e-space
Manchester Metropolitan University's Research Repository

    Learning from failure: A context-informed perspective on RCTs

    Coldwell, M ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7385-3077 and Moore, N (2024) Learning from failure: A context-informed perspective on RCTs. British Educational Research Journal. ISSN 0141-1926

    [img]
    Preview
    Published Version
    Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

    Download (381kB) | Preview

    Abstract

    Discussions of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in education that do not show an impact regularly focus on the intervention and how it failed to impact on expected measures, with typologies identifying persistent critical points of failure. This paper uses one such RCT—the Integrating English programme—to exemplify the application of a new model to explain failure in RCTs. To do so, the paper develops a set of categories of context drawing on the wider social evaluation field: backdrop, design, operation and interpretation. Thus, the paper exposes critical weak points in the commission and interpretation, as well as the implementation, of an RCT. Our aim is to work towards more robust evaluations by demonstrating that it is not simply the programme design, implementation and evaluation that can contribute to a lack of impact; there can be more fundamental system issues at play.

    Impact and Reach

    Statistics

    Activity Overview
    6 month trend
    118Downloads
    6 month trend
    98Hits

    Additional statistics for this dataset are available via IRStats2.

    Altmetric

    Repository staff only

    Edit record Edit record