Effect size in clinical phonology

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to motivate the use of effect size (ES) for single-subject research in clinical phonology, with an eye towards meta-analyses of treatment effects for children with phonological disorders. Standard mean difference (SMD) is introduced and illustrated as one ES well suited to the multiple baseline (MBL) design and evaluation of generalization learning, both of which are key to experimental studies in clinical phonology.

• phonological treatment
• generalization
• evidence-based practice
• meta-analysis

Acknowledgement

We applaud Martin Ball for his encouragement of interdisciplinary theoretical study of clinical populations and his reception to innovations that break new ground in understanding language structure, acquisition and breakdown.

Declaration of interest: This research was supported in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (DC001694) awarded to Indiana University. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.