Mastering the Basics of Visual Analysis by Katie Wolfe and Timothy A. Slocum is © 2015-2024 FoxyLearning LLC and distributed under CC BY-NC-SA
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1.5 Baseline vs. Intervention
To evaluate whether an intervention changed a participant’s behavior, we compare the behavior under different conditions. We usually measure the behavior in a baseline phase before we implement an intervention. This gives you a basis for judging how the intervention impacts the behavior. Baseline is usually what you’re already doing in response to the behavior.
Look at the behavior under different conditions:
Baseline
What you’re currently doing; the treatment is NOT implemented
Intervention
The treatment that you want to test
When a person enters a treatment facility for addictions, how does the facility measure a baseline? I am curious about this topic. The intervention is for the individual to stop whatever it is they are doing because the addiction is affecting their lives. Therefore, the individual wants to “stop” whatever is aligning them and learn new behaviours for navigating in their environment with a healthier lifestyle.