Designing Field Experiments to Integrate Research on Costs

Although experimental evaluations have been labeled the “gold standard” of evidence for policy (U.S. Department of Education, 2003), evaluations without an analysis of costs are not sufficient for policymaking (Monk, 1995; Ross et al., 2007). Funding organizations now require cost-effectiveness data in most evaluations of effects. Yet, there is little guidance on how to integrate research on costs into efficacy or effectiveness evaluations. As a result, research proposals and papers are disjointed in the treatment of costs, implementation, and effects, and studies often miss opportunities to integrate what is learned from the cost component into what is learned about effectiveness. To address this issue, this paper uses common evaluation frameworks to provide guidance for integrating research on costs into the design of field experiments building on the ingredients method (Levin et al., 2018). The goal is to improve study design, resulting in more cohesive, efficient, and higher-quality evaluations.