Mismeasuring impact : how randomized controlled trials threaten the nonprofit sector
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Mismeasuring impact : how randomized controlled trials threaten the nonprofit sector
（Stanford social innovation review books）
Stanford Business Books, an imprint of Stanford University Press, [2025] , , c2025
- : cloth
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Content Type: text (rdacontent), Media Type: unmediated (rdamedia), Carrier Type: volume (rdacarrier)
Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-183) and index
Summary:"Demonstrating the effectiveness of nonprofit social programs is a challenge. This has led to a rapid rise in nonprofit organizations' use of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), for evaluation. As a result, most nonprofit sector professionals today can tell you why nonprofits should do an RCT. This book tells you why they probably shouldn't. Mismeasuring Impact explores why RCTs are being embraced as the "gold standard" for nonprofit evaluation, despite the high cost and time investment required, and the problems with using RCTs in a nonprofit context. The book describes what happens inside nonprofits when they take part in RCTs, the unintended equity issues that arise, and why nonprofits decide to participate in RCTs despite the problems. University of Chicago professors Marwell and Mosley's research is based on extensive interviews with key players: nonprofit managers, professional program evaluators, and program officers in philanthropic foundations. The book explains why most RCTs conducted
