Intervention

Intervention research examines the effects of an intervention on an outcome of interest. The primary purpose of intervention research is to engender a desirable outcome for individuals in need (e.g., reduce depressive symptoms or strengthen reading skills). As such, intervention research might be thought of as differing from prevention research, where the goal is to prevent a negative outcome from occurring, or even from classic laboratory experimentation, where the goal is often to support specific tenets of theoretical paradigms. Assessment of an intervention's effects, the sine qua non of intervention research, varies according to study design, but typically involves both statistical and logical inferences.

The hypothetical intervention study presented next is used to illustrate important features of intervention research. Assume a researcher wants to examine the ...