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Behind the scenes of science in action: tinkering with a randomized control trial in Morocco

Author

Listed:
  • Florent Bédécarrats

    (CESSP - Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Isabelle Guérin

    (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme, CESSMA UMRD 245 - Centre d'études en sciences sociales sur les mondes africains, américains et asiatiques - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Inalco - Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales - UPCité - Université Paris Cité)

  • Morvant-Roux Solène
  • François Roubaud

    (DIAL - Développement, institutions et analyses de long terme, LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This article is a ‘replication in context' of a flagship randomised control trial (RCT) conducted in Morocco on microcredit. ‘Replication in context' consists in combining the quantitative replication of an RCT with a contextualised analysis of its implementation and its political economy, in the sense of the interplay between different stakeholders with divergent and potentially conflicting interests, constraints and powers. ‘Replication in context' draws on quantitative and qualitative data and uses the tools of statistics, political economy and sociology of science. This method allows us to describe the entire RCT production chain, from sampling, data collection, data entry and recoding, estimates and interpretations to publication and dissemination of the results. We find that this particular RCT does not respect the key principles of randomisation (imbalanced sampling and contamination) nor those of statistics (coding and measurement problems, poor-quality data and arbitrary trimming procedures). The qualitative analysis highlights the difficulties of implementing a randomised protocol in the real world. Beyond this particular case study, our analyses call into question the supposed superiority of randomised methods, echoing the growing unease in an academic field increasingly struggling to enforce the basic rules of ethics and scientific deontology.

Suggested Citation

  • Florent Bédécarrats & Isabelle Guérin & Morvant-Roux Solène & François Roubaud, 2021. "Behind the scenes of science in action: tinkering with a randomized control trial in Morocco," Post-Print hal-03616267, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03616267
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