Director’s Message: Replication Studies are Vital to Science We Can Count On

 

The dependability of the science NIJ nurtures has been a point of emphasis for this agency throughout its half-century history. Now, with the scientific enterprise accelerating as never before, in volume and complexity, NIJ has redoubled its commitment to fostering science as reliable as it is relevant. One measure of that commitment is NIJ’s push in recent years for wider use of randomized controlled trials, or RCTs, the gold standard of evaluation. NIJ’s recent and upcoming grant solicitations have place a premium on research proposals built around RCTs, wherever feasible. In fiscal year 2021 solicitations, NIJ is inviting new replication research. Select solicitations will welcome proposals to replicate seminal studies in several research areas. These solicitations will also encourage study proposals to revisit programs rated “promising” or “effective” in the CrimeSolutions repository, by applying rigorous RCTs where less rigorous quasi-experimental evaluations had initially generated those ratings. Read the new message from the NIJ Director to learn more about the importance of this focus. READ THE MESSAGE