FW: [pelican] New ILAC Working Paper on Randomised Control Trials (RCTs)

[Bindiya Rawat]

Dear All,

Apologies for cross-posting. However, couldn’t resist sharing this ILAC Working Paper on Randomised Control Trials (RCT).

Regards,

Bindiya


Bindiya Rawat
Manager
Association For Stimulating Know How (ASK)
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Haryana, INDIA.
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ASK is a capacity building organization, engaging with grassroots communities, NGOs, Government and Corporate to enhance thinking, reflection, learning and action to achieve equitable development and social justice.

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------ Forwarded Message
From: Cristina Sette <c.s...@cgiar.org>
Reply-To: "Pelican Initiative: Platform for Evidence-based Learning & Communication for Social Change" <pel...@dgroups.org>
Date: 14 Oct 2010 11:12:10 +0200
To: "Pelican Initiative: Platform for Evidence-based Learning & Communication for Social Change" <pel...@dgroups.org>
Subject: [pelican] New ILAC Working Paper on Randomised Control Trials (RCTs)

Dear Colleagues,
 
In keeping with ILAC's policy for its periodical Working Papers, viz. to provide new thinking of relevance to institutional learning and change, we offer Carlos Baharona's Randomised Control Trials for the Impact Evaluation of Development Initiatives: A Statistician’s Point of View. This paper contains a statistician's reflections on the use of Randomised Control Trial designs (RCT) for evaluating the impact of development initiatives -- a very pertinent topic in the current wide search for appropriate ways to provide insights and  information on the results and value of agricultural R&D.
 
ILAC Working Papers are just that – working papers that require further thought and revision through discussion with readers. Accordingly, Dr. Barahona invites your responses in order to assist him to revise the paper for submission to a journal or other publication.
 
Your feedback should be sent to: Cristina Sette, c.s...@cgiar.org <mailto:c.s...@cgiar.org>
 
Link to the paper: http://www.cgiar-ilac.org/content/working-papers
 
Introduction:
This paper contains the technical and practical reflections of a statistician on the use of Randomised Control Trial designs (RCT) for evaluating the impact of development initiatives. It is divided into three parts. The first part discusses RCTs in impact evaluation, their origin, how they have developed and the debate that has been generated in the evaluation circles. The second part examines difficult issues faced in applying RCT designs to the impact evaluation of development initiatives, to what extent this type of design can be applied rigorously, the validity of the assumptions underlying RCT designs in this context, and the opportunities and constraints inherent in their adoption. The third part discusses the some of the ethical issues raised by RCTs, the need to establish ethical standards for studies about development options and the need for an open mind in the selection of research methods and tools.
 
Best regards,
ILAC Team
 
 
Cristina Sette
Programme Specialist,
Institutional Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative
c/o Bioversity International
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
Via dei Tre Denari 472a
00057 Maccarese (Fiumicino)
Rome, Italy
Tel: (39) 066118358
Fax: (39) 066118398
SKYPE: Cris-Brazil
Email: C.s...@cgiar.org <mailto:C.s...@cgiar.org>
www.cgiar-ilac.org <http://www.cgiar-ilac.org>

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