586 Appendix

Appendix 3.
Guidelines for Estimating Effect Size

Common methods for estimating responsiveness, i.e., sensitivity to change, are dis-
tribution based. Figure 1 illustrates some of these methods. They are explained fur-
ther in the literature [4, 5].
If variance is not reported, a simple relative change can be estimated by using the
difference in the mean between the baseline and the followup divided by the mean
value at the baseline.
To calculate the effect size (ES), the difference in the means between measure-
ment points (e.g., between baseline and followup) is divided by a measure of vari-
ance (e.g., the standard deviation at the baselin: Effect Size I). This formula can be
directly transferred to comparisons between groups (i.e., difference in means
between groups divided by the summed standard deviation for the groups).
To calculate the Standardized Response Mean (SRM), the difference between two
measurement points is divided by the standard deviation for the difference in a
group. The formula can be directly generalized to comparisons between groups
(i.e., the difference in means between two measurement points in the groups divid-
ed by the summed standard deviation for this difference).
These methods provide information about the importance of an identified differ-
ence when using different types of instruments with different scoring and ranges
of variation, i.e., how well one can distinguish the signal from the noise. To
achieve more uniform assessments, the methodology is appearing more often in
scientific reporting of treatment effects.

General rules for estimating the magnitude of ES or SRM: [2]

< 0.20: trivial effect
0.20-0.50: small effect
0.50-0.80: moderate effect
> 0.80: large effect

Method Formula

Relative change [3]

Relative effect size [1]
Effect size I (ES) [4,7]
Effect size II (SRM) [6]
Effect size III (t-test) & Relative effect size (t/t) [8]
Effect size IV (t-test) [5]

Figure 1. Common methods for evaluating responsiveness.

Treating Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Edited by M. Berglund, S. Thelander, E. Jonsson
Copyright c 2003 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
ISBN: 3-527-30682-X