Lecture Details

Researchers often pursue ideas because they are novel and innovative. Breaking new ground is clearly important, and being “first” can help a paper get published. But the drive to be new can also push researchers away from the kinds of iterative research questions that help decision-makers implement effective policy (and towards surprising results that can be hard to replicate). This talk will tell the story of a policy-research partnership that started with a new and surprising finding—that summer jobs programs don’t actually help future youth employment, but do reduce violence—then kept iterating to explore how, why, and for whom. The result highlights what can come from repeated evaluation: an evidence base that is more convincing, illuminating, and practical than any single study can be.

About the Speaker

Sara Heller is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. Dr. Heller studies interventions to reduce crime and improve other life outcomes among disadvantaged youth. She uses large-scale experiments to isolate the causal effects of a variety of programs, including cognitive behavioral therapy-based interventions and summer jobs. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, a M.P.P. from Georgetown, and a B.A. in Psychology from Harvard.

Speakers

Sara Heller, Associate Professor of Economics

University of Michigan

Anna Harvey, President

Social Science Research Council

About the Lecture Series

For more than 100 years, the Social Science Research Council has mobilized policy-relevant social and behavioral science aimed at finding actionable solutions to pressing societal challenges. In this year’s virtual lecture series, we’ll hear about successful research collaborations between federal, state, and local government agencies and faculty on the 86 campuses in the Social Science Research Council’s College and University Fund for the Social Sciences institutional membership consortium. These collaborations, which have led to improved outcomes for communities, give us a blueprint for delivering on the promise of government innovation.