But graphing is the most efficient method to see patterns within the data and make sense about it. You can use a graphing program like Excel or graph it by hand. If you used data sheets instead of index cards, you will need to graph the data in some way.

When I Analyze ABC Data, Do I Have to Graph It? I wrote a post about using index cards to collect ABC data that you can check out HERE. It’s a good way to avoid having to graph the data but still get quantitative information about the frequency of different elements in the data (e.g., common antecedents). If you collect ABC data using index cards, you can stack them in different ways to see which are the highest elements you are analyzing. The first step to analyze your ABC data is to summarize it in some way. So, I wanted to share some tips on how to summarize and analyze your data to try to see some patterns and develop hypotheses. Your data may seem like it doesn’t show a pattern at all. Your indirect assessment may or may not match up with your behavioral assessment data. Sometimes this is a simple task, but most times it’s a bit more complicated. And, as with most things, the first step is to organize and summarize it so we can develop a hypothesis about the function of the behavior. The next step is to start to make sense of it–we need to analyze ABC data for it to help us. We talked about behavioral assessment data, including ABC data collection, so now we have lots of background information, indirect assessment and ABC data collected.

Abc behavior examples