A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) prepares young people to make informed decisions about their sexuality. A review by the Institute of Research and Evaluation that analysed 43 CSE studies in non-US settings found the majority to be ineffective and concluded that there was little evidence of th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2237791 |
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| author | Kelly VanTreeck Shatha Elnakib Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli |
| author_facet | Kelly VanTreeck Shatha Elnakib Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli |
| author_sort | Kelly VanTreeck |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) prepares young people to make informed decisions about their sexuality. A review by the Institute of Research and Evaluation that analysed 43 CSE studies in non-US settings found the majority to be ineffective and concluded that there was little evidence of the effectiveness of CSE. We reanalysed the review to investigate its validity. We found several weaknesses with the review’s methodology and analysis: (1) there was an absence of a clearly articulated search strategy and specific eligibility criteria; (2) the authors put forth criteria for programme effectiveness but included studies that did not collect the data needed to show programme effectiveness and thus several studies were determined to be ineffective by default; (3) the analytical framework minimised positive intervention effects and privileged negative intervention effects; and (4) there were errors in the data extracted, with 74% of studies containing one or more discrepancies. Overall, our reanalysis reveals that the IRE review suffers from significant methodological flaws and contains many errors which compromise its conclusions about CSE. Our reanalysis is a tool for the international community to refute CSE opposition campaigns based on poor science. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aac77636476f4eba809a01122cf4b10e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2641-0397 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters |
| spelling | doaj-art-aac77636476f4eba809a01122cf4b10e2025-08-20T03:27:17ZengTaylor & Francis GroupSexual and Reproductive Health Matters2641-03972023-12-0131110.1080/26410397.2023.2237791A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence baseKelly VanTreeck0Shatha Elnakib1Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli2Consultant, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Av. Appia 20, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.Consultant, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Av. Appia 20, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland.Scientist, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, SwitzerlandComprehensive sexuality education (CSE) prepares young people to make informed decisions about their sexuality. A review by the Institute of Research and Evaluation that analysed 43 CSE studies in non-US settings found the majority to be ineffective and concluded that there was little evidence of the effectiveness of CSE. We reanalysed the review to investigate its validity. We found several weaknesses with the review’s methodology and analysis: (1) there was an absence of a clearly articulated search strategy and specific eligibility criteria; (2) the authors put forth criteria for programme effectiveness but included studies that did not collect the data needed to show programme effectiveness and thus several studies were determined to be ineffective by default; (3) the analytical framework minimised positive intervention effects and privileged negative intervention effects; and (4) there were errors in the data extracted, with 74% of studies containing one or more discrepancies. Overall, our reanalysis reveals that the IRE review suffers from significant methodological flaws and contains many errors which compromise its conclusions about CSE. Our reanalysis is a tool for the international community to refute CSE opposition campaigns based on poor science.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2237791comprehensive sexuality educationCSEsexual health educationmisinformationdisinformationevidence base |
| spellingShingle | Kelly VanTreeck Shatha Elnakib Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters comprehensive sexuality education CSE sexual health education misinformation disinformation evidence base |
| title | A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| title_full | A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| title_fullStr | A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| title_full_unstemmed | A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| title_short | A reanalysis of the Institute for Research and Evaluation report that challenges non-US, school-based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| title_sort | reanalysis of the institute for research and evaluation report that challenges non us school based comprehensive sexuality education evidence base |
| topic | comprehensive sexuality education CSE sexual health education misinformation disinformation evidence base |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/26410397.2023.2237791 |
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