The current situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic has had huge consequences in all aspects of our lives, including the development of research activities. Studies involving face-to-face interaction with people, such as randomized controlled trials, were the first affected. The objective of this article is to present the insights on challenges…

In this article, Rachel Abenavoli, Natalia Rojas, Rebecca Unterman, Elise Cappella, Josh Wallack, and Pamela Morris argue that research-practice partnerships make it possible to rigorously study relevant policy questions in ways that would otherwise be infeasible. Randomized controlled trials of small-scale programs have shown us that early…

In this article, Rachel Abenavoli, Natalia Rojas, Rebecca Unterman, Elise Cappella, Josh Wallack, and Pamela Morris argue that research-practice partnerships make it possible to rigorously study relevant policy questions in ways that would otherwise be infeasible. Randomized controlled trials of small-scale programs have shown us that early…

In the coming years, public programs will capture even more and richer data than they do now, including data from web-based tools used by participants in employment services, from tablet-based educational curricula, and from electronic health records for Medicaid beneficiaries. Program evaluators seeking to take full advantage of these data…

School-based evaluations of interventions are increasingly common in education research. Ideally, the results of these evaluations are used to make evidence-based policy decisions for students. However, it is difficult to make generalizations from these evaluations because the types of schools included in the studies are typically not selected…

National governments use evidence selectively to argue that a successful policy intervention in one local area should be emulated in others ("evidence-based best practice"). However, the value of such evidence is always limited because there is: disagreement on the best way to gather evidence of policy success, uncertainty regarding the…

Background: An Internet-based relapse prevention supplement to adolescent substance abuse treatment programming is a promising modality to reinforce treatment gains and enhance recovery; however, an evidence base is lacking. Objective: To assess the efficacy of the online Navigating my Journey (NmJ) program. Methods: 129 adolescent-aged…

This report describes in detail how researchers, policymakers, and program administrators can recognize opportunities for experiments and carry them out. Specifically, the report focuses on opportunistic experiments, defined as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that study the effects of initiatives, program changes, or policy actions that…

Background: In elementary grades, comprehensive health education curricula have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing singular health issues. The Michigan Model for Health (MMH) was implemented and evaluated to determine its impact on nutrition, physical fitness, and safety knowledge and skills. Methods: Schools (N = 52) were randomly assigned…

"Un Buen Comienzo" [A Good Start] was a professional development program implemented with prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in Chilean public schools serving low-income families. In a randomized trial, the program showed moderate to large impacts on classroom quality but no impacts on targeted child outcomes. To unpack these…

To do research that really makes a difference--the authors of this book argue--social scientists need questions and methods that reflect the complexity of the world. Bringing together a consortium of voices across a variety of fields, "Methods that Matter" offers compelling and successful examples of mixed methods research that do just…