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The first use of RCTs in education is uncertain. In the last century the use of the design pre-dated its use in medicine by at least a decade (although medical trials may have been undertaken in the 19th century). Forsetlund and colleagues (2007) identified two education trials conducted by Walters in 1931 and 1932, which predated the 1944 and 1948 medical trials run by the UK's Medical Research Council by more than a decade. The early interest in RCTs among some educational researchers was not sustained. Other, less robust, designs to demonstrate educational effectiveness were pursued. For example, quasi-experimental studies were often preferred, being relatively inexpensive, rapid to conduct and often able to generate politically attractive conclusions. However, their results are inherently less reliable than the results from RCTs as their internal validity is always potentially confounded by variables offering alternative explanations.

Publication Title: Education Matters DOI: 10.4324/9780203123829-29