Activity

Gain experience collecting data using both interval recording and frequency recording.

By collecting data, educators can determine whether a student’s behavior is problematic and warrants intervention. Before they can do so, however, they must first operationally define the target behavior, or the behavior to be changed. In an operational definition, a behavior is explicitly or clearly defined so that it is measurable, can be identified by two or more observers, and can be identified across time and in different settings or contexts. Once educators operationally define the target behavior, or the behavior to be changed, they should choose a data collection system that provides the most accurate picture of the student’s performance in the classroom. Two such methods are frequency recording and interval recording.

Frequency (or event) recording is a way to measure the number of times a behavior occurs within a given period. Frequency recording is best for behaviors with a distinct beginning and end. To conduct an event or frequency tally:

1. Note the time the observation begins.
2. Record each occurrence of the behavior. Teachers can easily do this by making a tally mark for each occurrence of the behavior.
3. Record the time the observation ends.
4. Calculate the length of time for the observation.
5. Calculate the rate by counting the total number of times the behavior occurred and dividing by the length of the observation.

Note: When using event recording to assess academic skills, it is beneficial to count both correct responses (or desired behavior) and incorrect responses (or undesired behavior). You want to make sure incorrect responses are not increasing along with an increase in correct responses.

Interval recording documents whether a behavior occurred during a particular period. There are two types of interval recording: whole interval (an observer indicates whether the behavior occurred for the entire time interval) and partial interval (an observer indicates whether the behavior occurred at any point during the time interval). To record interval data:

1. Divide the observation period into equal intervals (usually between five and 15 seconds long).
2. At the end of each interval, record whether the behavior occurred. Note: For whole interval recording, the behavior must occur for the entire interval. For partial interval recording, the behavior must occur during some portion of the interval.
3. After the session is over, count the number of intervals during which the behavior occurred.
4. Divide this number by the total number of intervals and multiply by 100 to determine the percentage of intervals during which the behavior occurred.

1. Play the IRIS video, then use the frequency recording form to record instances of the student’s target behavior, determining the frequency and the rate.
2. Review the video again, and use the partial interval recording form to record this same behavior. Be sure to use the stopwatch when recording your data. Also, a beep at each 20-second interval has been included to help with collecting the interval data.
3. Answer the following questions:
   1. What was the frequency of the student’s target behavior?
   2. Based on the frequency recording data, what was the rate of the student’s target behavior?
   3. For what percentage of intervals did the student exhibit the target behavior?
   4. Compare the results of the frequency recording and the partial interval recording. Based on the data, do you think the student’s behavior is problematic? Explain.

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