Data & Analytics

More Than Numbers: Strengthening RCT and Cost Reporting for Policy and Practice

by Suvarna Pande (3ie) and Catherine MacLeod (ideas42)

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a powerful tool for understanding what works in development and anti-poverty programs. They provide insights to guide practitioners and policymakers in improving and scaling interventions. But for RCT findings to inform these decisions, they must be communicated clearly and systematically—something that’s easier said than done. Good reporting isn’t just about […]

Behavioral Design at 15: Our methodology for combining empathy and science for social good

by The ideas42 Team

Fifteen years of honing our approach has yielded an evidence-informed, people-centric framework that is responsive to the varied contexts and communities in which we operate. So what does this look like?

People’s attitudes towards poverty: it’s complicated (Part III)

by Octavio Medina

Worldview predicts endorsement of harmful poverty narratives In our last blog post, we talked about how the endorsement of poverty narratives varies based on demographic variables like education, income, or religious belief. Here’s a recap of the key insights: People generally recognize structural barriers as contributors of poverty. Most people do not believe that people living […]

People’s attitudes towards poverty: it’s complicated (Part II)

by Octavio Medina

In our last post, we talked about poverty narratives, and how people have complex views on poverty in the U.S. Here’s some insights so far: People generally recognize structural barriers as drivers of poverty. Most people do not believe that people living in poverty have character flaws when compared to the rest of the population. People […]

People’s attitudes towards poverty: it’s complicated (Part I)

by Octavio Medina

Why are there people living in poverty? If you ask people this question, you may get a variety of responses. Every response may seem different, but research over the past 50 years suggests that there are some common themes across people’s responses to this question. That is, attitudes towards the causes of poverty and the […]

Wait times and the inspection paradox (Part I)

by Octavio Medina

Wait times matter. They are frustrating, they make it harder to access critical services, and they waste people’s time. What’s more, wait times also disproportionately impact the low-income population, which spends significantly more time lining up in queues. For example, The Economist recently ran an article that used some American Time Use Survey data to suggest that those […]

What predicts fraud perception in social assistance programs? (Part I)

by Octavio Medina

Over the past couple of months we’ve been running a few small-scale surveys to better understand people’s attitudes towards poverty and social safety net programs in the United States. This is part of our broader narrative change work, where we’re exploring how and why people hold particular stories and beliefs, and what role these narratives play in policy. We […]