A summative evaluation of RCT methodology: and an alternative approach to causal research

 This review focuses on what the author terms a reconsideration of the working credentials of the randomly controlled trial (RCT) design, and includes a discussion of popularly accepted aspects as well as some new perspectives. The author concludes that there is nothing either imperative or superior about the need for RCT designs, and that an optimal procedure is simply to require very high standards in matching designs from the wide range that can yield high confidence levels to the problem and the resources available. The article presupposes familiarity with the concepts of experimental design.