Formal Report Proposal – Improving Data Collection Accuracy at Fairview Behaviour Consulting Inc.

To: Dr. Erika Paterson

From: Cheryl Chao 

Date: Oct 11th, 2019

Subject: Proposal for Improving Data Collection Accuracy at Fairview Behaviour Consulting Inc.

Introduction

Fairview Behaviour Consulting Inc. is an incorporation that is run by a directing behaviour consultant Ms. Pun. It supports clients diagnosed with Autism. Ms. Pun is a behaviour consultant that designs goals to improve behaviour and she employs behaviour interventionists to support clients on a day-to-day basis. A behaviour interventionist is someone that works with children with Autism and they attempt to correct unexpected behaviour through free play. Unexpected behaviours are different for every child and it can range from social, emotional to academic behaviours. To address these unexpected behaviours, goals are set to decrease these behaviours. Each child typically has a team that consists of a behaviour consultant and 2-3 behaviour interventionists. 

Statement of Problem

An issue I have noticed is that data collection is not very accurate. This is because a child often has 2-3 behaviour interventionists and each interventionist may have slightly different methods of presenting the goal and may have different judgements. As sessions are run individually, It becomes an issue when the whole team gathers for a meeting (which usually happens monthly) and notices that the child is consistently getting correct data trials with one interventionist or incorrect data trials with one interventionist. 

Proposed Solution

Although there are team meetings, a lot of the information is exchanged offline and not very interactive. Therefore, my proposed solution would be to have an online folder (with passwords to ensure confidentiality) for each client that explains each goal and instructions for how it is expected to run as well as an online daily log that summarizes of each session, specifically unsuccessful parts of the session. In addition, I propose behaviour interventionists deliver trials based on the updated goals during the team meeting instead of watching consultant’s demonstration and to film videos of their session. Sometimes newer interventionists may not be able to present goals the same away even when shown a demonstration. That way, immediate feedback could be given to increase the mutual understanding of correct trial judgements. This could also eliminate ineffective styles that newer interventionists may use to carry out the goals.

Scope

To reach my proposed solution, I will these questions to guide my progress:

• Are parents willing to have their children’s information be shared online?
• What do behaviour interventionists think about the idea of filming their sessions?
• What other factors contribute to inaccurate data collection? (such as difficulties in gathering data)
• What do behaviour interventionists think about losing freedom in choosing their intervention style?
• Is it manageable to have additional components (filming, daily logs and practice trials) added to the sessions? 

Methods

In terms of data collection, I will be mainly conducting surveys and interviews. I will conduct surveys on parents and co-workers and conducting an interview with Ms. Pan. Hopefully I could get an insight on what parents and co-workers think of my proposed solution. Specifically, on whether most parents are willing to give consent to sharing their child’s information online and whether my co-workers are willing to film and having more structured sessions. I will ask Ms. Pan whether it is possible to implement these changes and what are some potential challenges with my proposed solution.

My Qualifications

I am currently a fourth year psychology student therefore I have taken classes about conducting research and creating good questions for unbiased results. I have learnt about various sampling methods and have had experience in using various sampling methods for research. Furthermore, I have been a behaviour interventionist with Ms. Pun for over a year so I am familiar with session structures and where to seek for resources needed for this report.  

Conclusion

There are many problems that could decrease the efficiency of the therapy sessions and as a behaviour interventionist, I have noticed that data collection is an important area of improvement. By addressing the five questions above, I shall have insight as to whether my proposed solution would be a plausible change. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.