A tutorial for software options to aid in assessing functional relations in single-case experimental designs

Single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) can be used for identifying effective interventions via the intensive study of one or a few individuals in different conditions, actively manipulated by the researcher. The assessment of SCED data entails both judging whether there is sufficient evidence of a functional relation (i.e., a causal effect of the intervention on the target behavior) and quantifying the magnitude of the effect. In the current text, the focus is on assessing the presence of a functional relation, considering all the attempts to demonstrate an effect that SCEDs include. Specifically, the aim is to review several freely available websites, which require no additional software to be installed, and offer graphical representations of the data, visual aids, and quantifications. Several data analytical steps are outlined for performing the assessment, both dealing with each basic effect separately and evaluating the consistency of effects. Software that is useful for carrying out these steps is reviewed, including the way in which the data files should be specified and the few clicks required by applied researchers to achieve the desired output. The interpretations of the output are illustrated with real data.