About the evidence gap map

The evidence gap map displays studies of programs in the United States that provided education and employment services to young people who were in school. The evidence gap map focuses on studies (published in 2010 or later) of programs targeting education and employment outcomes that serve young people who meet the eligibility criteria for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Out-of-School-eligible youth (WIOA OSY) program. Read more about the scope and methodology used to create the evidence gap map here (Link to brief).

You can use this tool to identify studies that described specific practices or measured certain outcomes. By looking at the map, users can identify areas where there are many studies and areas where there are few or no studies. The evidence gap map does not include information the findings from the studies or the quality of the studies.

How to use the map

Practices. The left-hand side of the map lists practices, which have been grouped into seven categories. Hover over a practice name to see its definition. Rows are expanded by default. To collapse a category, click the “-“ sign next to the category name. Once collapsed, no bars will be visible.

Outcomes. The top row of the map list the outcomes measured in the studies, organized into three categories: education, employment and well-being. Categories are collapsed by default. To expand the columns to show the specific outcomes measured, click the “+” sign.

Types of studies. Studies are grouped into four categories:

  • Impact studies are studies where an outcome was measured against a comparison group (e.g., randomized controlled trials or quasi-experimental designed) and are dark blue.
  • Outcome studies are those studies where participant outcomes were measured, but not against a comparison group, and are dark gray.
  • Qualitative and implementation studies and cost studies appear in their own columns and are dark orange.

Hover over the bars in each cell to see the practice and outcome names, and the number and type of studies. The bars show the number of studies that described the practice and measured the outcome for that cell. The bars for qualitative and implementation studies and cost studies — which may or may not also report outcomes – reflect the number of studies of programs with that practice. Note that studies can appear in the map in multiple places.

Click to view studies. Clicking on the cells in the map will open a new tab that brings you to the “View all studies” page and provides the details for the studies in the cell clicked. From here, you can view study details and further refine your search using the filters.

Filters

Choose filters from the drop-down menu above the map and press the “submit.” The evidence gap map will reload displaying only those studies that met the filters. You can choose from the following filters:

  • Populations: target population of program described in the study
  • In Compendium: Studies of programs that are also in program compendium
  • Study Type:
    • Randomized controlled trials
    • Quasi-experimental studies
    • Outcome studies
    • Qualitative or implementation studies
    • Cost studies: includes, cost, cost-effectiveness, and benefit-cost studies
    • Study includes subgroup analysis: studies include a subgroup analysis or are focused on a particular subgroup

View all studies

Clicking on view all studies will open a tab that allows you view all the studies in the evidence gap map and their publications. Click on the study name to see the study type, target population, impacts/outcomes measures, practices, publications, and whether or not the programs in the study are in the compendium. You can refine the list of studies displayed using the filters.

You can view the details about each study using by clicking its title in the “Study Titles” column. Study details are displayed on the right-hand side of the page. Links to the study’s publication(s) appear at the bottom of the study details.