Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) have been widely used in field experiments treating a cluster of individuals as the unit of randomization. This study focused particularly on situations where CRTs are accompanied by a common complication, namely, treatment noncompliance or, more generally, intervention nonadherence. In CRTs, compliance may be…

This guide provides evaluators interested in new methods with a framework for determining the feasibility, utility, and effectiveness of the methods in field settings. To accomplish this intent, the body of this guide contains discussions of five checklists. Three of the checklists are to be used before a trial to determine the feasibility of one…

Since all Agency for International Development (AID) projects require an evaluation component, AID's emphasis on assistance to agriculture and rural development projects ensures a continuing need for skilled and expert personnel to evaluate those projects. Intended for potential AID project evaluators, this guide uses experience gained from field…

This book offers a resource guide for qualitative researchers in education, discussing data collection techniques, data analysis, reporting, and the issues of validity, reliability, and ethics. Part 1 reviews the nature and design of qualitative research; it discusses various types of qualitative research (including case studies), and how to…

Two innovative methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data are vignettes and pre-structured cases. Vignettes are descriptions of situations or problems written by a professional, with a suggested outline and comments provided by a researcher. Advantages of this method are strength of impact of the written descriptions and efficiency of…

There are many approaches to studying the classroom environment. This publication is a collection of papers presented at the fourth Research Seminar and Workshop at the Western Australian Institute of Technology on educational research in the classroom. The four papers contained in this document describe various approaches and perspectives to…

To provide a real life example of case study methodology for educational evaluation, a naturalistic study of a Catholic junior college in Minneapolis, Minnesota is presented. Conducted as part of the ongoing evaluation of a federally supported project, the study provides an external observer's descriptive portrayal of the school, plus the…