Stephen Dubner

Implementation science. Okay, let's define implementation science.

Implementation science. Okay, let's define implementation science.

Implementation science. Okay, let's define implementation science.

That is Lauren Suplee. When we spoke with her, Suplee was the deputy chief operating officer of a nonprofit called Child Trends, which promotes evidence-based policy to improve children's lives.

That is Lauren Suplee. When we spoke with her, Suplee was the deputy chief operating officer of a nonprofit called Child Trends, which promotes evidence-based policy to improve children's lives.

That is Lauren Suplee. When we spoke with her, Suplee was the deputy chief operating officer of a nonprofit called Child Trends, which promotes evidence-based policy to improve children's lives.

So coming up after the break, can implementation science really help? You know, I want policy science not to be an oxymoron. You're listening to Freakonomics Radio. I'm Stephen Dubner. We will be right back.

So coming up after the break, can implementation science really help? You know, I want policy science not to be an oxymoron. You're listening to Freakonomics Radio. I'm Stephen Dubner. We will be right back.

So coming up after the break, can implementation science really help? You know, I want policy science not to be an oxymoron. You're listening to Freakonomics Radio. I'm Stephen Dubner. We will be right back.

That, again, is Dana Susskind from the University of Chicago.

That, again, is Dana Susskind from the University of Chicago.

That, again, is Dana Susskind from the University of Chicago.

The scaling science. That is what Suskind and her economist collaborator John List, who's also her husband, and other researchers have been working on. They've been systematically examining why interventions that work well in experimental or research settings often fail to scale up. You can see why this is an important puzzle to solve.

The scaling science. That is what Suskind and her economist collaborator John List, who's also her husband, and other researchers have been working on. They've been systematically examining why interventions that work well in experimental or research settings often fail to scale up. You can see why this is an important puzzle to solve.

The scaling science. That is what Suskind and her economist collaborator John List, who's also her husband, and other researchers have been working on. They've been systematically examining why interventions that work well in experimental or research settings often fail to scale up. You can see why this is an important puzzle to solve.

Scaling up a new intervention, like a medical procedure or a teaching method, has the potential to help thousands, millions, maybe billions of people. But what if it simply fails at scale? What if it ends up costing way more than anticipated or creates serious unintended consequences?

Scaling up a new intervention, like a medical procedure or a teaching method, has the potential to help thousands, millions, maybe billions of people. But what if it simply fails at scale? What if it ends up costing way more than anticipated or creates serious unintended consequences?

Scaling up a new intervention, like a medical procedure or a teaching method, has the potential to help thousands, millions, maybe billions of people. But what if it simply fails at scale? What if it ends up costing way more than anticipated or creates serious unintended consequences?

That'll make it that much harder for the next set of researchers to persuade the next set of policymakers to listen to them. So List and Susskind have been looking at scaling failures from the past and trying to categorize what went wrong.

That'll make it that much harder for the next set of researchers to persuade the next set of policymakers to listen to them. So List and Susskind have been looking at scaling failures from the past and trying to categorize what went wrong.