Randomistas: How Radical Researchers Changed Our World

Description

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 Scurvy Scared Straight and Sliding Doors .............. From Bloodletting to Placebo Surgery .............. Decreasing Disadvantage One Coin Toss at a Time .............. The Pioneers of Randomisation .............. Learning How to Teach .............. Controlling Crime .............. Valuable Experiments in Poor Countries .............. Farms Firms and Facebook ..............