are too small on their own.
To be evidence-based, he says, we must bundle those tiny wins into full manuals and then test the whole package in group studies.
What they found
The paper finds a gap: lots of single-case data, few full programs.
Without manuals, each BCBA reinvents the wheel and outcomes vary.
How this fits with other research
Han et al. (2025) later did exactly what Tristram asked. Their meta-analysis of 25 manualized ABA programs showed small but real gains in language and daily living skills. The two papers form a before-and-after pair: the 2013 call, the 2025 answer.
Schreck et al. (2016) shows the mess Tristram warned about. In their survey, many BCBAs still pick non-evidence tricks because no manual tells them what to do instead.
Varley et al. (1980) gives the back-story. They found that by the late 70s ABA articles had already drifted into tiny lab tricks and away from real-world packages, setting up the problem Tristram tackles.
Why it matters
Stop treating each procedure as a one-off. Package your best single-case lessons into a step-by-step manual, train staff with it, then track group data. Your agency will speak the same language and your clients get steady care.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although applied behavior analysts often say they engage in evidence-based practice, they express differing views on what constitutes "evidence" and "practice." This article describes a practice as a service offered by a provider to help solve a problem presented by a consumer. Solving most problems (e.g., increasing or decreasing a behavior and maintaining this change) requires multiple intervention procedures (i.e., a package). Single-subject studies are invaluable in investigating individual procedures, but researchers still need to integrate the procedures into a package. The package must be standardized enough for independent providers to replicate yet flexible enough to allow individualization; intervention manuals are the primary technology for achieving this balance. To test whether the package is effective in solving consumers' problems, researchers must evaluate outcomes of the package as a whole, usually in group studies such as randomized controlled trials. From this perspective, establishing an evidence-based practice involves more than analyzing the effects of discrete intervention procedures on behavior; it requires synthesizing information so as to offer thorough solutions to problems. Recognizing the need for synthesis offers behavior analysts many promising opportunities to build on their existing research to increase the quality and quantity of evidence-based practices.
The Behavior analyst, 2013 · doi:10.1007/BF03392290