Comparer des méthodes

	Conception en quatre groupes de Solomon randomisée par clusters	Essai contrôlé randomisé en grappes
Domaine	Plans d'expériences	Plans d'expériences
Famille	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Année d'origine	1949 (Solomon design); cluster extension formalized in 1990s	1978–1980s
Auteur d'origine	Richard L. Solomon (four-group logic, 1949); cluster randomization methods developed by Murray and colleagues in the 1990s	Cornfield (1978); systematised by Donner and colleagues (1980s)
Type	Experimental design	Experimental design
Source fondatrice	Solomon, R. L. (1949). An extension of control group design. Psychological Bulletin, 46(2), 137–150.	Donner, A., & Klar, N. (2000). Design and Analysis of Cluster Randomization Trials in Health Research. Arnold. ISBN: 978-0340652978
Alias	CR-S4GD, cluster-randomized four-group design, group-randomized Solomon design, Solomon four-group cluster trial	cluster RCT, group-randomized trial, community randomized trial, cluster-randomized experiment
Apparentées	6	4
Résumé	The cluster randomized Solomon four-group design combines cluster randomization — assigning intact groups such as schools, clinics, or communities to conditions — with the Solomon four-group structure that isolates the effect of pretesting. Four clusters (or sets of clusters) are created: two receive the treatment and two serve as controls, with only one treatment cluster and one control cluster receiving a pretest, while the others go straight to the posttest. This structure simultaneously controls for pretest sensitization and the logistical constraint that individual randomization is infeasible.	A cluster randomized controlled trial (cluster RCT) is an experimental design in which intact social or organisational groups — such as schools, clinics, villages, or workplaces — are randomly assigned to treatment conditions rather than individual participants. Outcomes are still measured at the individual level, but the unit of randomization is the cluster. This design is essential when an intervention is delivered to whole groups, when there is a risk of contamination between participants in the same setting, or when individual randomization is logistically or ethically impractical.