*A revised version of this post is also available here. I finally got around to reading a post that had been flagged to me awhile ago, written by Bruce Wydick. While I don't think the general idea of taking sampling and representatives seriously is a new one, the spin of a 'median narrative' may beContinue reading "Oops, Got Long-Winded About ‘Median Impact Narratives’"
Dear Indian (and other) Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Who Produce Birth Control
One of the greatest behavioral nudges of all time is the week of different-colored placebo pills in a package of birth control to allow you to just keep taking pills and always be on the right schedule. Please adopt this innovation. It cannot alter costs that much. Sincerely, spending too much time scheduling on googleContinue reading "Dear Indian (and other) Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Who Produce Birth Control"
Small Sunday morning thoughts on external validity, Hawthorne effects
*An updated version of this post, in which I try to answer some of my musings below, can be found here. Recently, 1 had the privilege of speaking about external validity at the CLEAR South Asia M&E Roundtable (thank you!), drawing on joint work I am doing with Vegard Iversen on this question of whenContinue reading "Small Sunday morning thoughts on external validity, Hawthorne effects"
Something to Ponder: Cataloging The Evaluations Undertaken in a Country
Working my way through "Demand for and supply of evaluations in selected Sub-Saharan African countries," which is a good read. there are several great points to note and consider but just one that i want to highlight here: In no country was there a comprehensive library of evaluations that had been undertaken [there]. This seemsContinue reading "Something to Ponder: Cataloging The Evaluations Undertaken in a Country"
Gem From the Anti-Politics Machine: They Only Seek the Kind of Advice They Can Take
I am starting to re-read the Anti-Politics Machine after some time... and, of course, started with the epilogue -- the closest Ferguson comes to giving advice from his vivisection. here's a gem that remains relevant ten-plus years later, in spite of major political changes in southern Africa: Certainly, national and international 'development' agencies do constituteContinue reading "Gem From the Anti-Politics Machine: They Only Seek the Kind of Advice They Can Take"
What Does It Mean To Do Policy Relevant Evaluation?
A different version of this post appears here. For several months, I have intended to write a post about what it actually means to do research that is 'policy relevant,' as it seems to be a term that researchers can self-ascribe* to their work without stating clearly what this entails or if it is anContinue reading "What Does It Mean To Do Policy Relevant Evaluation?"
Some Nuggets From the Amber: Keshavjee’s ‘Blind Spot’
Just finished Salmaan's Blind Spot: How Neoliberalism Infiltrated Global Health. Below, a few tidbits of his weaving of the local and personal with the global, ideological, and ideal. everything below represents a direct quote and the page numbers are marked in parentheses. This book is intended to add to the conversation about how to moreContinue reading "Some Nuggets From the Amber: Keshavjee’s ‘Blind Spot’"
“Politically Robust” Experimental Design in Democracies and a Plea For More Experience Sharing
Sometimes I re-read a paper and remember how nice a sentence or paragraph was (especially when thinking that a benevolent or benign dictator might make research so much easier, as though easy was the main goal of research). So it is with the paper by Gary King and colleagues (2007) on "a 'politically robust' experimentalContinue reading "“Politically Robust” Experimental Design in Democracies and a Plea For More Experience Sharing"
Thinking About Stakeholder Risk and Accountability in Pilot Experiments
This post is also cross-posted here in slightly modified form. Since I keep circling around issues related to my dissertation in this blog, I decided it was time to start writing about some of that work. As anyone who has stood or sat near to me for more than 5 minutes over the past 4.25Continue reading "Thinking About Stakeholder Risk and Accountability in Pilot Experiments"
My Day Today: Dry Cleaning
[on phone, while in auto on the way to work] <e: "Hi dry cleaner. I had to leave home for office, so I left one dress hanging on my door. Can you please pick it up?" Dry Cleaner: "Sure, I will send a boy to pick it up." . - 10 minutes later - .Continue reading "My Day Today: Dry Cleaning"
Heather E. Lanthorn 