Methodological issues in group-matching designs: alpha levels for control variable comparisons and measurement characteristics of control and target variables. J Autism Dev Disord 2004 Feb;34(1):7-17
Date
04/22/2004Pubmed ID
15098952DOI
10.1023/b:jadd.0000018069.69562.b8Scopus ID
2-s2.0-1842680818 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 205 CitationsAbstract
Group-matching designs are commonly used to identify the diagnosis-specific characteristics of children with developmental disabilities. In this paper, we address three issues central to the use of this design. The first concerns the alpha level to be used for considering groups to be matched on the control variable(s). The second involves the measurement characteristics of the control and target variables. We discuss the properties of standard scores, raw scores, and age equivalents and argue against the use of age equivalents. In addition, we consider the appropriateness of the commonly made prediction that groups that are matched for a control variable such as language ability or nonverbal reasoning ability but are not matched for chronological age should perform at equivalent levels on the target variable. Finally, we discuss issues related to the interpretation of significant between-group differences on the target variable, assuming groups are well-matched on the control variables, and describe the benefits of a method that focuses on characterizing a disorder on a case-by-case basis and then aggregating the cases, using the measures of sensitivity and specificity from signal detection theory.
Author List
Mervis CB, Klein-Tasman BPAuthor
Bonita Klein-Tasman BA,MA,PhD Professor in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Age FactorsAutistic Disorder
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child Development
Control Groups
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Educational Measurement
Humans
Research Design
Sensitivity and Specificity
Signal Detection, Psychological