What type of experimental design is an ABABA B A B design?

The ABABA B A B design is recognized as a single-case intervention design, specifically a variation of the alternating treatments design or withdrawal design used in behavior analysis and other fields. This design involves repeated assessments of a single participant's behavior across different conditions, indicated by the alternating application of an intervention (A) and a baseline (B) phase.

In this design, the intervention is applied and then withdrawn, which allows researchers to observe the effects of the treatment while also accounting for any potential external influences on behavior. The multiple 'A' and 'B' phases facilitate a comparison of the outcomes through replication of conditions, helping to establish a causal relationship between the intervention and behavior changes.

This design is particularly useful in clinical settings, where it's essential to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments on individual clients over time, making it easy to measure functional changes and adapt strategies accordingly. Other design options listed, such as longitudinal cohort studies or randomized control trials, involve larger groups of participants and different methodologies that do not fit the specific characteristics of the ABABA B A B design. Meta-analyses compile results from multiple studies and are inherently different from the single-case approach aimed at understanding individual responses to interventions.