Random Assignment in Program Evaluation and Intervention Research: Questions and Answers

Document Outline

• Random Assignment in Program Evaluation and Intervention Research: Questions and Answers
  • What is the purpose of education program evaluation? 
  • What is random assignment?
  • Why random assignment instead of another approach?
  • Is participation in the evaluation voluntary?
  • Does the intervention group need to have the same number of participants as the control group?
  • Is random assignment a fair way to select participants?
  • Do you have to change the process for recruiting participants?
  • What happens to participants in the control condition? Can they receive other kinds of services?
  • Will participants in the control group ever have an opportunity to receive the new services?
  • Are there situations in which random assignment is or isn’t appropriate?
  • What happens if a participant “drops out” of the program after being randomly assigned to the intervention group?
  • What would you gain by participating in a program evaluation?