What Works

Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back and de-biasing minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. Behavioral design offers a new solution. Iris Bohnet shows that by de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts—often at low cost and high speed.

Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back and de-biasing minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. Behavioral design offers a new solution. Iris Bohnet shows that by de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts—often at low cost and high speed.

Building substantially on the earlier, landmark text, What Works? (Policy Press, 2000), this book brings together key thinkers and researchers to provide a contemporary review of the aspirations and realities of evidence-informed policy and practice. The text is clearly structured and provides sector by sector analysis of evidence use in policy-making and service delivery, considers some crosscutting themes, includes a section of international commentaries, and concludes by looking at lessons from the past and prospects for the future. This book will be of interest to a wide range of social science researchers, students and practitioners as well as those interested in supporting more evidence-informed policy and practice.

Healthcare decision makers in search of reliable information that compares health interventions increasingly turn to systematic reviews for the best summary of the evidence. Systematic reviews identify, select, assess, and synthesize the findings of similar but separate studies, and can help clarify what is known and not known about the potential benefits and harms of drugs, devices, and other healthcare services. Systematic reviews can be helpful for clinicians who want to integrate research findings into their daily practices, for patients to make well-informed choices about their own care, for professional medical societies and other organizations that develop clinical practice guidelines. Too often systematic reviews are of uncertain or poor quality. There are no universally accepted standards for developing systematic reviews leading to variability in how conflicts of interest and biases are handled, how evidence is appraised, and the overall scientific rigor of the process. In Finding What Works in Health Care the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends 21 standards for developing high-quality systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research. The standards address the entire systematic review process from the initial steps of formulating the topic and building the review team to producing a detailed final report that synthesizes what the evidence shows and where knowledge gaps remain. Finding What Works in Health Care also proposes a framework for improving the quality of the science underpinning systematic reviews. This book will serve as a vital resource for both sponsors and producers of systematic reviews of comparative effectiveness research.

Yong Zhao shines a light on the long-ignored phenomenon of side effects of education policies and practices, bringing a fresh and perhaps surprising perspective to evidence-based practices and policies. Identifying the adverse effects of some of the “best” educational interventions with examples from classrooms to boardrooms, the author investigates causes and offers clear recommendations. “A highly readable and important book about the side effects of education reforms. Every educator and researcher should take its lessons to heart.” —Diane Ravitch, New York University “A stunning analysis of the problems encountered in our efforts to improve education. If Yong Zhao has not delivered the death blow to naive empiricism, he has at least severely wounded it.” —Gene V. Glass, San José State University “This book is a brilliantly written analysis of well-known educational change efforts followed by a concrete call for action that no policymaker, researcher, teacher, or education reform advocate should leave unread.” —Pasi Sahlberg, University of New South Wales, Sydney “Nothing less than the future of the republic is dealt with in this wonderful and crucial book about the field of educational research and policy.” —David C. Berliner, Arizona State University

This book reviews the full coaching outcome research literature to examine the arguments and evidence behind the use of executive coaching. Erik de Haan presents the definitive guide to what works in coaching and what changes coaching brings about, both for individual coaches and for organisations and commissioners. Accessibly written and based on contemporary quantitative research into coaching effectiveness, this book considers whether we know that coaching works, and, if so, whom it works for, and what it offers to those involved. What Works in Executive Coaching considers the entire body of academic literature on quantitative research in executive and workplace coaching, assessing the significant results and explaining how to apply them. Each chapter contains direct applications to coaching practice and clearly evaluates the evidence, defining what really works in executive coaching. Alongside its companion volume Critical Moments in Executive Coaching, this book is an essential guide to evidence-based effectiveness in coaching. It will be a key text for all coaching practitioners, including those in training.

The standard reference in the field, this acclaimed work synthesizes findings from hundreds of carefully selected studies of mental health treatments for children and adolescents. Chapters on frequently encountered clinical problems systematically review the available data, identify gaps in what is known, and spell out recommendations for evidence-based practice. The authors draw on extensive clinical experience as well as research expertise. Showcasing the most effective psychosocial and pharmacological interventions for young patients, they also address challenges in translating research into real-world clinical practice. New to This Edition *Incorporates over a decade of research advances and evolving models of evidence-based care. *New chapter topic: child maltreatment. *Separate chapters on self-injurious behavior, eating disorders, and substance use disorders (previously covered in a single chapter on self-harming disorders). *Expanded chapters on depression, anxiety, and conduct disorder. *Includes reviews of the burgeoning range of manualized psychosocial "treatment packages" for children.