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

## TL;DR

This tutorial reviews free online tools to help researchers analyze data from single-case experiments and determine if an intervention has a causal effect.

## Contribution

The paper introduces and evaluates freely accessible software tools for analyzing single-case experimental designs without requiring additional installations.

## Key findings

- Free websites can provide graphical data representations and quantifications for single-case experimental designs.
- The tutorial outlines data analytical steps for assessing functional relations and evaluating effect consistency.
- Real data examples demonstrate how to interpret outputs from the reviewed software.

## Abstract

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.