Randomized Controlled Trials: Design and Implementation for Community-Based Psychosocial Interventions

by Phyllis Solomon, Mary M. Cavanaugh, Jeffrey Draine

Overview

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered by many researchers and providers to be the gold standard of health and social service effectiveness research. However, there exist scant resources that deal with the complex nature of designing and implementing RCTs in community-based settings. This clearly written pocket guide provides researchers and social service practitioners insight into each step of an RCT. The goal of this text is to enable readers to understand, design, and implement a community-based RCT.

From the initial stage of planning the RCT and developing its conceptual foundations through implementation, the authors provide a wealth of detail and case studies from social work practice research that assist readers to comprehend the detailed information provided. Accessible, concrete advice is woven throughout the text and tackles the many design and implementation challenges that arise in community practice settings. The importance of utilizing a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods is encouraged due to the intricate nature of RCT research in community-based environments.

Through utilizing practical case examples, this pocket guide reviews the essentials of RCTs in a manner that will appeal to researchers, practitioners and students alike who are seeking the necessary tools to build the empirical knowledge base for community-based psychosocial interventions for social work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195333190
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	02/02/2009
Series:	Pocket Guides to Social Work Research Methods Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	286,342
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Ethical Consideration of RCTs
3. Planning the RCT
4. Developing Conceptual Foundations for RCTs
5. Designing the RCT
6. Implementing the RCT
7. Generalizing the RCT Outcomes to Community Practice Settings

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Paul Florsheim, PhD (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Description: Conducting scientifically sound intervention research in real world settings is an extraordinarily difficult but valuable research endeavor, vital to social work's mission of addressing recalcitrant social problems. Conducting a well constructed intervention study involves elaborate planning and careful execution. There are many important details, some rarely discussed in standard research design books, including strategies for engaging and negotiating with research-weary administrators and clinicians. Most introductory research books do not prepare novice psychosocial researchers for the complexities of collaborating with community-based agencies or working through the practical and ethical issues involved in the randomization process. This is a thoughtful, accessible, practical guide for novice intervention researchers.
Purpose: The book is concise, but covers several critical issues including planning and design, implementation, generalization, and ethics. Although written for an audience of new researchers (and their instructors), it is also useful for more seasoned researchers looking for a systematic, structured approach to managing the messy elements of intervention research. The purpose of the book is to both advocate for RCT (randomized controlled trial) community-based research and to provide social work researchers with the tools to develop an empirical basis for social work practice.
Audience: Social welfare researchers, social work students, and instructors of research methods in community settings are the intended audience.
Features: The authors provide many pearls of wisdom based on their many years of experience conducting research in community settings. Indeed, chapters 3 and 6, on planning and implementing RCTs, are worth reading more than once. Both contain exceptionally thoughtful and detailed advice on the nuts and bolts of collaboration, engagement, and long term planning. However, instructors will need to supplement this guide with a more traditional textbook.
Assessment: I would recommend this book to novice researchers looking for help with the details of starting and running a community-based clinical trial. Running a community-based randomized trial is a strenuous, multiyear endeavor. This quick and easy read is likely to save time and increase the chance of long term success.

Doody's Review Service

"I would recommend this book to novice researchers looking for help with the details of starting and running a community-based clinical trial. Running a community-based randomized trial is a strenuous, multiyear endeavor. This quick and easy read is likely to save time and increase the chance of long term success."—Paul Florsheim, PhD, for Doody's Health Sciences Review

From the Publisher