Special education assistance for children with autism

Need 250-400 word for each part in APA format required. Scholarly peer-reviewed references required within the last five years.Books from Google Scholar are not considered as peer-reviewed material. Core Designs document is attached.

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Part 1

Suppose you are interested in how children with severe autism experienced the receipt of special education assistance in public schools. This population is characterized by underdevelopment of social cognition, social skills, and language skills. What is the best method for collecting data to answer your research question? Why is this method best? How would you describe the research design?

Part 2

Suppose you are interested in how children with severe autism experienced the receipt of special education assistance in public schools. This population is characterized by underdevelopment of social cognition, social skills, and language skills. How many children should be included in the study? Why? What are the factors considered in making this determination?

Core Quantitative Designs
Design		Description	General Requirements
Experimental Designed to demonstrate unambiguous cause-and-effect relationship between variables		Determines if there is an effect/outcome of some form of treatment(s) using random assignment of subjects to treatment and control groups. Includes a manipulation of an independent variable to determine its effects	· Two or more equivalent groups to receive one or more treatments and a control group · Random assignment of subjects to each of the groups · Standardization of all aspects of research procedures employed to ensure conditions are the same for all participants (i.e. the control for all variables other than the manipulated variable) · Conducted with rigorous control with clearly defined treatments · Categorical independent variables and interval or ratio level dependent variables
Quasi-experimental Designed to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationship between variables. Does not meet all requirements of an experimental design, thus cannot produce an unambiguous cause-and-effect explanation.		Determines if there is an effect/outcome of some form of treatment(s) using pre-existing groups of subjects assigned to treatment and control groups	· Two or more nearly-equivalent groups to receive one or more treatments and a control group · Typically no random assignment -participants are in pre-existing groups or groups that are naturally formed · Inclusion of participants in the control or treatment group is determined by conditions beyond the control of the researcher · Conducted with similar rigor and control as experimental studies with clearly defined treatments · Requires categorical independent variables and interval or ratio level dependent variables · Design contains a confounding variable or factor that prevents the research from obtaining an absolute cause-and-effect answer
Non –Experimental Attempts to demonstrate associative relationships between variables but does not attempt to produce an unambiguous cause and effect explanation.	Descriptive *(Survey)*	Describes the opinions, attitudes, or trends of a population numerically	· Provides a description of individual variables but not concerned with the relationship between variables · Uses a process of surveying a sample to generalize to the population · Research may be longitudinal or cross-sectional · Returned sample should be hundreds or thousands of surveys in order to generalize to the population · Requires at least ordinal or interval level variables · Could also be classified as qualitative descriptive depending on the design and collected data
	Correlational	Determines if there is a relationship between two or more variables on a single group of participants with the intent of predicting or defining a relationship	· Observes relationships between variables in a naturally occurring setting. · Includes two or more variables that can be measured quantitatively · Valid approaches to data collection such as validated surveys or databases · There is a theoretical or logical explanation that can be used to predict a correlation · Requires ordinal or interval level data for variables of interest · Variables should not or cannot be manipulated · Could also be a quasi-experimental study if designed as such
	Causal Comparative	Determines the causes of differences that already exist between or within two or more groups on two or more variables	· Identify one or more groups that serve as independent variable · Define the dependent variable on which the groups will be compared · Requires at least one categorical variable and ordinal or interval level dependent variables · Select sample groups that are as homogeneous as possible · Could also be a quasi-experimental study if designed as such

Core Qualitative Designs
Design		Description	General Requirements
Qualitative descriptive	A relatively simple phenomenon is described		· Does not clearly fit into one of the other designs · Phenomenon has been clearly defined · Uses two forms of qualitative data collection (typically, interviews a minimum of 15, and may use a second form of data collection such as field notes or questionnaires.
Phenomenology	The essence of a “lived” experiences described by the participants who experienced them are synthesized to describe the phenomenon (from philosophy and psychology)		· Phenomenon has been defined to be a “lived” experience and focuses on how the participants find those experiences to be meaningful. Participants must have an experience in common, such as experiencing the death of a child, or living with cancer. · Sample has to have the experience in common · Focus is on the meaning and description the sample makes of the experience. Must be able to deal with emotional reactions. · Reality will be the described phenomenon that results from a conscious experience · In-depth interviews are the primary data collection tool, but may use two forms of qualitative data collection (typically 10-15 in-depth interviews); may use essays or other reflective processes); researcher needs to make detailed field notes following each interview
Narrative	Stories are told by the participants in an interactive fashion with the researcher with the intent of creating a unified narrative or story that describes or explains a life episode (from humanities)		· Phenomenon is defined as a story of an event which will be better understood including causality and relationships · Typically uses in-depth interactive interviews with 8-12 individuals who are telling “their individual story” · May use other story-telling techniques such as creating timelines of events, etc.
Case Study	An in-depth analysis of a one or more cases which can be a process, program, activity, city event, or person, using a number of data collection approaches (from business)		· Phenomenon is defined as a process, program, activity, city event, or person studied over a specified time period, which is analyzed · Three to five sources of data (forms of data collection) realize triangulation and depth of analysis · May include both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. · A multi-case study may include up to 10 cases · Typically includes focus groups/interviews with 5 to 15 individuals, and may include observations, document collection, and/or additional forms of data collection
Grounded Theory	A theory or model is developed to describe the phenomenon as a concept, process, interactions, components, or actions (from sociology)		· A theory or model is developed to describe the phenomenon · Involves multiple stages of collecting data often using multiple approaches and multiple groups · Typically includes iterative interviews, observations, document collection, and questionnaires with various groups. Data are collected until saturation is achieved, denoting lengthy periods of time in the field. · May include both qualitative as well as quantitative data collection and analysis. · Typically includes collecting a large volume of data either by larger samples or repeated (iterative) collection from individuals.

• Research designs can be considered along a continuum.

• Different approaches or sub-designs are possible for each methodology/design.

• Classification of experimental or quasi-experimental or non-experimental depends how the study is designed. For example, correlational or causal comparative research could be classified as quasi-experimental, if the study is designed as such.

• GCU does not recommend using traditional mixed methods because of the extra time and skill development required for this methodological approach.

• GCU does not support action research because of timing and theoretical foundation issues; a case study of an action research project may be recommended as an alternative.

Reference List

Babbie, E. (2013). The practice of social research (13^thed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Charmaz, K. (2011). Constructing grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing.

Creswell, J. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4^thed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Frost, N. (2011). Qualitative research methods in psychology: From core to combined approaches. New York, NY: Open University Press, McGraw Hill Education.

Gravetter. F.J. & Forzano, L.B. (2009). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (4^thed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Ranjit, K. (2014). Research methodology: A step by step guide for beginners (3^rded.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Yin, R.K. (2011). Qualitative research from start to finish. New York, NY: Guilford Press.