>> Introduction to best
available research evidence.
Gathering best available
research evidence will help
to answer the following
questions:
How much scientific
research has been done
on a program, practice,
or policy?
What effects have the program,
practice, or policy had
on preventing violence?
How well does the design
of the various studies support
the validity of the findings?
What implementation guidance
is available and what does
that guidance tell us
about resources, processes,
and capacity needed
to successfully implement
the program ,or policy?
>> Well, I think in order
for prevention programs
to be successful,
they need to be built
on the best evidence
that's available.
Again, you don't want to do
harm, so you need to at --
consider the evidence that's
reassuring about that.
You want to be smart
in the work you do,
so you want build whatever
you're doing on the successes
that other people have had.
That's how we advance the field.
That's how we become as
successful as possible.
That's how we make real
differences in people's lives.
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>> Two important facets of best
available research evidence:
Strength of the evidence,
the extent to which outcomes
can truly be attributed
to the program, or
policy; effectiveness
of the program practice
or policy; the existence
of desirable outcomes and
no undesirable outcomes.
>> In order to see that
a program is effective,
we need to be able to measure
the outcome that we're looking
at so having a rigorous
design is very important.
In the research world we
have some sets of the kind
of anticipated standards
of practice, and that means
that we have procedures
that we use
for how we collect information,
and so all of those standards
have been developed over time
and help us to have
a common language.
Keeping our practices
within those standards helps
us make sure that we can,
as I said earlier,
try to rule out any
of the other characteristics
that may be happening
at the same time but really
not affecting the event.
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>> Finding best available
research evidence.
Many areas of public health
including violence prevention
are still developing the
research evidence base
which limits practitioners'
options
for implementing evidence-based
preventive interventions.
The designation of best
available research evidence
acknowledges that in many
areas of violence prevention,
the research evidence is
still being developed.
Best available research
evidence is strongest
when it includes studies
that are rigorously designed,
strategies that have been
replicated and evaluated
across multiple settings and
populations, and strategies
with comprehensive
guidance for implementation.
Not all violence prevention
strategies meet the highest
standards of rigor; for example,
in some situations randomly
assigning participants
to a treatment or control
group may not be feasible
or acceptable.
In these cases,
quasi-experimental designs
may be a more feasible option.
Observational studies
and qualitative data may also
provide useful information
although these methods
are less rigorous.
The goal remains to
seek out evidence
with the highest level
of rigor possible.
>> Rigorous evaluation
designs help us understand
where those relationships are
true and where they happen
to be related to something else.
So when we are able to look at
an intervention, for example,
and have a group of
young people who are part
of that intervention and a
group of people who are not,
then we have something
to compare to.
When we look just at one
situation without a comparison,
it helps -- it makes
it difficult for us
to have an understanding of what
would have happened otherwise.
So rigorous -- as rigorous as
we can an evaluation design,
it really helps us truly
understand what's going on.
>> In order to find the best
available research evidence,
a literature search might
include database searches
on relevant key words and web
searches on relevant government,
university, and nonprofit
registries and sites.
Many of these are publicly
available on the Internet.
Finally, research evidence
in the peer review literature
may not provide all the
information that may be
required to appraise evidence
of effectiveness completely.
It may also be useful to contact
the developers of the program
if possible or others who
have implemented the strategy
to collect information
on the settings
where the program has
been implemented before,
find out how the program has
been implemented and evaluated,
and determine the availability
of implementation
guidance and support.