Failing in the Field: What We Can Learn When Field Research Goes Wrong

A revealing look at the common causes of failures in randomized control experiments during field reseach—and how to avoid them

All across the social sciences, from development economics to political science, researchers are going into the field to collect data and learn about the world. Successful randomized controlled trials have brought about enormous gains, but less is learned when projects fail. In Failing in the Field, Dean Karlan and Jacob Appel examine the taboo subject of failure in ...