Single System Design in Social Work

Episode 143: In today's episode, I spoke with Dr. Bruce Thyer, is Distinguished Research Professor and former Dean with the College of Social Work at Florida State University about Single System Design. We start our conversation diving into why social workers should know about single system design, its core components, and the kinds of measures and assessments that work best and where to find them. We discuss real-world examples, the nuances of designs like AB, ABC, and beyond, and how to use single subject designs for complicated, multilayered problems. I wanted to know if they work across levels of practice—micro, mezzo, and macro—and whether they’re appropriate for evaluating evidence-based practice. When I told Bruce I had concerns about the generalizability of SSDs, he reminded me that the requirements for generalizability are almost never met, even in rigorous large scale studies. We ended with a discussion about publishing single system designs. Today's episode is the first of a two-part series on social work research. Part 2, Episode 144, is a discussion with Dr. Thyer about experimental design. You can read a transcript of today's interview at https://socialworkpodcast.blogspot.com/2025/01/Thyer1.html. You can connect with other social workers at the Social Work Podcast Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/swpodcast, or follow the Bluesky feed at https://jbsinger.bsky.social.