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News, ideas, and analysis from J-PAL staff and affiliated professors. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly email updates.

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Announcing the AEA RCT Registry’s new metadata repository

In 2013, J-PAL began a collaboration with the American Economic Association to create the AEA’s RCT Registry. Now, users can browse registry metadata with ease using monthly data snapshots uploaded to the Harvard Dataverse by J-PAL. These snapshot datasets let users access registry metadata, cite to...
A world map with dots noting locations of GCCI projects.

Pushing the boundaries of governance, crime, and conflict research: Innovations in research, measurement, and design

In 2017, J-PAL and IPA jointly launched the Governance, Crime, and Conflict Initiative to increase our understanding of effective policies to promote peace and good governance, reduce crime, and support individuals and communities recovering from conflict. With three years of research behind us, we...
Mock up image of the Handbook on Using Administrative Data for Research and Evidence-based Policy

Announcing the Handbook on Using Administrative Data for Research and Evidence-based Policy

The Innovations in Data and Experiments for Action Initiative (IDEA) is excited to announce the release of the Handbook on Using Administrative Data for Research and Evidence-Based Policy co-edited by Shawn Cole, Iqbal Dhaliwal, Anja Sautmann, and Lars Vilhuber.
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Announcing J-PAL’s newly updated research resources

Structured around the lifecycle of a project, these research resources provide practical guidance on conducting RCTs and include templates, checklists, and concrete advice based on J-PAL’s deep experience implementing field research projects.
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Foundations of ethical and high-quality data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic

There have been many innovations in data collection methods over the past few months to adapt to contactless research. Many research organizations, including J-PAL, have shifted to data collection through phone surveys, as field activities remain halted. As we support and strengthen these...
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Resources for adapting to phone surveys during COVID-19

Over the past few months, we’ve developed new resources on transitioning to phone surveys, with guides that span from budgeting to remote trainings to quality assurance best practices. They are intended to complement our crowd-sourced best practices by providing in-depth guides that address...
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Considerations for collecting electronic signatures

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Since the spread of COVID-19, researchers across the globe have experienced the challenges of conducting research in a socially distant manner. This blog provides an overview of how to obtain signatures--for example, to document informed consent, or to execute a legal agreement—without physical...
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Best practices for conducting phone surveys

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The protection of staff and respondents who participate in our research is of highest priority for J-PAL. As of March 17, J-PAL has therefore suspended all research activities that contribute to in-person interactions in order to limit COVID-19 spread. Many other research organizations have done so...