"Congratulations, You Have Been Randomized into the Control Group!(?)": Issues to Consider when Recruiting Schools for Matched-Pair Randomized Control Trials of Prevention Programs

Autor/inn/en	Ji, Peter; DuBois, David L.; Flay, Brian R.; Brechling, Vanessa
Titel	"Congratulations, You Have Been Randomized into the Control Group!(?)": Issues to Consider when Recruiting Schools for Matched-Pair Randomized Control Trials of Prevention Programs
Quelle	In: Journal of School Health, 78 (2008) 3, S.131-139 (9 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	Weitere Informationen
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-4391
DOI	10.1111/j.1746-1561.2007.00275.x
Schlagwörter	Control Groups; Prevention; Recruitment; Sampling; Research Methodology; Program Evaluation; Matched Groups; Experimental Groups; Institutional Characteristics; Research Design; Schools + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Prävention; Vorbeugung; Recruiting; Rekrutierung; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Programme evaluation; Programmevaluation; Forschungsdesign; School; Schule
Abstract	Background: Recruiting schools into a matched-pair randomized control trial (MP-RCT) to evaluate the efficacy of a school-level prevention program presents challenges for researchers. We considered which of 2 procedures would be most effective for recruiting schools into the study and assigning them to conditions. In 1 procedure (recruit and match/randomize), we would recruit schools and match them prior to randomization, and in the other (match/randomize and recruitment), we would match schools and randomize them prior to recruitment. Method: We considered how each procedure impacted the randomization process and our ability to recruit schools into the study. After implementing the selected procedure, the equivalence of both treatment and control group schools and the participating and nonparticipating schools on school demographic variables was evaluated. Results: We decided on the recruit and match/randomize procedure because we thought it would provide the opportunity to build rapport with the schools and prepare them for the randomization process, thereby increasing the likelihood that they would accept their randomly assigned conditions. Neither the treatment and control group schools nor the participating and nonparticipating schools exhibited statistically significant differences from each other on any of the school demographic variables. Conclusions: Recruitment of schools prior to matching and randomization in an MP-RCT may facilitate the recruitment of schools and thus enhance both the statistical power and the representativeness of study findings. Future research would benefit from the consideration of a broader range of variables (eg, readiness to implement a comprehensive prevention program) both in matching schools and in evaluating their representativeness to nonparticipating schools. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10