Randomistas

Randomistas

Author: Andrew Leigh

Publisher: Black Inc.

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1743820275

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Randomised tests are carried out on us every day: by supermarkets, search engines, online dating sites, political parties and direct marketers. But how do these tests work? Are there any ethical issues? And what do they reveal about our choices? In Randomistas, Andrew Leigh tells the stories of radical researchers who overturned conventional wisdom in medicine, politics, business, law enforcement and more. From finding the cure to scurvy to discovering what policies really improve literacy rates, randomistas have shaped life as we know it – but they often had to fight to conduct their trials and have their findings implemented. “The subject of this book could hardly be more vital: are we humble enough to admit we may be wrong, and do we care enough to learn? Randomistas is rigorous, impassioned and tremendous fun. Everyone should read it." – Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist ‘A tour de force” – David Halpern,, author of Inside the Nudge Unit ‘Reveals how data and experiments can make the world a better place’ – Dean Karlan, professor of economics at Yale


Book Synopsis Randomistas by : Andrew Leigh

Download or read book Randomistas written by Andrew Leigh and published by Black Inc.. This book was released on 2018-03-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Randomised tests are carried out on us every day: by supermarkets, search engines, online dating sites, political parties and direct marketers. But how do these tests work? Are there any ethical issues? And what do they reveal about our choices? In Randomistas, Andrew Leigh tells the stories of radical researchers who overturned conventional wisdom in medicine, politics, business, law enforcement and more. From finding the cure to scurvy to discovering what policies really improve literacy rates, randomistas have shaped life as we know it – but they often had to fight to conduct their trials and have their findings implemented. “The subject of this book could hardly be more vital: are we humble enough to admit we may be wrong, and do we care enough to learn? Randomistas is rigorous, impassioned and tremendous fun. Everyone should read it." – Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist ‘A tour de force” – David Halpern,, author of Inside the Nudge Unit ‘Reveals how data and experiments can make the world a better place’ – Dean Karlan, professor of economics at Yale

Solving Public Problems

Solving Public Problems

Author: Beth Simone Noveck

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2021-06-22

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 030023015X

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How to take advantage of technology, data, and the collective wisdom in our communities to design powerful solutions to contemporary problems The challenges societies face today, from inequality to climate change to systemic racism, cannot be solved with yesterday's toolkit. Solving Public Problems shows how readers can take advantage of digital technology, data, and the collective wisdom of our communities to design and deliver powerful solutions to contemporary problems. Offering a radical rethinking of the role of the public servant and the skills of the public workforce, this book is about the vast gap between failing public institutions and the huge number of public entrepreneurs doing extraordinary things--and how to close that gap. Drawing on lessons learned from decades of advising global leaders and from original interviews and surveys of thousands of public problem solvers, Beth Simone Noveck provides a practical guide for public servants, community leaders, students, and activists to become more effective, equitable, and inclusive leaders and repair our troubled, twenty-first-century world.


Book Synopsis Solving Public Problems by : Beth Simone Noveck

Download or read book Solving Public Problems written by Beth Simone Noveck and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-06-22 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to take advantage of technology, data, and the collective wisdom in our communities to design powerful solutions to contemporary problems The challenges societies face today, from inequality to climate change to systemic racism, cannot be solved with yesterday's toolkit. Solving Public Problems shows how readers can take advantage of digital technology, data, and the collective wisdom of our communities to design and deliver powerful solutions to contemporary problems. Offering a radical rethinking of the role of the public servant and the skills of the public workforce, this book is about the vast gap between failing public institutions and the huge number of public entrepreneurs doing extraordinary things--and how to close that gap. Drawing on lessons learned from decades of advising global leaders and from original interviews and surveys of thousands of public problem solvers, Beth Simone Noveck provides a practical guide for public servants, community leaders, students, and activists to become more effective, equitable, and inclusive leaders and repair our troubled, twenty-first-century world.

Poor Economics

Poor Economics

Author: Abhijit V. Banerjee

Publisher: PublicAffairs

Published: 2012-03-27

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1610391608

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The winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics upend the most common assumptions about how economics works in this gripping and disruptive portrait of how poor people actually live. Why do the poor borrow to save? Why do they miss out on free life-saving immunizations, but pay for unnecessary drugs? In Poor Economics, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two award-winning MIT professors, answer these questions based on years of field research from around the world. Called "marvelous, rewarding" by the Wall Street Journal, the book offers a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty and an intimate view of life on 99 cents a day. Poor Economics shows that creating a world without poverty begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor.


Book Synopsis Poor Economics by : Abhijit V. Banerjee

Download or read book Poor Economics written by Abhijit V. Banerjee and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics upend the most common assumptions about how economics works in this gripping and disruptive portrait of how poor people actually live. Why do the poor borrow to save? Why do they miss out on free life-saving immunizations, but pay for unnecessary drugs? In Poor Economics, Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, two award-winning MIT professors, answer these questions based on years of field research from around the world. Called "marvelous, rewarding" by the Wall Street Journal, the book offers a radical rethinking of the economics of poverty and an intimate view of life on 99 cents a day. Poor Economics shows that creating a world without poverty begins with understanding the daily decisions facing the poor.

Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development

Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development

Author: Florent Bédécarrats

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 0198865368

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In October 2019, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer jointly won the 51st Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. But what is the exact scope of their experimental method, known as randomized control trials (RCTs)? Which sorts of questions are RCTs able to address and which do they fail to answer? The first of its kind, Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development: A Critical Perspective provides answers to these questions, explaining how RCTs work, what they can achieve, why they sometimes fail, how they can be improved and why other methods are both useful and necessary. Bringing together leading specialists in the field from a range of backgrounds and disciplines (economics, econometrics, mathematics, statistics, political economy, socioeconomics, anthropology, philosophy, global health, epidemiology, and medicine), it presents a full and coherent picture of the main strengths and weaknesses of RCTs in the field of development. Looking beyond the epistemological, political, and ethical differences underlying many of the disagreements surrounding RCTs, it explores the implementation of RCTs on the ground, outside of their ideal theoretical conditions and reveals some unsuspected uses and effects, their disruptive potential, but also their political uses. The contributions uncover the implicit worldview that many RCTs draw on and disseminate, and probe the gap between the method's narrow scope and its success, while also proposing improvements and alternatives. Without disputing the contribution of RCTs to scientific knowledge, Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development warns against the potential dangers of their excessive use, arguing that the best use for RCTs is not necessarily that which immediately springs to mind. Written in plain language, this book offers experts and laypeople alike a unique opportunity to come to an informed and reasoned judgement on RCTs and what they can bring to development.


Book Synopsis Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development by : Florent Bédécarrats

Download or read book Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development written by Florent Bédécarrats and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In October 2019, Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer jointly won the 51st Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. But what is the exact scope of their experimental method, known as randomized control trials (RCTs)? Which sorts of questions are RCTs able to address and which do they fail to answer? The first of its kind, Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development: A Critical Perspective provides answers to these questions, explaining how RCTs work, what they can achieve, why they sometimes fail, how they can be improved and why other methods are both useful and necessary. Bringing together leading specialists in the field from a range of backgrounds and disciplines (economics, econometrics, mathematics, statistics, political economy, socioeconomics, anthropology, philosophy, global health, epidemiology, and medicine), it presents a full and coherent picture of the main strengths and weaknesses of RCTs in the field of development. Looking beyond the epistemological, political, and ethical differences underlying many of the disagreements surrounding RCTs, it explores the implementation of RCTs on the ground, outside of their ideal theoretical conditions and reveals some unsuspected uses and effects, their disruptive potential, but also their political uses. The contributions uncover the implicit worldview that many RCTs draw on and disseminate, and probe the gap between the method's narrow scope and its success, while also proposing improvements and alternatives. Without disputing the contribution of RCTs to scientific knowledge, Randomized Control Trials in the Field of Development warns against the potential dangers of their excessive use, arguing that the best use for RCTs is not necessarily that which immediately springs to mind. Written in plain language, this book offers experts and laypeople alike a unique opportunity to come to an informed and reasoned judgement on RCTs and what they can bring to development.

Routledge International Handbook of Poverty

Routledge International Handbook of Poverty

Author: Bent Greve

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-25

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 0429608985

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The first of the UN Millennium Goals was to reduce extreme poverty and in 2014 it was halved compared to 1990, and now the goal is to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030. The reduction in poverty is, to a high degree, the consequence of the rapid economic development in a few countries, especially China, but in many countries around the globe poverty is still at a high level and is influencing societies’ overall development. It is against this background that this Handbook provides an up-to-date analysis and overview of the topic from a large variety of theoretical and methodological angles. Organised into four parts, the Handbook provides knowledge on what poverty is, how it has developed, and what type of policies might be able to succeed in reducing poverty. Part I investigates conceptual issues and relates concepts to people’s relative position in society and the understanding of justice. Part II shows how poverty has developed. It combines existing empirical knowledge with regional/national understandings of the issue of poverty. Part III analyses policies and interventions with the aim of reducing or alleviating poverty within a national as well as global context. It includes a variety of countries and examples. Finally, Part IV tells us what can be done about poverty; what instruments are available to end poverty as we know it today. This volume will be an invaluable reference book for students and scholars throughout the social sciences, particularly in sociology, social policy, public policy, development studies, international relations and politics.


Book Synopsis Routledge International Handbook of Poverty by : Bent Greve

Download or read book Routledge International Handbook of Poverty written by Bent Greve and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-25 with total page 414 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first of the UN Millennium Goals was to reduce extreme poverty and in 2014 it was halved compared to 1990, and now the goal is to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030. The reduction in poverty is, to a high degree, the consequence of the rapid economic development in a few countries, especially China, but in many countries around the globe poverty is still at a high level and is influencing societies’ overall development. It is against this background that this Handbook provides an up-to-date analysis and overview of the topic from a large variety of theoretical and methodological angles. Organised into four parts, the Handbook provides knowledge on what poverty is, how it has developed, and what type of policies might be able to succeed in reducing poverty. Part I investigates conceptual issues and relates concepts to people’s relative position in society and the understanding of justice. Part II shows how poverty has developed. It combines existing empirical knowledge with regional/national understandings of the issue of poverty. Part III analyses policies and interventions with the aim of reducing or alleviating poverty within a national as well as global context. It includes a variety of countries and examples. Finally, Part IV tells us what can be done about poverty; what instruments are available to end poverty as we know it today. This volume will be an invaluable reference book for students and scholars throughout the social sciences, particularly in sociology, social policy, public policy, development studies, international relations and politics.

Behavioral Clinical Trials for Chronic Diseases

Behavioral Clinical Trials for Chronic Diseases

Author: Lynda H. Powell

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-10-13

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 3030393305

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This is the first comprehensive guide to the design of behavioral randomized clinical trials (RCT) for chronic diseases. It includes the scientific foundations for behavioral trial methods, problems that have been encountered in past behavioral trials, advances in design that have evolved, and promising trends and opportunities for the future. The value of this book lies in its potential to foster an ability to “speak the language of medicine” through the conduct of high-quality behavioral clinical trials that match the rigor commonly seen in double-blind drug trials. It is relevant for testing any treatment aimed at improving a behavioral, social, psychosocial, environmental, or policy-level risk factor for a chronic disease including, for example, obesity, sedentary behavior, adherence to treatment, psychosocial stress, food deserts, and fragmented care. Outcomes of interest are those that are of clinical significance in the treatment of chronic diseases, including standard risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose, and clinical outcomes such as hospitalizations, functional limitations, excess morbidity, quality of life, and mortality. This link between behavior and chronic disease requires innovative clinical trial methods not only from the behavioral sciences but also from medicine, epidemiology, and biostatistics. This integration does not exist in any current book, or in any training program, in either the behavioral sciences or medicine.


Book Synopsis Behavioral Clinical Trials for Chronic Diseases by : Lynda H. Powell

Download or read book Behavioral Clinical Trials for Chronic Diseases written by Lynda H. Powell and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-10-13 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive guide to the design of behavioral randomized clinical trials (RCT) for chronic diseases. It includes the scientific foundations for behavioral trial methods, problems that have been encountered in past behavioral trials, advances in design that have evolved, and promising trends and opportunities for the future. The value of this book lies in its potential to foster an ability to “speak the language of medicine” through the conduct of high-quality behavioral clinical trials that match the rigor commonly seen in double-blind drug trials. It is relevant for testing any treatment aimed at improving a behavioral, social, psychosocial, environmental, or policy-level risk factor for a chronic disease including, for example, obesity, sedentary behavior, adherence to treatment, psychosocial stress, food deserts, and fragmented care. Outcomes of interest are those that are of clinical significance in the treatment of chronic diseases, including standard risk factors such as cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose, and clinical outcomes such as hospitalizations, functional limitations, excess morbidity, quality of life, and mortality. This link between behavior and chronic disease requires innovative clinical trial methods not only from the behavioral sciences but also from medicine, epidemiology, and biostatistics. This integration does not exist in any current book, or in any training program, in either the behavioral sciences or medicine.

Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions

Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions

Author: Tammy Hoffmann

Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences

Published: 2023-09-27

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 0729598543

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Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions


Book Synopsis Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions by : Tammy Hoffmann

Download or read book Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions written by Tammy Hoffmann and published by Elsevier Health Sciences. This book was released on 2023-09-27 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Evidence-Based Practice Across the Health Professions

Basic Income Experiments

Basic Income Experiments

Author: Roberto Merrill

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 3030891208

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This book brings together insights and reflections following a set of interviews conducted with the main stakeholders involved in past, current, and future basic income experiments. It provides an analysis of some of the major elements and factors influencing experiments, as well of some of their most important outputs understood as results of their own experimental design, their sociological and political basis, and the epistemological status of their results. By pursuing a bottom-up strategy, where the interviews conducted take a pivotal role in the collection and analysis phase of the book, this book gathers key questions relating to policy experiments. Some questions reflected upon include the general idea of why one should engage and implement a basic income experiment, and the paradox consisting in the fact that most basic income experiments fall short of being closely considered “pure” basic income schemes. In facing the question and the paradox head-on, the book assesses questions of experimental design, the political and social context surrounding the policy, and the main results and what can they tell us about basic income.


Book Synopsis Basic Income Experiments by : Roberto Merrill

Download or read book Basic Income Experiments written by Roberto Merrill and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-11-30 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book brings together insights and reflections following a set of interviews conducted with the main stakeholders involved in past, current, and future basic income experiments. It provides an analysis of some of the major elements and factors influencing experiments, as well of some of their most important outputs understood as results of their own experimental design, their sociological and political basis, and the epistemological status of their results. By pursuing a bottom-up strategy, where the interviews conducted take a pivotal role in the collection and analysis phase of the book, this book gathers key questions relating to policy experiments. Some questions reflected upon include the general idea of why one should engage and implement a basic income experiment, and the paradox consisting in the fact that most basic income experiments fall short of being closely considered “pure” basic income schemes. In facing the question and the paradox head-on, the book assesses questions of experimental design, the political and social context surrounding the policy, and the main results and what can they tell us about basic income.

Disconnected

Disconnected

Author: Andrew Leigh

Publisher: UNSW Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 174224016X

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A forensic examination of Australian life, this insightful book suggests that contemporary society has lost touch with its communities and its people. Written from an economist's perspective and based on organizational membership records and surveys, it presents the reasons why the social fabric has begun to fray and outlines the necessary steps to create a better civic and personal life. Distilling various aspects of Australian routine--including religion, sport, and employment--this book reveals what is being lost and how to get it back.


Book Synopsis Disconnected by : Andrew Leigh

Download or read book Disconnected written by Andrew Leigh and published by UNSW Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A forensic examination of Australian life, this insightful book suggests that contemporary society has lost touch with its communities and its people. Written from an economist's perspective and based on organizational membership records and surveys, it presents the reasons why the social fabric has begun to fray and outlines the necessary steps to create a better civic and personal life. Distilling various aspects of Australian routine--including religion, sport, and employment--this book reveals what is being lost and how to get it back.

New Mediums, Better Messages?

New Mediums, Better Messages?

Author: David Lewis

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-05-26

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 0192602411

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This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY 3.0 IGO International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. The notion of development influences and is influenced by all aspects of human life. Social science is but one representational option among many for conveying the myriad ways in which development is conceived, encountered, experienced, justified, courted, and/or resisted by different groups at particular times and places. As international development has become more quantitative and economics-centred, there is an enduring sense that what is measured (and thus 'valued' and prioritized) may have become too narrow, that the powers of prediction claimed by some areas of economics and management may have overreached, and that the human dimension is in danger of being lost. Reflecting this concern, New Mediums, Better Messages? contributes to new conversations between science, social science, and the humanities around the roles of different kinds of knowledge, stories, and data play in relation to global development. It brings together a team of multidisciplinary contributors to explore popular representions of development, including music, blogs, and fiction.


Book Synopsis New Mediums, Better Messages? by : David Lewis

Download or read book New Mediums, Better Messages? written by David Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-26 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY 3.0 IGO International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. The notion of development influences and is influenced by all aspects of human life. Social science is but one representational option among many for conveying the myriad ways in which development is conceived, encountered, experienced, justified, courted, and/or resisted by different groups at particular times and places. As international development has become more quantitative and economics-centred, there is an enduring sense that what is measured (and thus 'valued' and prioritized) may have become too narrow, that the powers of prediction claimed by some areas of economics and management may have overreached, and that the human dimension is in danger of being lost. Reflecting this concern, New Mediums, Better Messages? contributes to new conversations between science, social science, and the humanities around the roles of different kinds of knowledge, stories, and data play in relation to global development. It brings together a team of multidisciplinary contributors to explore popular representions of development, including music, blogs, and fiction.