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Review
. 2023 Sep 27;13(10):1377.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13101377.

The Perfect Match! A Review and Tutorial on Issues Related to Matching Groups in Investigations of Children with Neurodevelopmental Conditions

David Messer  1   2 , Lucy A Henry  2 , Henrik Danielsson  3
Affiliations
Review

The Perfect Match! A Review and Tutorial on Issues Related to Matching Groups in Investigations of Children with Neurodevelopmental Conditions

David Messer et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Research concerned with children and young people who have neurodevelopmental disabilities (ND) in relation to early language acquisition usually involves comparisons with matched group(s) of typically developing individuals. In these studies, several important and complex issues need to be addressed. Three major issues are related to: (1) the choice of a variables on which to carry out group matching; (2) recruiting children into the study; and (3) the statistical analysis of the data. To assist future research on this topic, we discuss each of these three issues and provide recommendations about what we believe to be the best course of action. To provide a comprehensive review of the methodological issues, we draw on research beyond the topic of early language acquisition. Our overall aim is to contribute to research that considers questions about delay or differences in development patterns of development and about identifying potentially causal variables.

Keywords: group comparisons; group matching; language acquisition; neurodevelopmental conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Three different ways, shown in panels (A–C), of plotting group characteristics in relation to whether the groups are equivalent (see text for a detailed explanation).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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