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Clinical Research in
Communication
Disorders
Principles and Strategies

Fourth Edition
Clinical Research in
Communication
Disorders
Principles and Strategies

Fourth Edition

M. N. Hegde, PhD
Anthony P. Salvatore, PhD
5521 Ruffin Road
San Diego, CA 92123

e-mail: information@pluralpublishing.com
Website: http://www.pluralpublishing.com

Copyright © 2021 by Plural Publishing, Inc.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Hegde, M. N. (Mahabalagiri N.), 1941- author. | Salvatore, Anthony P., author.
Title: Clinical research in communication disorders: principles and strategies / M.N.
Hegde, Anthony P. Salvatore.
Other titles: Clinical research in communicative disorders
Description: Fourth edition. | San Diego, CA : Plural Publishing, [2021] | Preceded by
Clinical research in communicative disorders : principles and strategies / M.N. Hegde.
3rd ed. c2003. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019000565| ISBN 9781635501872 (alk. paper) | ISBN 1635501873
(alk. paper)
Subjects: | MESH: Communication Disorders | Research Design | Medical Writing
Classification: LCC RC428 | NLM WM 475 | DDC 616.85/50072--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019000565
Contents

Preface to the First Edition xi

Preface to the Fourth Edition xiii

Part I. Science and the Scientific Methods 1

1 Why Study Science and Research Methods? 3
Evaluation of Research 4
The Need to Study Scientific Methods 5
The Need to Produce In-House Knowledge 8
Why Research by Clinicians Is Limited 9
Problems Associated With Certain Research Practices 10
Problems Associated With the Education and Training Models 13
Summary 16
References 16
Study Guide 16

2 An Introduction to Research: The Formal and 19

Formative Approaches
What Is Research? 21
Why Do Scientists Do Research? 21
How Is Research Done? 28
Serendipity in Research 34
Planning Is Still Important 37
Summary 37
References 38
Study Guide 38

3 Science and Its Basic Concepts 39

What Is Science? 40
Outcome of Scientific Activity 44
Variables and Their Types 45
Causality and Functional Analysis 50
Experiment and Experimental Control 53
Hypotheses in Scientific Research 54
Theories and Hypotheses 57
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning 58
Theories and Scientific Laws 61
Data and Evidence 62

v
vi  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders

Summary 63
References 64
Study Guide 65

4 Treatment Research 67
Evidence-Based Practice 68
What Is Treatment Research? 68
Consequences of Treatment 69
Treatment Research: Logical and Empirical Constraints 74
Group Treatment Research: Randomized Clinical Trials 77
Single-Subject Treatment Research: Multiple Control Conditions 87
Randomized Clinical Trials Versus Single-Subject Treatment Research 106
Classification of Treatment Research 113
Summary 119
References 120
Study Guide 122

5 Other Types of Research 123

Ex Post Facto Research 124
Normative Research 127
Standard-Group Comparisons 131
Experimental Research 133
Clinical and Applied Research 138
Translational Research 142
Sample Surveys 144
Qualitative Research 146
Mixed-Methods Research 150
The Relation Between Research Types and Questions 151
Summary 152
References 153
Study Guide 154

6 Observation and Measurement 157

Observation and Measurement 158
Philosophies of Measurement 158
Scales of Measurement 160
Measures of Communicative Behaviors 162
Client-Assisted Measurement 169
Indirect Measures: Self-Reports 170
The Observer in the Measurement Process 171
Mechanically Assisted Observation and Measurement 174
Reliability of Measurement 175
Summary 178
References 179
Study Guide 180
 Contents   vii

Part II. Clinical Research Designs 183

7 Research Designs: An Introduction 185

What Are Research Designs? 186
The Structure and Logic of Experimental Designs 187
Variability: Philosophical Considerations 188
Experimental Designs: Means of Controlling Variability 192
Validity of Experimental Operations 193
Generality (External Validity) 201
Factors That Affect Generality 210
Concluding Remarks 212
Summary 213
References 214
Study Guide 215

8 The Group Design Strategy 217

Common Characteristics of Group Designs 218
Preexperimental Designs 219
True Experimental Designs 223
Designs to Evaluate Multiple Treatments 228
Factorial Designs 231
Quasi-Experimental Designs 236
Time-Series Designs 240
Counterbalanced Within-Subjects Designs 246
Correlational Analysis 253
Group Designs in Clinical Research 255
Summary 259
References 261
Study Guide 262

9 Single-Subject Designs 265

Historical Background to Single-Subject Designs 266
Characteristics of Single-Subject Designs 270
Experimental Control in Single-Subject Designs 274
Preexperimental Single-Subject Design 275
Designs for Single Treatment Evaluation 276
Designs for Multiple Treatment Comparison 290
Designs for Interactional Studies 299
N-of-1 Randomized Clinical Trials 302
Single-Subject Designs in Clinical Research 303
Summary 304
References 306
Study Guide 308
viii  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders

10 Statistical Analysis of Research Data 311

Historical Introduction to Statistical Analysis of Research Data 312
Statistical Significance 316
Hypothesis Testing 317
Statistical Analysis of Group Design Data 318
Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 323
Visual Analysis of Single-Subject Data 326
Statistical Analysis of Single-Subject Data 328
Statistical Significance Versus Clinical Significance 333
Summary 338
References 339
Study Guide 342

11 Generality Through Replications 343

Direct Replication 344
Systematic Replication 347
Sample Size and Generality 351
Failed Replications: Sources of Treatment Modifications 353
Homogeneity and Heterogeneity of Participants 355
Summary 357
References 358
Study Guide 359

12 Comparative Evaluation of Design Strategies 361

Research Questions and Investigative Strategies 362
Advantages and Disadvantages of Design Strategies 369
Problems Common to Design Strategies 371
Philosophical Considerations in Evaluation 372
The Investigator in Design Selection 373
The Final Criterion: Soundness of Data 373
Summary 374
References 377
Study Guide 377

13 Designs Versus Paradigms in Research 379

Limitations of Exclusively Methodological Approaches 380
Research Methods and Subject Matters 380
Philosophy as Methodology 382
Philosophy of Subject Matters 382
Philosophy of the Science of Speech and Language 384
Philosophical Ways of Handling Methodological Problems 393
The Interplay Between Philosophy and Methodology 396
Summary 397
References 397
Study Guide 398
 Contents   ix

Part III. Doing, Reporting, and Evaluating Research 399

14 How to Formulate Research Questions 401
How to Formulate Research Questions 402
Preparation of Theses and Dissertations 413
Summary 414
References 415
Study Guide 415

15 How to Write Research Reports 417

General Format of Scientific Reports 418
Structure and Content of Research Papers 419
Writing Without Bias 427
Good Writing: Some Principles 428
Writing Style 446
Writing and Revising 447
Summary 448
References 448
Study Guide 449

16 How to Evaluate Research Reports 451

Professionals as Consumers of Research 452
Understanding and Evaluating Research 452
Evaluation of Research 453
Evaluation of Research Reports: An Outline 458
A Hierarchy of Treatment Research Evidence 463
Evaluation and Appreciation of Research 467
Summary 468
References 468
Study Guide 469

17 Ethics of Research 471

Fraud in Scientific Research 472
Ethical Justification for Treatment Evaluation 476
The Protection of Human Participants in Research 479
Ethical Issues With Treatment Research 485
Consequences of Ethical Constraints 492
Protection of Animal Subjects 495
Dissemination of Research Findings 496
Summary 497
References 497
Study Guide 500

Index 503
Preface to the First Edition
I am a student and an instructor of phi-
losophy and methodology of science and
research. In my teaching of science and
research, I have found it necessary to
supplement information from a variety of
sources. I knew that several of my col-
leagues who taught courses on research
and science were doing the same to make
their courses more relevant and useful to
graduate students. To me, this meant that
we did not have a comprehensive text-
book on science and research. This book
is an effort to fulfill that need.
My own teaching experience and
discussions with many of my colleagues
suggested that a book on science and
research should address the following
concerns. The first deals with the basic
concepts of science and scientific meth-
ods. That is, the book should point out the
need to study science and research meth-
ods and summarize the basic concepts of
science and research. It should describe
the true and lively process of research,
not an idealized and frighteningly formal-
ized process that typically discourages the
beginning student from a further study of
science and research. The book should
give an adequate description of the differ-
ent kinds of research that are conducted
in communication disorders. A discussion
of observation and measurement, which
are the basic tools of science, must be
provided.
The second concern is clinical re-
search designs. Most books on research
designs tend to be statistically oriented. The
enormously prestigious analysis of vari-
ance is constantly confused with experi-
xi
mental designs. A book on designs should
present experimental designs, not meth-
ods of data analysis under the guise of
research designs. Furthermore, the book
should address both group and single-
subject designs. Generally speaking, most
books that offer information on research
designs focus almost exclusively on group
designs. Clinically more relevant single-
subject designs are not well represented
in those books. On the other hand, there
are some books that focus exclusively
on single-subject designs. There are not
many books that present adequate infor-
mation on both design strategies. Regard-
less of one’s own methodologic prefer-
ence and practice, a critical user and
producer of research must have a knowl-
edge of group as well as single-subject
design approaches. It was thought that
a single source that offered descriptions
and comparative evaluations of both strat-
egies would be useful to students and
researchers alike.
The third concern is the discussion
of some important philosophic issues
that are an inexorable part of science and
research. Research is based on method-
ology as well as philosophy. There is a
tremendous lack of appreciation of the
philosophic bases of research. Therefore,
it was thought that this book should at
least raise the issue of philosophy of
research to stimulate further discussion
in the discipline.
The fourth concern is the practical
aspect of performing, writing, reporting,
and evaluating research. Students need
suggestions on where to find research
xii  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
questions, how to find current research
trends, how to search the literature, how
to refine research questions, and how
to select designs that help answer those
questions. They also need information on
how to get started on theses and disser-
tations. A major problem instructors and
students alike face is writing style and
writing skills. It was thought that this
book should offer basic information on
principles of good writing.
The fifth concern is the ethics of
research. Science and research are an
ethical activity. From the beginning, sci-
ence and research must be taught with
due regard for the ethical principles that
restrain research. A textbook on research
should summarize ethical principles that
govern research activities.
I have written this book with those
five concerns as the guiding principles.
An overall concern was to make a book
on science and research especially rel-
evant to clinical research in communica-
tion disorders and write it in a less formal,
and I would hope, more readable style.
It is thought that such a style would also
reflect the process of research more accu-
rately than the typical style that formalizes
research to an unnatural extent.
My wife Prema and my son Manu
have been a part of all of my writings.
This book, which I began to write soon
after completing Treatment Procedures
in Communicative Disorders, would not
have been finished without their full
support.
I thank all of my former students at
both the undergraduate and graduate
levels who have been generous in their
support and encouragement. My students
have always tolerated and often appreci-
ated my unlimited passion to teach sci-
ence and research anytime and anywhere.
Many students in my graduate seminar on
research methods have offered excellent
comments on earlier versions of several
chapters in this book.
Preface to the Fourth Edition
Since its first publication in 1987, many
instructors have adopted this book as the
main text in various courses on research
methods and designs in communication
disorders. Most of these instructors have
offered their gracious and positive com-
ments on the book. The instructors have
suggested that the comprehensive treat-
ment of issues and methods of research
is a strength of this book. The new fourth
edition retains that strength.
I am glad to have Dr. Anthony Sal-
vatore of the University of Louisiana at
Lafayette as my coauthor of this fourth
edition, published after 30 years of its
first edition. Together we have exten-
sively revised and updated each chapter.
In the chapter on research ethics, we have
included web-based sources that monitor
research fraud and recalled studies.
The chapter on writing and report-
ing research papers includes the report-
ing standards for experimental studies,
qualitative research, and meta-analyses
published by various organizations.
The chapter on types of research
includes new sections on translational
research, qualitative research, and mixed-
methods research. A critical and compara-
tive analysis of these types of research has
been included.
The new edition contains a new chap-
ter on statistical analysis of research data.
This chapter covers quantitative analysis
xiii
of both group- and single-subject study
results. We have outlined both paramet-
ric and nonparametric tests for analyzing
research data. In addition, the chapter
covers such contemporary topics as nar-
rative reviews, systematic reviews, and
meta-analyses of both group- and single-
subject design data.
The sections on single-subject research
analysis includes guidelines on visual anal-
ysis and assessment of quality indicators.
We have reviewed the effect size statistics
for single-subject data and have included
nonoverlap techniques and d-statics.
Finally, the new chapter contains a dis-
cussion of statistical versus clinical signifi-
cance of treatment research evidence. We
have given an overview of quantitative and
qualitative measures of clinical significance.
The widespread use of this book as a
text in classrooms over 30 years across the
country and beyond has strengthened our
belief that instructors of research designs
in communication disorders would wel-
come a text that represents both the
single-subject and group design strate-
gies along with issues of measurement;
philosophy of science; ethics of research;
and planning, conducting, and reporting
research. We wish to express our appre-
ciation to all those instructors who have
found this book an effective teaching
device and have taken time to offer their
thoughtful comments.
— M. N. H.
Part I
Science and the
Scientific Methods
1
Why Study Science
and Research
Methods?

Chapter Outline

◆ Evaluation of Research

◆ The Need to Study Scientific Methods

◆ The Need to Produce In-House Knowledge

◆ Why Research by Clinicians Is Limited

◆ Problems Associated With Certain Research

Practices
◆ Problems Associated With the Education and
Training Models
◆ Summary

◆ References

◆ Study Guide
4  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
Communication disorders is both an aca-
demic discipline and a clinical profession.
As an academic discipline, communication
disorders seeks to study and understand
normal and disordered communication.
As a clinical profession, it is concerned
with the methods of assessing and treat-
ing various disorders of hearing, speech,
language, voice, and fluency. An academic
discipline can research practical problems
without applying the information it gen-
erates. For example, a biochemist who
develops a new drug that can be used in
treating a particular disease may not treat
patients with that disease. In communica-
tion disorders, researchers who develop
new information or technology also may
apply that information in the treatment of
disordered communication. In this sense,
communication disorders is simultane-
ously concerned with both scientific and
professional matters.
As the discipline of communication
disorders emerged and developed, the
professional aspects, rather than the sci-
entific bases, received greater attention.
This is understandable because the start-
ing point of the discipline was a profes-
sional concern to understand and treat
speech problems, especially stuttering
and speech sound disorders. The profes-
sion had to begin providing clinical ser-
vices without the benefit of a history of
controlled experimental research to sup-
port clinical practice. Borrowing from
several basic and applied disciplines,
the speech-language pathologist of ear-
lier days began to treat communication
disorders. Historically, the emphasis has
been on expanding clinical services rather
than conducting experimental research to
produce a scientific basis for those clini-
cal services.
An unfortunate historical lesson of
many human service professions, includ-
ing that of communication disorders, is
that clinical services can continue to be
offered without a strong experimental
database. Such services may be supported
by subjectively solidified clinical experi-
ence, uncontrolled observations, anec-
dotes widely circulated by “authorities” in
the field, descriptive research, and specu-
lative theories. Systematic experimental
evaluation of treatment techniques may
be lacking. As a result, clinical services
the profession offers may not be based on
controlled research evidence. However,
this may not deter a profession from offer-
ing services, partly because of practical
exigencies and partly because something
better is not available.
The problem with such a history is
that the clinical practice does not change
quickly when experimental research
information begins to flow. The clinical
practice of established clinicians may con-
tinue to be based on old and unverified
assumptions. Typically, it takes several
years to affect clinical practice on a wide
scale because the research information
must be incorporated into the training of
new clinicians.
Evaluation of Research
Evaluation of old and new research is
about as important as the creation of
new in-house knowledge. Profession-
als who cannot evaluate research data
and theories also cannot make effective
use of information. Critical evaluation
of research should be a part of the clini-
cian’s repertoire, and such an evaluation
requires the same knowledge needed to
do meaningful research.
The process of evaluating research
data follows the same logical steps as
 1. Why Study Science and Research Methods?   5
the process of designing experiments.
Therefore, evaluation of research is pos-
sible only when clinicians understand
how research is done. Clinicians who are
not knowledgeable in science and meth-
ods of investigation in their field of study
are likely to have difficulty in judging
the relevance of the questions their col-
leagues research, the validity and reliabil-
ity of observations, the relation between
results and conclusions, the transition
from evidence to theory, and the distinc-
tion between theory and speculation.
Furthermore, clinicians who are not
sophisticated in the philosophy of sci-
ence may not see logical and empirical
mistakes in study designs. In such cases,
clinicians who read research uncritically
accept the author’s interpretations. How-
ever, bad interpretations are about as
prevalent as bad designs, and clinicians
who cannot detect inconsistent relations
between interpretations and results can-
not separate data from conclusions. Data
that are based on sound methods are
always more valuable and durable than
the author’s interpretations imposed on
them. Future clinicians and researchers
may keep the sound data while rejecting
faulty interpretations.
Even when many practitioners do
treatment-related research, a majority of
clinicians will read research papers mostly
to improve their practice. The popu-
lar phrase “clinicians are consumers of
research” has a ring of validity in that most
clinicians will be users, not producers, of
research. It is well known that naive con-
sumers are victims of bad products. Simi-
larly, clinicians who are naive in the meth-
ods and philosophy of science are likely
victims of bad research; unfortunately, in
a clinical science such as communicative
disorders, individuals who receive ser-
vices also become victims.
It is thus clear that clinicians who do
not do research still need to understand
science and research methods. Even if
there is much research that cannot be
applied, clinicians will have to keep read-
ing and evaluating research because that
is the only way they can find out what is
useful and what is not. Those who avoid
reading the research literature because
some of it is irrelevant to clinical prac-
tice are sure also to miss what is rele-
vant to them. Meanwhile, when research
practices improve, and clinically relevant
studies begin to be routinely published,
clinicians will be unaware of them and
unprepared to apply them in their prac-
tice. For detailed information on evaluat-
ing research, see Chapter 15.
The Need to Study
Scientific Methods
It is now widely recognized that commu-
nication disorders needs to strengthen
the scientific bases of its clinical practice.
The need to place our clinical practice
on an experimental foundation is grow-
ing because of many legal, social, profes-
sional, and scientific reasons.
Legal and Social
Considerations
An increasing number of federal and state
laws influence professional practices in
communication disorders. A major source
of influence is a set of federal laws related
to the education of children with disabili-
ties. The original Education for all Handi-
capped Children Act of 1977 (P.L. 94-142)
had a significant effect on public school
special education services, including those
6  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
of communication disorders. The law was
amended in 1986, retitled Individuals
With Disabilities Education Act (P.L. 101-
476) in 1990 and reauthorized periodi-
cally. The latest reauthorization was in
2004 and ammended in 2015. (Many fed-
eral laws are periodically reauthorized
and amended to address new concerns;
therefore, the reader should consult the
latest versions of the laws of interest.)
Some of the most significant require-
ments under these laws are that special
education services must be oriented to
the individual child and his or her fam-
ily and the service programs must have
specific procedures, objectives, and eval-
uative criteria. The laws place consider-
able emphasis on clinician accountability
in that the effects of treatment programs
must be documented objectively so that
they can be verified by independent
observers. Such documentation requires
that changes in student (client) behaviors
be measured systematically and continu-
ously. As we shall see shortly, these and
other mandates of the laws are in har-
mony with the principles of scientific
clinical practice.
Other kinds of legal concerns necessi-
tate a more objective and scientific clinical
practice. Third-party payment for clinical
speech, language, and hearing services
is common now. Various government
agencies and private insurance firms that
pay for the services demand more and
more systematic documentation of the
need, the procedures, and the outcome
of such services. Uniform and objective
means of evaluating treatment effects are
being encouraged by agencies that pay
for services.
Many social concerns are also lead-
ing us in the direction of clinical practice
based on scientific methods. The profes-
sion continues to take steps to increase
public awareness of speech and language
problems and the services that are avail-
able to individuals with those problems.
Consequently, an increasing number of
individuals and families are seeking and
paying for services in private clinics and
hospitals. At the same time, many people
who are seeking services are also inclined
to question the effectiveness of those ser-
vices. Inevitably, widespread social aware-
ness of speech, language, and hearing
problems combined with higher demands
for services and increasing cost of service
delivery will result in a thorough scrutiny
of professional practices.
Professional and Scientific
Considerations
Regardless of the legal and social require-
ments, there are professional reasons for
developing a scientifically sound clinical
discipline. Much concern surrounds the
professional standing of communication
disorders in the community of clinical pro-
fessions and scientific disciplines. There is
a growing concern that the profession of
communication disorders does not have
high social visibility. The profession may
not be well recognized by other estab-
lished or recently developed professions,
such as medicine or clinical psychology.
A profession can try to draw atten-
tion to itself by various means. It may
seek better legal recognition and protec-
tion by more effective lobbying efforts.
Extensive public relations and public
awareness campaigns may be launched.
Services may be more aggressively pub-
licized through advertisements in local
and national media. Since all professions
have a business side, most of these efforts
are fiscally necessary. Indeed, all profes-
sions find it necessary to market their
 1. Why Study Science and Research Methods?   7
services ethically. Such efforts may yield
somewhat quick results; however, to build
a lasting and more solid reputation, the
profession, in addition to taking all those
steps, must put its practice on a scientific
footing. In the long run, no amount of
public relations campaign can compen-
sate for questionable and subjectively
evaluated clinical practice. In fact, public
awareness — which is generally benefi-
cial ​— can expose the inherent and wide-
spread weaknesses of a profession.
Scientifically based and technologi-
cally competent professions enjoy good
reputations and higher visibility. A profes-
sion can make significant progress when
its concepts are scientific and its meth-
ods are evaluated objectively. The ideal to
strive for is a solid scientific discipline and
a clinical profession with a single iden-
tity. This ideal, when achieved, will help
ensure the quality of speech and hearing
services offered to persons with commu-
nication disorders.
The typical argument supporting a
more scientific orientation is made on
the basis of the legal, social, and pro-
fessional requirements described so far.
Such requirements are compelling, and
anything that forces a more scientific ori-
entation is welcome. However, a profes-
sion need not be driven entirely by such
requirements. Professionals need not face
legal, social, and professional image-ori-
ented reasons and requirements to strive
to be more scientific. Although the state-
ment may sound tautological, science
itself is a good reason to be scientific. The
logical beauty, methodological elegance,
and practical benefits of science antecede
legal, social, and professional pressures.
Had the profession heeded the call
of science from its inception, it is pos-
sible that most of the legal and social
pressures would have become superflu-
ous. Clinicians who by training and prac-
tice follow the methods of science do not
need a push from public laws to write
treatment targets in measurable terms.
For such clinicians, the requirement that
changes in client behaviors must be docu-
mented objectively will not come as news
or as a legal nuisance. Their personal his-
tory of training and education will suf-
fice for such purposes. Surely, social and
legal demands can force clinicians to be
systematic and objective in their clinical
work, but those with a strong scientific
background are inclined to be so regard-
less of such demands. Concerns regarding
bad professional image may not necessar-
ily drive clinicians to conduct or evalu-
ate controlled treatment research. Well-
trained clinicians have better reasons,
including science itself. Scientifically com-
petent clinicians are unlikely to be overly
concerned with image; nevertheless, they
are probably better for the profession’s
image than those who are concerned with
public reactions but continue to offer
questionable services.
These comments should not be con-
strued as a negative evaluation of legal,
social, and professional reasons to be
more scientific. In fact, governments,
social groups, and professional bodies
have an obligation to protect the rights
of people who seek and then financially
support professional services. Societal
and regulatory forces are necessary for
smooth and socially beneficial operations
of professions as well as sciences. Such
regulatory forces have helped all pro-
fessions and sciences move in the right
direction, as we shall see in Chapter 17.
The comments are meant to underscore
an additional and often neglected rea-
son to be more systematic, responsible,
and objective in clinical work: the phi-
losophy and methodology of science that
8  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
are capable of providing unsurpassed
safeguards for both the profession and
the public. Besides, science provides an
unlimited and exciting opportunity to
make significant advances in all areas of
professional endeavor.
The Need to Produce
In-House Knowledge
During the time when service delivery,
not scientific research, is the urgent busi-
ness, the profession is dependent on
other disciplines for a knowledge base.
Communication disorders historically
has depended on some nonclinical dis-
ciplines such as linguistics, experimental
psychology, and child psychology. It also
has depended on clinical professions such
as medicine and basic sciences such as
physiology and physics.
Communication disorders has been
a borrower for a long time, perhaps too
much of a borrower and too little of an
innovator. It borrowed not only basic or
applied information but also conceptual
frameworks, theories, paradigms, models,
and methods of investigation and data
analysis. Therefore, the slowly develop-
ing traditions of research in communi-
cation disorders have been extensively
influenced by other disciplines that have
offered methods and theories of varying
degrees of validity, reliability, relevancy,
and applicability.
It is true that certain scientific ap-
proaches, concepts, and methods are com-
mon to many scientific disciplines and
professions. Nonetheless, unless a disci-
pline quickly begins to produce its own
experimental database, it will continue to
borrow theories and methods that may or
may not be appropriate for studying its
subject matter. The only way some pro-
fessions can begin to generate their own
databases is to train their practitioners to
do research. Professions such as medi-
cine have the luxury of receiving a large
and varied amount of custom-produced
research information from outside their
professions. Medicine has chemists, bio-
chemists, physiologists, anatomists, biolo-
gists, geneticists, bioengineers, and a vari-
ety of technologists and technical product
manufacturers (including global pharma-
ceutical companies) who do research
dedicated to medicine and supply theo-
retical information and practical technol-
ogy. There are not comparable bands of
researchers and technicians supplying
information and technology to communi-
cation disorders. Much of the information
and technology the discipline borrows
is not produced for it; its relevance may
be incidental and, in some unfortunate
cases, mistaken.
Specialists in communication disor-
ders should produce their own knowl-
edge base and technology, but this does
not mean that they should not selectively
borrow from other disciplines. Like other
professions, communication disorders
will continue to borrow what is relevant
and useful. Many fields of knowledge are
interrelated. Therefore, the fields benefit
from each other’s research. Nonetheless,
what is urgently needed is a systematic
effort to increase the in-house knowledge
base and technology. A discipline cannot
always expect other specialists to produce
the basic scientific information necessary
to understand its subject matter. A profes-
sion cannot always expect others to pro-
duce a relevant and effective technology.
The most significant problem with
increasing the amount of in-house knowl-
edge is the scarcity of research institu-
tions and sustained research programs in
communication disorders. Many univer-
 1. Why Study Science and Research Methods?   9
sity programs in communication disorders
are not research oriented, and large insti-
tutions that specialize in research are few
or nonexistent. Producing a systematic
body of reliable and valid scientific infor-
mation is a slow process even under the
best possible conditions. Therefore, under
the existing conditions, the accumulation
of valid knowledge in communication dis-
orders will be a prolonged process. There
seems to be no easy or quick solution
to this problem. Several steps are neces-
sary to increase the amount of research;
for example, the discipline can seek more
government and private research funds,
increase the number of theses produced
by master’s degree candidates, accelerate
research efforts at existing research and
teaching institutions, and establish new
programmatic research.
Another tactic is to recruit practition-
ers into the kind of research that does
not detract from clinical activities. That
is, the field can make an effort to increase
research by practicing clinicians. Since the
majority of persons in the field are clini-
cians, even a slight increase in the num-
ber of clinicians doing research may have
an appreciable effect. This is the kind of
in-house knowledge base that can have
immediate and simultaneous clinical and
theoretical significance.
Why Research by
Clinicians Is Limited
It is well known that a majority of clini-
cians do not do research. After all, they
are busy serving their clients. There are
many reasons why clinicians typically do
not engage in research. For example, most
clinicians do not have the needed extra
time for research. Besides, when research
is thought of as something unrelated to
clinical service, the clinicians obviously
cannot do research. Also, the client sched-
uling may be good for clinical work but
bad for research; when clients are seen
twice weekly for a few minutes each time,
collecting in-depth data may be difficult.
Most clinical settings do not support or
encourage research. Many public schools
and hospitals do not require research
from clinicians and may not encourage
it. Much research, both good and bad, is
done when research is required or valued
in a given setting. It also may be noted
that bad research can be done even when
someone “wanted” to do research while it
was not required to achieve promotions
or pay raises. In many settings, research
often is done over and above one’s regular
duties. When it is not required for profes-
sional advancement, the administration is
unlikely to support research to any great
extent.
It also is possible that clinicians them-
selves assume that: (a) they are not well
prepared to do research and (b) research
does not necessarily help them, their col-
leagues, or their clients. Both of these
assumptions may be valid to a degree.
The first assumption may be due to many
practitioners’ limited training and experi-
ence in research methods. To do research,
one should also maintain currency in
the slowly-but-surely changing field of
knowledge in the discipline. The pres-
sures of day-to-day professional practice
may not be conducive to spending the
needed amount of time and energy on
reading the literature. Though significant
advances in communication disorders
have been few and far between, there has
been an information explosion in recent
years. It takes time just to keep up with
published research. Because they do not
have this time, many clinicians may think
10  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
that they lack the technical knowledge of
scientific procedures and current informa-
tion needed to do research.
The second assumption—that research
does not necessarily help clinical practice ​
— may be based on experience. There is
some question regarding the extent to
which research affects day- to-day clinical
practice. Douglas, Campbell, and Hinck-
ley (2015) stated that a treatment proce-
dure that has support based on 20 years
of research may still remain unused by the
clinicians. With all the emphasis on evi-
dence-based practice, there is no evidence
to support that a majority of clinicians use
treatment procedures that are known to
be effective. In treating clients, clinicians
are likely to depend upon their past train-
ing and clinical experience. Practition-
ers across professional settings do not
automatically apply experimentally but
unsupported theories, and recent trends
without substance have a greater influ-
ence on clinical practice than do technical
research reports.
Workshops, presentations, discus-
sions with colleagues, and lectures on the
“latest” techniques and “hot topics” may
affect clinical practice more than experi-
mental evidence does. However, even
those who give frequent workshops often
think that clinicians rarely apply exactly
what the workshops offered. For example,
some individuals who frequently attend
workshops agree equally well with totally
contradictory approaches, and clinicians
assimilate what they hear (or read) with
their past experience and apply new tech-
niques in modified ways. Such modifica-
tions are not necessarily bad. The only
problem is that unspecified and varied
modifications of published techniques
make it difficult to identify successful
techniques. In any case, the disturbing
situation remains: Controlled and techni-
cal research does not affect clinical prac-
tice to the extent it should.
The belief that research does not nec-
essarily help clinical practice is partially
true. We are not just referring to basic
research, which is not expected to give
immediate solutions to practical prob-
lems; we are referring to the kinds of
research that are expected to solve clinical
problems. Purported clinical research on
assessment or treatment of communica-
tion disorders also may frustrate clinicians.
Clinicians who read and evaluate such
research to sharpen their clinical skills
may be disillusioned about the usefulness
of all kinds of clinical research. In essence,
certain research practices may generate a
justifiable skepticism regarding the rele-
vance of research to clinical practice.
Problems Associated With
Certain Research Practices
There are multiple modes of clinical
research, and not all of them are equally
helpful to the clinician in solving current
practical problems. In Chapters 4 and 5,
we will describe different types of research
in some detail. Here it may be noted that
clinical-experimental research is likely to
produce results that help solve immediate
practical problems clinicians face. Many
other types of research, although essen-
tial, may lead to solutions to practical
problems but only in the future.
Clinical usefulness is not the only
criterion by which the value of research
is determined. Basic research often does
not have immediate practical significance.
However, it is valuable because it might
help explain a phenomenon, put unre-
lated observations in a single perspective,
suggest new lines of experimental analy-
 1. Why Study Science and Research Methods?   11
sis, or produce a discovery with power-
ful applied potential. Thus, in the long
run, basic research may produce data that
can help solve practical problems. Every
discipline needs basic research: Commu-
nication disorders simply does not have
enough of it.
The main problem with current research
practices is that much of the research is
neither basic nor experimentally clinical.
Basic research can help secure the future
of a discipline while experimental-clinical
research can help solve current practical
problems. Basic research creates a strong
scientific base for a profession and exper-
imental-clinical research helps develop
treatment techniques. When these two
kinds of research are sparse, the profes-
sion can neither solve its clinical prob-
lems nor generate confidence that the
problems will be solved in the near future.
In such a situation, skepticism regarding
research is inevitable.
The clinical irrelevancy of clinical
research is not the only reason why some
clinicians have a negative approach to
research in general; other factors contrib-
ute. First, if clinicians do not appreciate
basic research, they may have received
inadequate education and training in the
philosophy and methodology of science.
Second, if clinicians do not appreciate
experimental-clinical research that shows
better methods of treating disorders of
communication, their education, again,
may be to blame. A majority of clinicians
neither use experimentally verified tech-
niques nor demand such techniques from
researchers. Third, if clinicians do not find
a significant body of clinical research that
can be applied in clinical work, then the
research practices within the field must
take the blame.
Education and training programs must
address the first two factors, and research
scientists and clinicians must address the
third. To assess these problems, we must
consider the type and quality of clinical
research and the education and training
of clinicians.
Possibly, clinicians who can evaluate
current clinical research find very little
that is applicable. This is because much
research in the field is not concerned
with experimental evaluation and devel-
opment of treatment procedures. Even
clinical journals, expected to publish treat-
ment research, may disappoint clinicians.
A majority of papers published in journals
in speech and hearing relate to disorder
description, normative comparison, and
assessment, not treatment. There is plenty
of speculative theoretical writing in the
discipline, and much of the research is con-
cerned with finding differences between
normal and disordered groups of sub-
jects. For example, many studies attempt
to establish norms of various communi-
cative behaviors. In addition, classifying
speech and language behaviors with no
regard to their causal variables (structural
analysis of language and speech) is very
popular. This kind of research is typically
justified because of its presumed clinical
implications, but the research does not
necessarily provide for more effective
treatment procedures. Some clinicians
who begin to read research reports of this
kind may eventually stop reading them.
Such clinicians decide to wait until the
presumed implications are translated into
procedures they can use.
A dominant research trend in com-
munication disorders is that many who
suggest clinical implications of their non-
clinical research do not take time to test
those implications with individuals with
disorders. Many research specialists in
communication disorders seem to imply
that to hypothesize is their job, but to
12  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
verify is someone else’s. Many researchers
betray a striking lack of curiosity about
the clinical validity of their own hypoth-
eses. Consequently, they have created a
new division of labor: Some researchers
generate hypotheses and other research-
ers verify them. Unfortunately, this divi-
sion of labor has not worked well because
many researchers are more interested in
generating hypotheses than in verifying
their own or anybody else’s.
If studies of a different kind were
to be frequently published in journals
devoted to clinical practice, clinicians may
find research to be valuable. This kind
of research is experimental and clinical.
Applied behavior analysis offers a clear
model for this kind of research. Most of
the articles published in the Journal of
Applied Behaivor Analysis are both ex-
perimental and clinical in that they report
on behavioral treatment efects. Research
of this kind addresses issues of immedi-
ate practical significance. The strategy
involves current clinical action, not a
promise of some future clinical possibil-
ity. For example, research may be con-
cerned with topics such as different tar-
get behaviors and their clinical relevance,
experimental evaluation of treatment
techniques, relative effects of multiple
treatments, interaction between different
treatment procedures, generality of treat-
ment effects to clients of different ethno-
cultural backgrounds, different tactics of
response maintenance after treatment,
issues in the measurement or assessment
of disorders and behaviors, and indepen-
dent variables that may maintain normal
as well as disordered speech and language
behaviors, just to sample a few. These
kinds of research topics generate data
of immediate clinical significance. More
important, efforts to investigate these top-
ics are identical with clinical services.
The type of research in which the rel-
evance of alternate target communicative
behaviors and the techniques of teaching
them are evaluated under controlled con-
ditions will help illustrate how research
and clinical practice may be integrated.
Research on the relevance of targeted
behaviors for clinical intervention is barely
begun. This is the question of dependent
variables; it often is thought that the only
significant question is that of the indepen-
dent variable. In other words, profession-
als may think that they know what the
targets are, but they do not know how
to teach them. Both are important ques-
tions, however. For example, the follow-
ing terms relative to language disorders
are not operational in nature and thus
they do not refer to measurable behav-
iors, which is necessay to change them:
communicative competence, knowledge
of the universal transformational gram-
mar, grammatical features, grammatical
rules, semantic notions, semantic rules,
pragmatic notions, or pragmatic rules.
Empirical response classes, on the other
hand, are observable, measurable, and
experimentally manipulable. Similarly,
what is (are) the dependent variable(s)
in the treatment of stuttering: self-con-
fidence, self-image, approach-avoidance
conflict, anxiety reduction, correction
of feedback problems, appropriate air-
flow, correct phonatory behaviors, fluent
stuttering, negative attitudes, excessive
parental concern for fluency, reduction
in speech rate, or reduction in the dysflu-
ency rates? Again, what are the depen-
dent variables in the treatment of speech
sound disorders: phonological processes
or patterns, phonological knowledge, or
phonemic awareness? These terms do not
describe the behavior that index speech
sound production or the potential con-
trolling variables. A more transparent
 1. Why Study Science and Research Methods?   13
term, speech sound production, describes
empirical treatment targets.
Specification of a valid dependent
variable is crucial to the development of
a science. If biologists were as confused
about their dependent variables as com-
munication disorders specialists are about
theirs, biology’s progress to date would be
unthinkable. Because communication dis-
orders is a clinical science, it needs clearly
defined dependent variables (communi-
cative behaviors) that may be changed
through manipulation of independent
variables (treatment techniques). There-
fore, it is essential to conduct research
on the valid dependent variables that can
be successfully taught to individuals with
communication problems. Besides, in the
course of this kind of research, the cli-
nician simultaneously provides clinical
services.
Research on the effects of various
treatment strategies also is synchronous
with clinical service. The value of treat-
ment research in communication disorders
is obvious but often is taken for granted.
When a clinical researcher evaluates a
given treatment in a controlled experi-
ment, the clients who serve as subjects
are exposed to one possible treatment.
If the treatment is not effective, the clini-
cian may evaluate another technique that
may prove to be more successful. In more
advanced stages of research, the clinician
may evaluate the relative and interactive
effects of more than one treatment tech-
nique or component. The participants of
treatment research studies are the clients
who receive treatment during the course
of research.
The paucity of treatment-related re-
search in communication disorders sup-
ports the notion that research and clinical
services are unrelated and that training
in research methods and philosophy of
science is a waste of time. Contrary to
this notion, research and clinical activities
are more similar than different. Although
done under routine conditions, each suc-
cessful clinical session involves a manipu-
lation of an independent variable (treat-
ment) just like it is done in an experiment.
Basically, treatments are a manipulation of
cause-effect relations. In treating clients,
clinicians produce changes in communi-
cative behaviors by rearranging certain
variables (Hegde, 1998).
What is suggested here is that treatment-
related research should make research
immediately attractive to the practitioners,
so that the practitioners may more likely
read, evaluate, and appreciate research.
It is not suggested that basic research
unrelated to immediate clinical concerns
is less valuable or that there is no rea-
son for clinicians to study basic research
reports. Clinicians who do not understand
or appreciate treatment research are less
likely to understand or appreciate basic
laboratory research. Therefore, one way
of attracting clinicians to research of all
kinds is to offer them treatment-related
research that can make a difference in
their day-to-day professional activities.
Skills necessary to understand and evalu-
ate treatment-related research, once mas-
tered by clinicians, can help them under-
stand basic research as well. In any case,
the task of attracting clinicians to research
is that of the clinical researcher, not that
of the basic researcher.
Problems Associated
With the Education and
Training Models
As noted before, if at least a certain num-
ber of clinicians are involved in research,
14  Clinical Research in Communication Disorders
the amount of in-house knowledge can be
increased in a fairly short time. However,
when other conditions are favorable, cli-
nicians can do research only if they are
trained to do research that is synchronous
with clinical services. It is impractical to
expect a majority of clinicians to do basic
research. It also is impractical for clini-
cians to engage in clinical research that
does not involve direct assessment, treat-
ment, or maintenance strategies. Even the
clinical research of implications cannot
fulfill the service requirements; that is,
clinicians must investigate questions that
can be answered while providing ser-
vices to their clients. To accomplish this,
communication disorders must adopt an
integrated model of education, training,
and research.
If specialists in communication disor-
ders see their field as a clinical profes-
sion based on scientific knowledge and
research, several much-debated pseudo-
issues ​— such as “Do we need to know
scientific methods?” or “Are courses on
research methods necessary for practi-
tioners?”— dissipate. The education of
clinicians must include an understanding
of existing knowledge and technology,
methods of producing new knowledge
and technology, and methods of evaluat-
ing all knowledge and technology.
An educational program cannot be
limited to just imparting existing knowl-
edge and training in extant technology
to future practitioners. Future clinicians
also need to know how new knowledge
is produced and how any knowledge is
critically evaluated before it is accepted
or rejected. The methods of science and
research are the methods of producing and
evaluating empirical knowledge. There-
fore, imparting knowledge of science and
research is a part of training future prac-
titioners who evaluate new information
and contribute new information to their
chosen discipline. Such a training model
ensures scientific status and professional
strength.
It is sometimes thought that education
in the philosophy and methods of science
takes time away from clinical training.
Some may argue that training of profes-
sionals requires spending all the avail-
able time on clinical methods and service
delivery models. That students in clinical
programs should receive the best possible
training in clinical methods is not con-
troversial. Indeed, during their education
and training, future clinicians should not
spend time studying science and research
if that study is not expected to be use-
ful. However, time spent on science and
research in the training of practitioners is
a waste only if clinical service and scien-
tific work are conceptually and method-
ologically divorced (Sidman, 2011). The
argument that the study of science and
research is a waste is irrelevant when
communication disorders is viewed as a
scientific discipline and a clinical profes-
sion that adopts an integrated model of
research and clinical service.
Unless clinicians are educated within
an integrated model of research and
clinical service, time spent training clini-
cians in research may not be as produc-
tive as it could be. Again, applied behav-
ior analysis has been practicing such an
integrated model of training clinicians for
decades. Without the integrated model,
even researchers are not likely to make
a significant effect on the clinical issues
of the profession. Therefore, the existing
models of research in communication
disorders may need to be revised. If the
same model is used to give more informa-
tion on research at the master’s level or at
the doctoral level, there is no assurance
that in-house treatment-related knowl-
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
fully four inches above its roots. It was entirely composed of withered
and rotten weeds, the former being circularly arranged over the
latter, producing a well-rounded cavity, six inches in diameter, by two
and a half in depth. The borders of this inner cup were lined with the
down of the bird, in the same manner as the Eider Duck’s nest, and
in it lay five eggs, the smallest number I have ever found in any
duck’s nest. They were two inches and two and a half eighths in
length, by one inch and five-eighths in their greatest breadth; more
equally rounded at both ends than usual; the shell perfectly smooth,
and of a uniform pale yellowish or cream colour. I took them on
board, along with the female bird, which was shot as she rose from
her nest. We saw no male bird near the spot; but in the course of the
same day, met with several males by themselves, about four miles
distant from the marsh, as we were returning to the harbour. This
induced me to believe that, like the Eider and other ducks that breed
in Labrador, the males abandon the females as soon as incubation
commences. I regret that, notwithstanding all my further exertions, I
did not succeed in discovering more nests or young birds.
In the States of Maine and Massachusetts, this species is best
known by the name of “Butter-boat-billed Coot.” The gunners of Long
Island and New Jersey call it the Black Sea Duck. It is often seen
along the coast of South Carolina, where my friend John Bachman
Has met with it. The Surf Duck is a powerful swimmer and an expert
diver. It is frequently observed fishing at the depth of several
fathoms, and it floats buoyantly among the surf or the raging billows,
where it seems as unconcerned as if it were on the most tranquil
waters. It rises on wing, however, with considerable difficulty, and in
this respect resembles the Velvet Duck; but when once fairly under
way, it flies with rapidity and to a great distance, passing close to the
water during heavy gales, but at the height of forty or fifty yards in
calm and pleasant weather. It is an uncommonly shy bird, and
therefore difficult to be obtained, unless shot at while on wing, or
when asleep, and as it were at anchor on our bays, or near the
shore, for it dives as suddenly as the Velvet and Scoter Ducks,
eluding even the best percussion-locked guns. The female, which
was killed as she flew off from the nest, uttered a rough uncouth
guttural cry, somewhat resembling that of the Goosander on similar
occasions; and I have never heard any other sound from either sex.
The migration of the Surf Ducks eastward from our Southern coast,
begins at a very early season, as in the beginning of March none are
to be seen in the New Orleans markets. When I was at Eastport in
Maine, on the 7th of May 1833, they were all proceeding eastward.
How far up the St Lawrence they advance in winter I have not
learned, but they must give a decided preference to the waters of
that noble stream, if I may judge by the vast numbers which I saw
apparently coming from them as we approached the Labrador coast.
I have never seen this species on any fresh-water lake or river, in
any part of the interior, and therefore consider it as truly a marine
duck.
During their stay with us, they are always seen in considerable
numbers together, and, unless perhaps during the breeding season,
they seem to be gregarious; for even during their travels northward
they always move in large and compact bodies. When I was at
Newfoundland, I was assured that they breed there in considerable
numbers on the lakes of the interior. My friend Professor
Macculloch, of Pictou, however informs me that none are seen in
Nova Scotia in summer. A gentleman of Boston, with whom I once
crossed the Atlantic, assured me that the species is extremely
abundant on the northern shores of the Pacific Ocean, and about the
mouth of Mackenzie’s River. Doctor Townsend mentions it as being
also found on the Columbia. It appears that a single specimen of the
Surf Duck has been procured on the shores of Great Britain; and this
has induced the ornithologists of that country to introduce it as a
constituent of its Fauna.
In all the individuals which I have examined, I have found the
stomach to contain fish of different kinds, several species of shell-
fish, and quantities of gravel and sand, some of the fragments being
of large size. Their flesh is tough, rank, and fishy, so as to be
scarcely fit for food.
In the young males, in the month of September, the whole upper
plumage is mottled with darkish-brown and greyish-white, the latter
colour margining most of the feathers. The neck has a considerable
extent of dull greyish-white, spread over two or three inches, and
approaching toward the cheeks and throat. This colour disappears
about the beginning of January, when they become of a more
uniform dark tint, the upper part of the head brownish-black, without
any white spot; there is a patch of brownish-white at the base of the
upper mandible on each side; another of an oblong form over the
ear, and on the nape are elongated greyish-white marks; the bill and
feet dusky green, the iris brown.

Anas perspicillata, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 201.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii.
p. 847.
Black or Surf Duck, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. viii. p. 49, pl. 67, fig. 2.
Fuligula perspicillata, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United
States, p. 389.
Oidemia perspicillata, Richards. and Swains. Faun. Bor. Amer. vol. ii. p.
449.
Black or Surf Duck, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 416.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXVII. Fig. 1.

Bill about the length of the head, very broad, as deep as broad at the
base, depressed towards the end, which is rounded. Upper mandible
with the dorsal outline convex and descending, before the nostrils
concave, on the unguis convex and declinate; the ridge broad and
convex at the base; the sides at the base erect, bulging, and very
broad, towards the end convex, the edges soft, with about 30
internal lamellæ, for two-thirds from the base they are nearly parallel
and straight, but towards the end ascending, the unguis very large,
somewhat triangular and rounded. Lower mandible flattened, with
the angle long and rather narrow, the dorsal line slightly convex, the
edges with about 35 lamellæ. Nostrils submedial, elliptical, large,
pervious, near the ridge.
Head large, oblong, flattened above. Eyes of moderate size. Neck
short and thick. Body large and much depressed. Feet short, placed
rather far behind; tarsus very short, compressed, having anteriorly in
its whole length a series of small scutella, and above the outer toe a
partial series, the rest covered with reticular angular scales. Hind toe
small, with a free membrane beneath; anterior toes nearly double the
length of the tarsus, connected by reticulated membranes having a
sinus on their free margins, the inner with a lobed marginal
membrane, the outer with a thick margin, the third and fourth about
equal and longest. Claws small, that of the first toe very small and
curved, of the middle toe largest, with a dilated inner edge, of the
rest slender, all rather obtuse.
Plumage soft, dense, blended, and glossy. Feathers on the head and
neck of a velvety texture. Wings rather short, narrow, and pointed;
primary quills curved, strong, tapering, and pointed, the first longest,
the second little shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries
broad and rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail very short,
narrow, wedge-shaped, of fourteen stiff, narrow, pointed feathers.
Upper mandible with a nearly square black patch at the base,
margined with orange, unless in front, where there is a patch of
bluish-white extending to near the nostrils, prominent part over the
nostrils deep reddish-orange, becoming lighter towards the unguis,
and shaded into rich yellow towards the margins; the unguis dingy
greyish-yellow; lower mandible flesh-coloured, unguis darker. Iris
bright yellowish-white. Tarsi and toes orange-red, the webs dusky
tinged with green; claws black. The plumage is of a deep black,
glossed with blue. On the top of the head, between the eyes, is a
roundish patch of white, and on the nape a larger patch of an
elongated form.
Length to end of tail 20 inches, to end of wings 18, to end of claws
22; extent of wings 33 1/2; bill from the angle in front 1 1/2; from the
prominence at the base 2 1/2; along the edge of lower mandible
2 5/12; wing from flexure 9 3/4; tail 3 3/4; tarsus 1 7/12; first toe and
1/
claw 11/12; outer toe, and claw 2 1/4; middle, toe and claw, /12
2

longer. Weight 2 lb. 7 oz.

Adult Female. Plate CCCXVII. Fig. 2.
Bill greenish-black; iris as in the male; feet yellowish-orange, webs
greyish-dusky, claws black. The general colour of the plumage is
brownish-black; darker on the top of the head, the back, wings, and
tail; on the breast and sides the feathers edged with dull greyish-
white.
Length to end of tail 19 inches, to end of wings 15 3/4, to end of
claws 18; extent of wings 31 1/2; wing from flexure 8 3/4; tarsus 1 5/8;
middle toe 2 3/4, hind toe 9/12. Weight 2 lb. 2 oz.

In an adult Male, the tongue is 1 inch 9 twelfths long, has numerous

conical papillæ at the base, is deeply grooved along the middle, has
two lateral series of bristles, and terminates in a thin rounded lobe, 2
twelfths long. On the middle line of the upper mandible are about ten
short conical papillæ, and on each of its margins about 35 lamellæ;
on the lower an equal number. The heart is 1 inch 8 twelfths long, 1
inch 2 twelfths broad. The œsophagus, 8 1/2 inches long, is wide, its
diameter at the upper part being 1 inch, towards the middle of the
neck 1 inch and a quarter. The proventriculus is 1 1/2 inch long; its
glandules cylindrical, 1 1/2 twelfths in length, and, as in all other
ducks, arranged so as to form a complete belt. The stomach is a
powerful gizzard of a roundish form, 1 inch 10 twelfths long, 1 inch
10 twelfths broad, its lateral muscles very large, the right 10 twelfths
thick, the left 9 twelfths. In the stomach were various small bivalve
shells and much gravel. The cuticular lining longitudinally rugous; the
grinding plates 3/4 inch in diameter. The intestine, 5 feet 7 inches in
length, has an average diameter of 6 twelfths. The rectum is 7 1/2
inches long, 8 twelfths in diameter. Of the cœca one is 3 inches 4
twelfths long, cylindrical, obtuse, 2 1/2 twelfths in diameter, the other
4 1/2 inches long.

The aperture of the glottis is 8 twelfths long, with numerous minute

papillæ behind. The trachea presents the same structure as that of
the Velvet Duck. Its upper rings, to the number of 9, are very narrow,
and continuous with a large bony expansion, 7 twelfths long, and 8
twelfths broad. Beyond this part its diameter is 5 twelfths, gradually
diminishes to 3 twelfths about the middle, then enlarges to 5 twelfths.
In this part the number of rings is 78. Then comes a roundish or
transversely elliptical enlargement, 1 inch 2 twelfths in breadth, 9
twelfths in length, convex before, slightly concave behind, and
composed of about 12 united rings. The trachea then contracts to 4
twelfths and presently enlarges to form the inferior larynx, which is
large, ossified, but symmetrical. In this space there are 6 distinct
rings, and 10 united. The entire length of the trachea is 7 1/2 inches,
its rings are all osseous and strong. The contractor muscles are very
strong, pass along the sides of the lower dilatation, on which are
given off the cleido-tracheals, then continue to the commencement
of the inferior larynx, where the sterno-tracheals come off. The
bronchial half-rings 25, unossified.
The cavity of the nose is very large, being 2 inches long, 1/2 inch in
diameter at the lower part, continued narrow in front over the
dilatation causing the external protuberance of the base of the bill.
The olfactory nerves are of moderate size; the maxillary branches of
the fifth pair very large.
 AMERICAN AVOSET.

Recurvirostra Americana, Gmel.

PLATE CCCXVIII. Adult Male, and Young in Winter.

The fact of this curious bird’s breeding in the interior of our country
accidentally became known to me in June 1814. I was at the time
travelling on horseback from Henderson to Vincennes in the State of
Indiana. As I approached a large shallow pond in the neighbourhood
of the latter town, I was struck by the sight of several Avosets
hovering over the margins and islets of the pond, and although it was
late, and I was both fatigued and hungry, I could not resist the
temptation of endeavouring to find the cause of their being so far
from the sea. Leaving my horse at liberty, I walked toward the pond,
when, on being at once assailed by four of the birds, I felt confident
that they had nests, and that their mates were either sitting or
tending their young. The pond, which was about two hundred yards
in length, and half as wide, was surrounded by tall bulrushes
extending to some distance from the margin. Near its centre were
several islets, eight or ten yards in length, and disposed in a line.
Having made my way through the rushes, I found the water only a
few inches deep; but the mud reached above my knees, as I
carefully advanced towards the nearest island. The four birds kept
up a constant noise, remained on wing, and at times dived through
the air until close to me, evincing their displeasure at my intrusion.
My desire to shoot them however was restrained by my anxiety to
study their habits as closely as possible; and as soon as I had
searched the different inlets, and found three nests with eggs, and a
female with her brood, I returned to my horse, and proceeded to
Vincennes, about two miles distant. Next morning at sunrise I was
snugly concealed amongst the rushes, with a fair view of the whole
pond. In about an hour the male birds ceased to fly over me, and
betook themselves to their ordinary occupations, when I noted the
following particulars.
On alighting, whether on the water or on the ground, the American
Avoset keeps its wings raised until it has fairly settled. If in the water,
it stands a few minutes balancing its head and neck, somewhat in
the manner of the Tell-tale Godwit. After this it stalks about searching
for food, or runs after it, sometimes swimming for a yard or so while
passing from one shallow to another, or wading up to its body, with
the wings partially raised. Sometimes they would enter among the
rushes, and disappear for several minutes. They kept apart, but
crossed each other’s path in hundreds of ways, all perfectly silent,
and without shewing the least symptom of enmity towards each
other, although whenever a Sandpiper came near, they would
instantly give chase to it. On several occasions, when I purposely
sent forth a loud shrill whistle without stirring, they would suddenly
cease from their rambling, raise up their body and neck, emit each
two or three notes, and remain several minutes on the alert, after
which they would fly to their nests, and then return. They search for
food precisely in the manner of the Roseate Spoonbill, moving their
heads to and fro sideways, while their bill is passing through the soft
mud; and in many instances, when the water was deeper, they would
immerse their whole head and a portion of the neck, as the Spoonbill
and Red-breasted Snipe are wont to do. When, on the contrary, they
pursued aquatic insects, such as swim on the surface, they ran after
them, and on getting up to them, suddenly seized them by thrusting
the lower mandible beneath them, while the other was raised a good
way above the surface, much in the manner of the Black Shear-
water, which however performs this act on wing. They were also
expert at catching flying insects, after which they ran with partially
expanded wings.
I watched them as they were thus engaged about an hour, when
they all flew to the islets where the females were, emitting louder
notes than usual. The different pairs seemed to congratulate each
other, using various curious gestures; and presently those which had
been sitting left the task to their mates and betook themselves to the
water, when they washed, shook their wings and tail, as if either
heated or tormented by insects, and then proceeded to search for
food in the manner above described. Now, Reader, wait a few
moments until I eat my humble breakfast.
About eleven o’clock the heat had become intense, and the Avosets
gave up their search, each retiring to a different part of the pond,
where, after pluming themselves, they drew their heads close to their
shoulders, and remained perfectly still, as if asleep, for about an
hour, when they shook themselves simultaneously, took to wing, and
rising to the height of thirty or forty yards, flew off towards the waters
of the Wabash River.
I was now desirous of seeing one of the sitting birds on its nest, and
leaving my hiding place, slowly, and as silently as possible,
proceeded toward the nearest islet on which I knew a nest to be,
having the evening before, to mark the precise spot, broken some of
the weeds, which were now withered by the heat of the sun. You,
good Reader, will not, I am sure, think me prolix; but as some less
considerate persons may allege that I am tediously so, I must tell
them here that no student of Nature ever was, or ever can be, too
particular while thus marking the precise situation of a bird’s nest.
Indeed, I myself have lost many nests by being less attentive. After
this short but valuable lecture, you and I will do our best to approach
the sitting bird unseen by it. Although a person can advance but
slowly when wading through mud and water knee-deep, it does not
take much time to get over forty or fifty yards, and thus I was soon
on the small island where the Avoset was comfortably seated on her
nest. Softly and on all four I crawled toward the spot, panting with
heat and anxiety. Now, Reader, I am actually within three feet of the
unheeding creature, peeping at her through the tall grasses. Lovely
bird! how innocent, how unsuspecting, and yet how near to thine
enemy, albeit he be an admirer of thy race! There she sits on her
eggs, her head almost mournfully sunk among the plumage, and her
eyes, unanimated by the sight of her mate, half closed, as if she
dreamed of future scenes. Her legs are bent beneath her in the
usual manner. I have seen this, and I am content. Now she observes
me, poor thing, and off she scrambles,—running, tumbling, and at
last rising on wing, emitting her clicking notes of grief and anxiety,
which none but an inconsiderate or callous-hearted person could
hear without sympathizing with her.
The alarm is sounded, the disturbed bird is floundering hither and
thither over the pool, now lying on the surface as if ready to die, now
limping to induce me to pursue her and abandon her eggs. Alas,
poor bird! Until that day I was not aware that gregarious birds, on
emitting cries of alarm, after having been scared from their nest,
could induce other incubating individuals to leave their eggs also,
and join in attempting to save the colony. But so it was with the
Avosets, and the other two sitters immediately rose on wing and flew
directly at me, while the one with the four younglings betook herself
to the water, and waded quickly off, followed by her brood, which
paddled along swimming, to my astonishment, as well as ducklings
of the same size.
How far such cries as those of the Avoset may be heard by birds of
the same species I cannot tell; but this I know, that the individuals
which had gone toward the Wabash reappeared in a few minutes
after I had disturbed the first bird, and hovered over me. But now,
having, as I thought, obtained all desirable knowledge of these birds,
I shot down five of them, among which I unfortunately found three
females.
The nests were placed among the tallest grasses, and were entirely
composed of the same materials, but dried, and apparently of a
former year’s growth. There was not a twig of any kind about them.
The inner nest was about five inches in diameter, and lined with fine
prairie grass, different from that found on the islets of the pond, and
about two inches in depth, over a bed having a thickness of an inch
and a half. The islets did not seem to be liable to inundation, and
none of the nests exhibited any appearance of having been
increased in elevation since the commencement of incubation, as
was the case with those described by Wilson. Like those of most
waders, the eggs were four in number, and placed with the small
ends together. They measured two inches in length, one inch and
three-eighths in their greatest breadth, and were, exactly as Wilson
tells us, “of a dull olive colour, marked with large irregular blotches of
black, and with others of a fainter tint.” To this I have to add, that they
are pear-shaped and smooth. As to the time of hatching, I know
nothing.
Having made my notes, and picked up the dead birds, I carefully
waded through the rushes three times around the whole pond, but,
being without my dog, failed in discovering the young brood or their
mother. I visited the place twice the following day, again waded
round the pond, and searched all the islets, but without success: not
a single Avoset was to be seen; and I am persuaded that the mother
of the four younglings had removed them elsewhere.
Since that time my opportunities of meeting with the American
Avoset have been few. On the 7th of November 1819, while
searching for rare birds a few miles from New Orleans, I shot one
which I found by itself on the margin of Bayou St John. It was a
young male, of which I merely took the measurements and
description. It was very thin, and had probably been unable to
proceed farther south. Its stomach contained only two small fresh-
water snails and a bit of stone. In May 1829, I saw three of these
birds at Great Egg Harbour, but found no nests, although those of
the Long-legged Avoset of Wilson were not uncommon. My friend
John Bachman considers them as rare in South Carolina, where,
however, he has occasionally seen some on the gravelly shores of
the sea islands.
On the 16th of April 1837, my good friend Captain Napoleon
Coste, of the United States Revenue Cutter the Campbell, on board
of which I then was, shot three individuals of this species on an
immense sand-bar, intersected by pools, about twelve miles from
Derniere Island on the Gulf of Mexico, and brought them to me in
perfect order. They were larger, and perhaps handsomer, than any
that I have seen; and had been killed out of a flock of five while
feeding. He saw several large flocks on the same grounds, and
assured me that the only note they emitted was a single whistle. He
also observed their manner of feeding, which he represented as
similar to that described above.
My friend Thomas Nuttall says in a note, that he “found this
species breeding on the islands of shallow ponds throughout the
Rocky Mountains about midsummer. They exhibited great fear and
clamour at the approach of the party, but no nests were found, they
being then under march.” Dr Richardson states, that it is abundant
on the Saskatchewan Plains, where it frequents shallow lakes, and
feeds on insects and small fresh water crustacea.
The flight of the American Avoset resembles that of the Himantopus
nigricollis. Both these birds pass through the air as if bent on
removing to a great distance, much in the manner of the Tell-tale
Godwit, or with an easy, rather swift and continued flight, the legs
and neck fully extended. When plunging towards an intruder, it at
times comes downwards, and passes by you, with the speed of an
arrow from a bow, but usually in moving off again, it suffers its legs to
hang considerably. I have never seen one of them exhibit the
bending and tremulous motions of the legs spoken of by writers,
even when raised suddenly from the nest; and I think that I am
equally safe in saying, that the bill has never been drawn from a
fresh specimen, or before it has undergone a curvature, which it
does not shew when the bird is alive. The notes of this bird resemble
the syllable click, sometimes repeated in a very hurried manner,
especially under alarm.

Recurvirostra Americana, Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p. 787.—Ch. Bonaparte,

Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 394.
American Avoset, Recurvirostra Americana, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. vii.
p. 126, pl. 63, fig. 2.
Recurvirostra Americana, Richards. and Swains., Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii.
p. 375.
American Avoset, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 74.

Adult Male. Plate CCCXVIII. Fig. 1.

Bill more than twice the length of the head, very slender, much
depressed, tapering to a point, and slightly recurved. Upper
mandible, with the dorsal line straight for half its length, then a little
curved upwards, and at the tip slightly decurved, the ridge broad and
flattened, the edges rather thick, the nasal groove rather long and
very narrow. Nostrils linear, basal, pervious. Lower mandible with the
angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line slightly curved upwards,
the point very slender, extremely thin and a little curved upwards.
Head small, rounded above, rather compressed. Neck long. Body
compact, ovate. Legs very long, slender; tibia elongated, bare for
half its length, and reticulated; tarsus very long, compressed,
reticulated with hexagonal scales; toes rather short, the first
extremely small; outer toe a little longer than inner; the anterior toes
connected by webs of which the anterior margin is deeply concave,
the lateral toes thickly margined. Claws very small, compressed,
rather blunt.
Plumage soft and blended. Wings long, of moderate breadth,
pointed; primaries straightish, tapering, the first longest, the rest
rapidly graduated; secondaries broad, incurved, the outer rounded,
the rest becoming pointed, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail
short, even, of twelve rather narrow, rounded feathers.
Bill black. Iris bright carmine. Feet light blue, webs flesh-coloured
towards their edges, claws black. Head, neck, and fore part of
breast, reddish-buff, the parts around the base of the bill and the
eye, nearly white. The back is white; but on its fore part is a
longitudinal band of brownish-black elongated feathers on each side,
and the inner scapulars are of the same colour, the outer and the
anterior edge of the wing being white. The wing brownish-black, with
a broad band of white formed by the tips of the secondary coverts,
four of the inner secondaries, and the basal part, with the inner webs
and outer edges of the rest. The under parts white, excepting some
of the primary quills and some of their coverts, which are greyish-
brown.
Length to end of tail 18 inches, to end of wings 18 1/2, to end of
claws 23 1/2 extent of wings 30 5/8; wing from flexure 9 1/2; tail 3 1/2;
bill along the ridge 3 3/4; bare part of the tibia 2 3/12; tarsus 3 5/8; hind
toe and claw 3/12; middle toe and claw 1 10/12; breadth of foot
extended 2 5/8. Weight 16 3/4 oz.
The Female is similar to the male, but somewhat smaller.
Young in winter. Plate CCCXVIII. Fig. 2.
The young in winter is similar to the adult, but with the head and
neck white, the dark colours of a browner tint.
Length to end of tail 18 inches, to end of wings 18 1/2; extent of
wings 30 1/2. Weight 13 oz.

In structure the Avosets are similar to the Numenii and Totani. In an

adult female the tongue is very short in proportion to the length of the
bill, being only 1 3/4 inch long, slightly emarginate at the base with a
few conical papillæ, slender, tapering to a point, horny on the back,
and flattened above. On the palate are two longitudinal series of
blunt papillæ. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear, 10
twelfths long, papillate on the edges. The œsophagus is 7 inches
and 9 twelfths long, inclines to the right side, and when the neck is
bent becomes posterior at the middle, as in the Herons and other
long-necked birds; its diameter 5 twelfths at the upper part, dilated to
8 twelfths previous to its entrance into the thorax. The proventriculus
is 1 inch long and 7 twelfths in diameter; its glandules cylindrical, 1
twelfth long. The stomach is a gizzard of moderate strength, oblong,
1 1/2 inch in length, 10 twelfths in breadth, its right lateral muscle 4
twelfths thick. Its contents were remains of small shells. Its inner
membrane of moderate thickness, hard, longitudinally rugous, and
deeply tinged with red. The intestine is 3 feet long, and 4 twelfths in
diameter; the rectum 2 inches long; of the cœca one is 2 3/4 inches
long, the other 2 1/4, their diameter 2 twelfths.

In another individual the intestine is 3 feet 9 inches long; one of the

cœca 2 3/4 inches, the other 3; the stomach 1 1/2 by 1 1/12. Its
contents small shell-fish and fragments of quartz.

The trachea is 6 1/2 inches long; its rings extremely thin and
unossified, 140 in number, its diameter 3 1/4 twelfths, nearly uniform
throughout, but rather narrower in the middle. The lateral muscles
are very thin. The bronchi are short, of about 10 rings.
 LEAST TERN.

Sterna minuta, Linn.

PLATE CCCXIX. Adult and Young.

Sylph-like bird of the waters, how delightful has it been to me to gaze

on thy gliding movements, on the fannings of thy gentle wings, on
the delicate silvery glance of thy soft and sattiny bosom, as thou
camest from distant and unknown shores, when the winter had
passed away, and the mild breezes of early summer blew around
thee, and thou soughtest a place of safety in which to sojourn for a
time. That frail frame of thine must have suffered many a hardship.
Fronting that last damp and chilling blast, I have seen thee gathering
up all thy little strength to force thy way; and when the fury of the
tempest assailed thee, wert thou not glad to seek for refuge under
yon bold headland! Ah, deny it not, for I have seen the delight
expressed by thee, when after awhile, returning calm and sunshine
revived thee, and thou spreadest thy wings anew, to ramble gaily
over the still turbulent waters. Well knowest thou, heaven-taught,
each bar and shallow along the desolate shore which thou skirtest
pilotless; soon shalt thou reach the haven where last summer smiled
on thee and thy brood; and there shalt thou gracefully alight by the
side of one whose love is all to thee.
As no account of this species exists in the Fauna Boreali-Americana,
it is to be supposed that it is not met with beyond the western shores
of Labrador, where however I found it in abundance and breeding, in
the beginning of June 1833. On the 14th of August following I
observed them at Newfoundland, moving southward in detached
parties of old and young, against a strong breeze, and uttering their
clamorous cries. Again, in the end of April 1837, hundreds of pairs
were breeding on the islands of Galveston Bay in Texas, the
numerous specimens which I then examined exhibiting no difference
from those obtained in Labrador and in our Middle Districts. Nay,
once, in the middle of June, while wading through the quick-sands of
Bayou Sara in Louisiana, I came to a high and dry sand-bar where I
picked up several eggs belonging to three pairs of birds of this
species, although the distance was about two hundred miles from
the sea in a direct line. I have at various times observed this Tern on
the waters of the Ohio in autumn, and now and then in spring, at the
latter period in company with the Short-tailed Tern, Sterna nigra, and
have again met with it on the shores of Lake Erie. I have also found
it in winter on the eastern coast of the Floridas, but in small numbers.
Few birds indeed seem to me to be so irregular in their migratory
movements, for they appear to stop at any convenient breeding
place from Texas to Labrador.
This species in some of its habits resembles the Marsh Tern, of
Wilson, which I feel certain is the Sterna anglica of Montagu. The
resemblance is especially manifest in the peculiar manner in which it
seizes insects while on wing over the pools of salt marshes and
elsewhere, where it is fond of rambling whenever the weather is at
all fine or pleasantly warm. It then plunges toward the ground or the
water, and, like a true Flycatcher, snatches its prey unawares from
the tops of the grasses, or whilst flying over the shallow green-
mantled pools.
Few birds are more gentle than this delicate species is at times; for,
apparently unaware of danger from the vicinity of man, it allows him
to approach within a few yards, whether it be on wing or on the
ground. Indeed, in the latter case, I have seen it when gorged so
reluctant to fly off that I have more than once thought it was asleep,
although on coming up I was always disappointed in my attempts to
catch it. Nothing can exceed the lightness of the flight of this bird,
which seems to me to be among water-fowls, the analogue of the
Humming-bird. They move with great swiftness at times, at others
balance themselves like hawks over their prey, then dart with the
velocity of thought to procure the tiny fry beneath the surface of the
waters. When you invade their breeding place, they will sometimes
sweep far away, and suddenly return, coming so near as almost to
strike you. While travelling, their light but firm flight is wonderfully
sustained; and on hearing and seeing them on such occasions, one
is tempted to believe them to be the happiest of the happy. They
seem as if marshalled and proceeding to a merry-making, so gaily
do they dance along, as if to the music of their own lively cries. Now
you see the whole group suddenly check their onward speed, hover
over a deep eddy supplied with numberless shrimps, and dash
headlong on their prey. Up rises the little thing with the shrimp in its
bill, and again down it plunges; and its movements are so light and
graceful that you look on with pleasure, and are in no haste to
depart. Should this scene be enacted while they have young in their
company, the latter await in the air the rise of their parents, meet
them, and receive the food from them. When all are satiated, they
proceed on their journey, stopping at another similar but distant
place.
Although along our Southern and Middle Districts, the Least Tern
merely scoops a very slight hollow in which to deposit its eggs, doing
this from the first of April to the first of June, according to the latitude
of the place, those which I found breeding on the coast of Labrador
had formed very snug nests, composed of short fragments of dry
moss, well matted together, and nearly of the size of that of the
American Robin, Turdus migratorius; while those met with on the
islands near the Bay of Galveston, were observed to have laid their
eggs upon the dry drifted weeds which appeared to have been
gathered by them for the purpose. The nests are generally placed
out of reach of the tides, but on some occasions I have known the
hopes of a whole colony destroyed by the sudden overflow of their
selected places caused by a severe gale, and have observed that,
on such occasions, their clamour was as great as if they had been
robbed of their eggs by man.
The number of eggs deposited by this species is more frequently
three than four. Like those of most other Terns, they differ somewhat
in size and markings, although I never found any so large as those
described by Wilson, who states that they measure nearly an inch
and three quarters in length, which would better agree with the eggs
of the Common Tern. The average of a basketful was found to be
one inch and two and a half eighths in length, by seven and a half
eighths in breadth. They are rather pointed at the smaller end, and
their ground colour is pale yellowish-white, blotched with irregular
dark brown spots, intermixed with others of a dull purplish tint.
I have found this Tern breeding among Shearwaters along the
Florida coast; and my friend the Reverend John Bachman has
observed the same circumstance on the “Bird’s Banks,” on the
coasts of South Carolina, where it is abundant, as well as on Sullivan
Island.
The common note of our Least Tern resembles that of the Barn
Swallow when disturbed about its nest, being as smartly and rapidly
repeated at times. When it proves convenient for it to alight on the
ground or on a sand-beach, after it has secured a prawn or small
fish, it does so, and there devours its prey piecemeal, but it more
usually swallows it on wing. On the ground it walks prettily, with short
steps, keeping its tail somewhat raised.

Sterna minuta, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 228.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p.
809.—Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 355.