Affiliations: University of Hawai'i, Department of Special
Education, Honolulu, HI, USA | Kent State University, Center for Disability Studies,
Kent, OH, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dennis McDougall, Associate
Professor of Special Education, University of Hawai'i, Department of Special
Education, 124 Wist Hall, 1776 University Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
Tel.: +1 808 956 9200; Fax: +1 808 956 4345; E-mail: mcdougal@hawaii.edu
Abstract: This article describes two recent innovations in small-N research
design and illustrates how these novel designs apply to research in vocational
rehabilitation. The first innovation, the range-bound changing criterion
design, is nearly identical to the classic changing criterion except that the
former design utilizes a range criterion – that is, an upper and lower
limit – instead of a single-point criterion. The second design
innovation, the distributed criterion design, incorporates elements of the
multiple baseline, reversal, and changing criterion designs. It is well suited
to investigations where participants allocate time for multiple tasks and
adjust their performance in response to changing environmental demands. By
introducing these two recent innovations, this article expands options
available to rehabilitation researchers who use small-N research designs.
