How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Three notions from behavioral psychology

McConnell, Scott R.

doi:10.1017/bpp.2020.18

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(41 reference statements)

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“…Without robust research designs, we risk wasting time and money on inefficient interventions. Experimental research in many other areas of behavioral science has made extraordinary progress, and we join Fischhoff [80] and McConnell [81] in advocating for a more central role for behavioral science in meeting the challenges presented by climate change. It would be a tragedy if we failed to apply these methods to what is likely to be the biggest threat to human wellbeing since the plague.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The State of Experimental Research on Community Interventions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions—A Systematic Review

et al. 2020

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This paper reviews research on community efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We conducted a systematic search of the relevant literature, and supplemented our findings with an analysis of review papers previously published on the topic. The results indicate that there have been no peer-reviewed experimental evaluations of community-wide interventions to reduce greenhouse gases involving electricity, refrigeration, or food. The lack of findings limits the conclusions which can be made about the efficacy of these efforts. As a result, we are not accumulating effective interventions, and some communities may be implementing strategies that are not effective. We advocate for the funding of experimental evaluations of multi-sector community interventions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Such interventions would attempt to engage every sector of the community in identifying and implementing policies and practices to reduce emissions. Comprehensive multi-sector interventions are likely to have synergistic effects, such that the total impact is greater than the sum of the impact of the individual components. We describe the value of interrupted time-series designs as an alternative to randomized trials, because these designs confer particular advantages for the evaluation of strategies in entire communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The State of Experimental Research on Community Interventions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions—A Systematic Review

et al. 2020

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“…Drawing from behavioural psychology, McConnell (9) proposed that deliberate effort was required to create universal acceptance by policymakers for using an evidence-based approach to scaling. This is a separate issue from the quality of evidence.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

What matters for the scalability of prejudice reduction programs and interventions?

Hsieh¹,

Wickes²,

Faulkner³

2021

Preprint

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In many countries, policy makers and practitioners turn to prejudice reduction programs and interventions to tackle prejudice in the community. However, successfully addressing prejudice requires an effective intervention that can scale to match the broad span of the problem. Drawing from the experience of 16 prejudice reduction experts from multiple sectors including NGOs, private, government and academia, we developed a scalability assessment framework of criteria that are important for the successful scaling of prejudice interventions. For prejudice reduction interventions, contextual factors are key considerations for successful scaling. We then applied that framework to exemplars of prejudice reduction interventions published in the academic literature. Applying the empirically developed framework to actual interventions demonstrated that for interventions to be effective and scalable, a greater focus on approaches beyond face-to-face contact is required.

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“…As we worked on the science of scaling, we recognized early on how much the issues at stake resonated with experts across diverse disciplines and, more importantly, how much each field had to contribute to the scale-up issue for the betterment of society. With beautiful exposition, McConnell (2020) brings to our attention three important notions from the behavioral psychology literature that deepen and broaden the treatment given in our work: in his own words, (1) perspectives on the importance and challenges of studying and controlling our own behavior; (2) approaches to determining the social value of intervention outcomes and the procedures for achieving them; and (3) recommendations for deploying meaningful, common measures across phases of research. We fully embrace them.…”

Section: Mcconnellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…McConnell (2020) wisely starts by focusing on the set of our 12 proposal that one might argue are the ones facing the most challenge to be implemented. This reminds us of a joke that goes like this: A physicist, an engineer and an economist are stranded in the desert.…”

Section: Mcconnellmentioning

confidence: 99%

A rejoinder: ‘How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Twelve proposals from an economic model of scaling’

Al‐Ubaydli

Lee

List

et al. 2020

Behav. Public Policy

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We thank the responders for their thoughtful and quite constructive reactions to our manuscript. Their insights and comments are incredibly useful since they span broad disciplines that have each lent insights into the scalability of public policies and the importance of the scale-up effect. In particular, we believe that their complementing thoughts can aid the special issue readers to synthesize the

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How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Three notions from behavioral psychology

Cited by 12 publications

References 30 publications

The State of Experimental Research on Community Interventions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions—A Systematic Review

The State of Experimental Research on Community Interventions to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions—A Systematic Review

What matters for the scalability of prejudice reduction programs and interventions?

A rejoinder: ‘How can experiments play a greater role in public policy? Twelve proposals from an economic model of scaling’

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