title: A method to obtain a randomized control group where it seems impossible. A case study in program evaluation.
abstract: Randomization of program participants into control and experimental groups is often not feasible in field settings. The researcher's desire to evaluate a program with a rigorous experimental design is often incompatible with the objective of serving the expressed needs of the program participants. However, opportunities do arise when a randomized control group can be constructed without disregarding the participants' wish to be included in the treatment group. This article describes a method that uses the participants' compliance to program instructions as a means of classifying participants and, thereby, obtains a randomized control group for a subset of participants. A large smoking intervention project is used to illustrate two variations of this method.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0905, USA. szhu@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D002140:California; D003663:Decision Trees; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods*; D015277:Hotlines / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012107:Research Design / Q000592:standards*; D016540:Smoking Cessation