"1. First, as demonstrated below, randomized control group trials
(RCTs), even when possible, are NOT always superior to other
approaches (non-RCTs) in demonstrating causality.
2. Second, there are many issues of great importance in educational
as well as in social or health research where it is ethically and/or
practically IMPOSSIBLE TO USE RCTs,..."
I would highly recommend studying assessment expert Michael Scriven's
arguments on this topic.
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I second Antti's recommendation to study Scriven's arguments.
REFERENCES
Hake, R.R. 2005a. "Should Randomized Control Trials Be the Gold
Standard of Educational Research ?" online at
<http://lists.asu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0504&L=aera-l&T=0&O=D&P=1945>. Post of
15 Apr 2005 to AERA-C, AERA-D, AERA-G, AERA-H, AERA-J, AERA-K, AERA-L,
AP-Physics, ASSESS, Biopi-L, Chemed-L, EvalTalk, Math-Learn, Phys-L,
Physhare, POD, STLHE-L, & TIPS.