Randomized Controlled Trials
Randomized controlled trials are the gold standard in research, producing causal evidence about the efficacy and impact of policies and programs.
A randomized controlled trial, or RCT, is considered the gold standard in research. A RCT is a rigorous study that randomly assigns participants to either a “treatment group” who are offered the intervention, or a “control group” who have access to all other services except for the intervention. By measuring what would have happened to the treatment group without the intervention, an RCT lets researchers isolate the effect of the intervention itself.
The Crime Lab uses RCTs as our preferred method of project evaluation wherever possible. While RCTs can be time and resource intensive, they generate high-quality results to ensure that our partners and policymakers can make informed decisions about how to best support communities affected by gun violence.
Latest Updates
Madison Police Department captain recognized nationally as a rising police leader
Captain Stephanie Drescher, a graduate of the Policing Leadership Academy, was awarded the 2024 Past President Scholarship at the National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives conference for their work on domestic violence homicides.
Second Chance Month: Centering Lived Experience in Violence Intervention
In recognition of Second Chance Month, the National League of Cities’ Maryam Ahmed and Kirby Gaherty write about the importance of centering “credible messengers”—people with lived experience in the justice system—to advance community safety and highlight the Crime Lab’s Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy.
Why America fell for guns
Megan Kang, a Crime Lab affiliate and Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Princeton University, writes an essay that describes America’s extraordinary levels of gun ownership in the context of a key turning point in US gun culture in the mid-20th century.
