Identify and explain each level of the National Institute of Justice’s Implementing Evidence-Based Practice in Corrections.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Too often programs or practices are promoted as having research support without any regard for either the quality or the research methods that were employed. Therefore a research support pyramid illustrates how research findings are ranked. There are five levels of research support: gold, silver, bronze, iron, and dirt. The highest-quality research support depicted in this schema (gold level) reflects interventions and practices that have been evaluated with experimental/control design and with multiple site replications that concluded significant sustained reductions in recidivism were associated with the intervention. The criteria for the next levels of support progressively decrease in terms of research rigor requirements (silver and bronze), but all the top three levels require that a preponderance of all evidence supports effectiveness. The next rung lower in support (iron) is reserved for programs that have inconclusive support regarding their efficacy. Finally, the lowest level designation (dirt) is reserved for those programs that have research (utilizing methods and criteria associated with gold and silver levels), but the findings were negative and the programs were determined not effective.