DESCRIPTION
Duration recording documents how long a student engages in a target behavior. This type of data collection is appropriate for target behaviors that have a clear beginning and ending or for behaviors that occur at very high rates.
WHEN TO USE
Duration recording is useful when you are interested in how long a behavior lasts. Use duration recording when a behavior occurs at a high rate and tends to include behaviors that are more difficult to measure the frequency of such as pencil tapping, screaming, or interacting with peers.
HOW TO USE
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Determine definitions for when a target behavior starts and when it ends.
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Start the stopwatch when the behavior begins or record the time on the clock when the behavior begins.
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Record or note the current activity the student was engaging in or what occurred right before the behavior began.
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Stop the stopwatch or record the time on the clock when the behavior ends.
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Record the total duration of the instance of behavior.
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Note any additional information in the comments column (what the behavior looked like, magnitude of the behavior, etc.).
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Repeat steps 2-6 until the end of the predetermined observation period.
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Calculate the total duration by adding the duration of each episode during the observation period and record the total duration in the “Sum Duration” box.
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Total the number of episodes for the “Number of Opportunities” box.