Clinical Research Methodology in Evaluating the Therapeutic Process

Abstract

Clinical speech pathologists are becoming increasingly aware of the need to define the therapy process and document more carefully the behavioral changes which occur during therapy or as a result of it. The recent work of Shelton and his associates (2, 3, 7) has provided information concerning the influence of therapy in modifying behavior, the effects of general and specific reward responses on articulation behavior, and the difficulties involved in evaluating articulation improvement by means of articulation tests. In the area of cleft palate most of the research has dealt with the diagnosis and description of the speech of individuals with clefts, and the therapy process for these individuals has received little systematic attention. Accordingly, a study was designed in order to: (a) look critically at several methods of recording and measuring behavior changes during and/or as the result of therapy; and (b) apply these methods in evaluating the progress of a group of individuals actually enrolled in a therapy program. This paper is concerned with the first objective, specifically, the evaluation of: (a) a battery of tests administered before and after ther— apy; and (b) a method of daily observation of levels of sound production by each subject. Background Information