The steps to perform Single Subject Experimental Design (SSED) are straightforward, as listed below. Steps 1 and 2 may require some thought on your part, though. But the thought you put into steps 1 and 2 may pay off later in determining what should be done at step 6.
- 1. Determine the desired change for your life and how to quantify that.
- 2. Determine the treatment that you want to use to hopefully elicit the desired change.
- 3. Set up an Excel spreadsheet appropriately. Excel templates can be found in groups (e.g., the Blood Pressure group for changes in your blood pressure).
- 4. Begin collecting data in your Excel spreadsheet.
- 5. Graph your data in your Excel spreadsheet.
- 6. After an appropriate time, evaluate your data and graph and decide how to proceed further.
Step 1 - Determine Your Desired Change and How to Best Measure That Change
First of all, you need to decide what change that you would like to make in your life. Do you want to lower your blood pressure? Improve your grades at school? Quit smoking? Have fewer headaches? Whatever it is, it is critical to decide exactly what you wish to change, and to determine some way to quantify this change. The table below shows some possible changes and how to quantify them.
| Desired Change | How to Measure |
|---|---|
| Fewer headaches | Number of headaches and/or severity of headaches per week |
| Lower my blood pressure | Systolic and/or diastolic pressure |
| Make better grades at school | Grade average and/or specific subject grade on my report card |
| Quit my smoking habit | Number of cigarettes per day and/or per week, as appropriate. |
Step 2 - Determine the Treatment You Want to Use to Bring About the Change
Once you have decided what change you would like to make in your life, then the next question is what do you want to do to bring about that change. With SSEDs the means for making the change is usually called the Treatment. So, the question becomes, “What Treatment do you want to use to make your change?”.
Possible treatments that you could use can of course vary widely. This website promotes the use of the Relaxation Response or other wellness related techniques to improve our wellness through more natural means. Some of these natural treatments with a link to a descriptive website are listed below.
| Possible Treatment | Resources Describing Treatment |
|---|---|
| Relaxation Response | RelaxResponse.com |
| Fasting | Blog from the Zero App |
| Christian Disciplines | Renovare |
| Supplements | Dr. Hyman's Recommended Supplements |
Step 3 - Set Up Your Excel Template
To make is simple and easy to do our own SSED experiments, we use an Excel spreadsheet. We will present an example here of using Excel to measure changes in blood pressure for a Treatment of the relaxation response. This sample Excel spreadsheet can be downloaded from the Blood Pressure group.
Step 4 - Collect Your Data
This step is a matter of filling in the data in your Excel spreadsheet that you set up in Step 3.
Step 5 - Graph Your Data
To graph the data in your Excel spreadsheet, select the Insert tab from Excel and then choose the option for line graphs.
Step 6 - Evaluate and Decide How to Proceed
Once you have enough data to determine trends (or no trends for that matter), then you can determine how to proceed. If the treatment proved effective, then you might want to continue the treatment going forward. You may want to refine the treatment further and keep experimenting to determine your optimal treatment for your goals. You may want to try a different treatment.
If you have ideas for changing your treatment in any way, then you can go back to Step 1 and begin your experiments again. Hopefully you won’t give up on your goal if it is a worthy one that will lead to great mental, physical, or spiritual wellness for you. Hopefully, you can keep trying until you find something that works for you.