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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

RANDOMISTAS

Andrew Leigh

How Radical Researchers Changed Our World

Across medicine, business and government, there's no simpler or more powerful tool for finding out what works than a randomised experiment. Investigating everything from jails to ad campaigns, philanthropy to schools, the randomistas are building evidence and busting myths." (Andrew Leigh)

Randomised tests are carried out on us every day: by supermarkets, search engines, online dating sites and direct marketers. Political parties use randomised trials to win elections. But how do these tests work? Are there any ethical issues? And what do they reveal about our choices?

In Randomistas, Andrew Leigh tells the stories of radical researchers who overturned conventional wisdom in medicine, politics, economics, law enforcement and more. From finding the cure to scurvy to discovering what policies really improve literacy rates, randomistas have shaped life as we know it – but they often had to fight to conduct their trials and have their findings implemented.

In Gladwell-esque style, Randomistas is a brilliant and entertaining exploration of a hidden but vital foundation of modern life.

Andrew Leigh is the federal member for Fraser and the Shadow Assistant Treasurer. Before being elected in 2010, he was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. His books include Disconnected, Battlers and Billionaires, The Economics of Just About Everything and The Luck of Politics.
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Published 2018-03-01 by La Trobe University Press

Comments

Packed with tantalising tales, Randomistas is essential reading for anyone interested in debunking myths and uncovering hidden truths. – Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics

USA: Yale UP; Taiwan: Spring Hill;

The subject of this book could hardly be more vital: are we humble enough to admit we may be wrong, and do we care enough to learn? Randomistas is rigorous, impassioned and tremendous fun. Everyone should read it. -- Tim Harford, author of The Undercover Economist and Fifty Things That Made The Modern Economy