A design specifically tailored to include only one participant in the study is known as what?

A design specifically tailored to include only one participant in the study is known as what?

• A. Single participant design
• B. Small n design
• C. True experiment
• D. Group study

Answer: (A)

Single-participant designs focus on one individual and track how that person’s behavior changes over time as an intervention is applied. This approach tailors the study to a single participant, using repeated measurements across baseline and treatment phases to show a clear within-person effect. The emphasis is on observing how the independent variable influences that individual, rather than aggregating data across a group. That’s why “Single participant design” is the best fit. A small-n design involves a few participants but not necessarily just one; a true experiment emphasizes random assignment and control groups; a group study analyzes data from many participants.

Single-participant designs focus on one individual and track how that person’s behavior changes over time as an intervention is applied. This approach tailors the study to a single participant, using repeated measurements across baseline and treatment phases to show a clear within-person effect. The emphasis is on observing how the independent variable influences that individual, rather than aggregating data across a group.

That’s why “Single participant design” is the best fit. A small-n design involves a few participants but not necessarily just one; a true experiment emphasizes random assignment and control groups; a group study analyzes data from many participants.