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ABOUT ME

I earned my Ph.D. in labor economics from Cornell University in 1999. Over the past 25 years, I conducted impact evaluations and research on evaluation methods at Mathematica Policy Research, the Urban Institute, Abt Associates, and Westat. I'm currently a Senior Fellow at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy.

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My primary interest is in supporting research teams in conducting impact evaluations with adequate statistical power, strong internal validity, and strong external validity or generalizability--my area of specialization. If you'd like to talk with me about possible collaborations, or just do discuss issues of generalizability, please email me at rob.olsen.research@gmail.com

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Currently, I am working with collaborators to:

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  • Develop an evaluator's guide to generalizability for applied researchers who conduct impact evaluations in education.

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  • Test the performance of site selection methods for obtaining representative samples for multi-site randomized trials when sites are not required to participate.

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  • Test the performance of machine learning techniques for predicting the impacts of educational interventions in individual locations using the data from multi-site randomized trials.

 

  • Develop software and software tools to support the selection of sites for multi-site randomized trials. 

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