Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)

A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is a way of doing impact evaluation in which the population receiving
the programme or policy intervention is chosen at random from the eligible population, and a control group
is also chosen at random from the same eligible population. It tests the extent to which specific, planned
impacts are being achieved.
In an RCT, the programme or policy is viewed as an ‘intervention’ in which a treatment – the elements of
the programme/policy being evaluated – is tested for how well it achieves its objectives, as measured by a
predetermined set of indicators. The strength of an RCT is that it provides a very powerful response to
questions of causality, helping evaluators and programme implementers to know that what is being
achieved is as a result of the intervention and not anything else.