Evaluation 2022 Equity Working Group Week: Embedding an Equity Focus in Experimental Evaluations by Laura Peck
Greetings! I am Dr. Laura Peck, Principal Scientist at Abt Associates and Global Director for Abt’s Research, Monitoring & Evaluation Capability Center. My expertise is in the design, execution, and analysis of impact evaluations that leverage experimental and quasi-experimental designs to estimate impact that have a causal interpretation. I ask that those of you familiar with AEA’s rocky past with government prioritization of these so-called “rigorous” designs put that thinking to the side and be open to taking a fresh look at experiments.
All of the evaluations I engage in are, by necessity, both theory-based and mixed-method. This combination means better understanding the intervention’s implementation details, context, population, and so on—to explore what works, for whom, and under what conditions. I focus especially on subgroup analyses, because it’s often where the story lies.
How is a focus on equity showing up in my work? It is essential to integrate deeply and fully an equity focus into evaluations of whatever design.
Originally published in AEA365, September 30, 2022
