Which Came First: The Journal or the Conference?
You may have heard of APPAM, but do you really know what they do? They organize an annual conference? They publish a journal? Yes, they do all that and more!
APPAM stands for the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. APPAM is dedicated to improving public policy and management by fostering excellence in research, analysis, and education. The first APPAM Fall Research Conference occurred in 1979 in Chicago. The first issue of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management appeared in 1981.
Why are we talking about APPAM now? While we’ve attended the APPAM conference multiple years in the past, the upcoming conference poses a unique opportunity for us. This year, our chief scientist, Andrew Jaciw, is acting as guest editor of a special issue of Evaluation Review on multi-armed randomized experiments. As part of this effort, to encourage discussion of the topic, he proposed three panels that were accepted at APPAM.
Andrew will chair the first panel titled Information Benefits and Statistical Challenges of Complex Multi-Armed Trials: Innovative Designs for Nuanced Questions.
In the second panel, Andrew will be presenting a paper that he co-wrote with Senior Research Manager Thanh Nguyen titled Using Multi-Armed Experiments to Test “Improvement Versions” of Programs: When Beneficence Matters. This presentation will take place on Friday, November 9, 2018 at 9:30am (in Marriott Wardman Park, Marriott Balcony B - Mezz Level).
In the third panel he submitted, Larry Orr, Joe Newhouse, and Judith Gueron (with Becca Maynard as discussant) should provide an important retrospective. As pioneers of social science experiments, the contributors will share experiences and important lessons learned.
Some of these panelists will also be submitting their papers to the special edition of the Evaluation Review. We will update this blog with a link to that journal issue once it has been published.
