No abstract available
This study critiques a prominent scholar’s claim that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) - the gold standard research method - don’t work in criminal justice and should be abandoned in favor of less rigorous approaches. The authors argue this conclusion is flawed because it inappropriately combines results from vastly different studies with different designs, populations, and outcomes - like mixing apples and oranges to draw broad conclusions. Instead of abandoning rigorous research methods, police departments and criminal justice agencies should use more comprehensive study designs borrowed from medicine that can better account for the complex, real-world factors that affect whether reforms actually work and last over time.
(AI-generated summary, v1, January 2026)
Citations: 3 (as of January 2026)