There's been a huge interest in the last 10 years over similar randomized trials in poor countries trying to find out what works and doesn't work. The first problem is limited sample size, if that's all you're telling me, he says. But there are certainly strategies for that, and we don't have to invent them,. He adds: One of the big roles of a social scientist is to point out what's not likely to be work or effective.
Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology talks to EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the craft of econometrics--how to use economic thinking and statistical methods to make sense of data and uncover causation. Angrist argues that improvements in research design along with various econometric techniques have improved the credibility of measurement in a complex world. Roberts pushes back and the conversation concludes with a discussion of how to assess the reliability of findings in controversial public policy areas.