Abstract: |
No one doubts that good data are essential to sound policymaking.Alas, data are invariably faulty. Methodological solutions todata inadequacies have often been proposed and implemented,but they have been tested only rarely. Yet the methods thatare used may well determine the direction of policy. For example,the particular survey method usedand the way nonsurveydata are interpretedmay be critical in assessing whethera country's strategy for reducing poverty is working. This articleshows how counterfactual experiments can help test the reliabilityof various methods of dealing with common data problems. Welldesignedmethodsand they need not be very complicatedcanhelp get around the problem, although it appears that substitutingmethod for data is a long way from being perfect. |