Recording Methods
Select the right data collection method when adding behaviors and skills.
Choosing a Recording Method
Select the right data collection method when configuring behaviors and skills in TallyFlex. Your choice determines how you’ll track progress during sessions.
Decision Guide
Follow this flowchart to select the right recording method:
Start: What are you measuring?
Skill acquisition → What skill type?
- Single responses → Percent Correct
- Multi-step skills → Task Analysis
Behavior occurrence → Can you count each instance?
- Yes → What dimension matters most?
- How often → Frequency
- How long → Duration
- Response speed → Latency
- No → What’s your observation context?
- Multiple students or long observations → Momentary Time Sampling
- Single student, focused observation → What’s your treatment goal?
- Decrease behavior → Partial Interval
- Increase behavior → Whole Interval
- Yes → What dimension matters most?
Quick Reference
| Method | Question It Answers | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Percent Correct | ”How accurate?” | DTT, skill acquisition, structured teaching |
| Frequency | ”How many times?” | Countable behaviors with clear start/end |
| Duration | ”How long?” | When length matters more than count |
| Latency | ”How quickly?” | Response time to instruction/cue |
| Partial Interval | ”Did it occur?” | Rapid/continuous behaviors to decrease |
| Whole Interval | ”Was it sustained?” | Engagement behaviors to increase |
| Momentary Time Sampling | ”Is it happening right now?” | Multiple students, long observations, representative estimates |
| Task Analysis | ”Which steps need support?” | Multi-step skills, chaining, prompt fading |
Need guided help? Try our interactive Recording Method Finder - answer a few questions and get a personalized recommendation.
Configuration Options
Customize each recording method when adding behaviors:
Duration Recording:
- Set minimum duration threshold to auto-discard brief occurrences
Latency Recording:
- Set maximum latency to auto-stop timer and prevent outliers
Interval Recording (Partial, Whole & MTS):
- Choose interval length (typically 10-30 seconds)
- Enable notification alerts at each interval
- MTS includes a full-screen overlay with a 15-second response window at each interval
Understanding Interval Bias
Important: Interval recording methods have inherent measurement bias.
- Partial Interval tends to overestimate frequency → Conservative choice for problem behaviors you want to decrease
- Whole Interval tends to underestimate duration → Conservative choice for engagement behaviors you want to increase
- Momentary Time Sampling provides the most accurate estimate of actual duration percentage → Best for representative sampling across long observations or multiple students
Choose the method that matches your observation context and treatment goals.
What’s Next?
- Add a Behavior or Skill - Configure your first tracker
- Recording Methods During Sessions - How to use each method
- Task Analysis Setup - Configure multi-step skills with prompt tracking
- Working with Graphs - Visualize your data
Need Help?
Questions about recording methods? Email support@tallyflex.com for assistance.