Blocked Pretest-Posttest Experimental Design

The blocked pretest-posttest experimental design combines blocking — grouping participants into homogeneous strata before randomization — with pre- and post-intervention measurement. Blocking controls for known sources of variability (e.g., baseline ability, gender, site), while the pretest-posttest structure quantifies change scores directly. Together, they reduce error variance and increase statistical power compared to a simple pretest-posttest design, making this approach well suited to educational, clinical, and behavioral intervention studies.