Inside The Nudge Unit

Creating‌ ‌‌evidence-based‌ ‌government‌

Apr 22, 2021

Debate between proponents and critics of RCTs in government, supercharged funding for RCTs by Education Endowment Foundation, discussion on being evidence-based government, comparison of 'nudge' trials with academia, promise of machine learning in decision making

22:42

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Quick takeaways

Utilizing Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) helps combat uncertainty in policy making by providing specific empirical data-driven answers.

Administrative data plays a crucial role in governmental decision-making, exemplified by initiatives like the UK Ministry of Justice's data projects leading to cost-effective program evaluations and improved services.

Deep dives

Importance of Evidence-Based Government

Ensuring government policies are evidence-based is crucial. Policy decisions should be grounded in empirical data rather than ideology or theories that promise certainty but may lack real-world applicability. Utilizing tools like randomized control trials (RCTs) helps in providing specific answers and combating the uncertainty inherent in policy making.

Introduction

4min

Maximizing Impact Through Large-Scale Randomized Control Trials and Micro-Interventions

6min

Enhancing Government Policies with Behavioral Insights

9min

Exploring Machine Learning for Causal Work and Decision Augmentation

1min

Strategies for Evidence-Based Government and Policy Making

2min

While the use of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) in government has historically been low, over the last 10 years, the Behavioural Insights Team has aimed to popularise the use of the RCTs and support the work of the organisations like the Cochrane and Campbell Collaboration to get evidence into policy. During this time, a passionate debate has raged between the proponents of RCTs and also those who have argued that RCTs may even be overused or that they are not driven by theory enough.

However, this debate has not stopped action organisations like the Education Endowment Foundation supercharging the number of RCTs being funded, or organisations like Administrative Data Research UK or the UK Ministry of Justice’s Data Lab service finding new ways to support governments to be more effective.

In this podcast, Alex Gyani in Sydney and Alex Sutherland in London discuss what being a fully evidenced based government means and how we can get there. We’ll start by discussing what it means to be evidence based, then highlight how BIT has been able to run trials at scale and how ‘nudge’ trials compare to those run in academia. Finally, we look to the future and the promise of machine learning and how AI might be able to help human decision making.

If you would like to know more you can download Test, Learn, Adapt here and can also read our report on data science and behavioural insights here. If you would like to know more about the history of whey, you can go here.

Credits:

Editing by Evan Sycamnias at Pixelife Studio

Production by Alex Gyani

Musical credits:

Intro: Next to you by Jessie Villa

Outro: Cassette Deck by Basketcase

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Inside The Nudge Unit

Creating‌ ‌‌evidence-based‌ ‌government‌

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Importance of Evidence-Based Government

Efficiency in Administrative Data Usage

Impact of Micro-Interventions and Scaling

Challenges and Future Direction

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts