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marine_colab:what_is_an_experiment [2015-05-08 09:32] – nik | marine_colab:what_is_an_experiment [2015-08-19 10:15] (current) – nik | ||
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==== What Is An Experiment? ==== | ==== What Is An Experiment? ==== | ||
- | An experiment can be seen as a structured method for collecting evidence to test a hypothesis. The process of designing a good experiment involves reducing | + | (notes in progress) |
- | on unstructured tinkering and statistical validity... | + | An experiment can be seen as a structured method for collecting evidence to test a hypothesis. The process of designing a good experiment involves reducing |
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+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | < | ||
+ | We translate our hypotheses into prototypes for new or improved solutions to social challenges, often in the form of products, processes, policies, or services. We test those solutions through their application, | ||
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+ | [[http:// | ||
+ | < | ||
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+ | [[http:// | ||
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+ | **Know what you’re trying to discover**. There’s a lot to be said for insights that emerge from pilots, and even more to be said about being open to being surprised. But our experience suggests that our efforts are best served when we define from the outset what we hope to learn from a pilot or trial. | ||
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+ | **If it isn’t working, stop doing it**. This may sound obvious, but continuing on with something when it’s clearly not working happens more often than you might think in almost every type of organization. One of the key aspects of rapid-cycle prototyping is that you simply stop doing something when you realize it’s not working, learn from that, and move on. | ||
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+ | **Don’t take it personally**. Labs take risks, so failure will happen. As much as we fetishize failure in social innovation, it can still hurt when it happens. Make sure the culture in your organization genuinely supports the notion that things won’t always work, and backs up the individuals who lead experiments. | ||
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+ | **Be strict about learning**. Experimentation isn’t a substitute for deeper learning. There’s no point in failing for the sake of it. It’s crucial that no matter how much you may want to forget a failed experiment, you reflect after every activity that went wrong on what went well, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently. -pp 96</ | ||
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+ | Venkatesh Rao on [[http:// | ||
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+ | Civilization is the world we build within these extraordinary laboratories. A contingent state of affairs that is only stable to the extent that the truths it is built on are sufficiently sequestered. Understood this way, all of civilization is one giant laboratory instrument, poking at the unknown. | ||
+ | </ | ||
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+ | On unstructured tinkering and statistical validity... | ||
* https:// | * https:// | ||
* https:// | * https:// | ||
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* http:// | * http:// | ||
- | demonstration | + | Demonstration |
* A demonstration is a way to explain a principle by an example. it provides evidence of the the principle under investigation. | * A demonstration is a way to explain a principle by an example. it provides evidence of the the principle under investigation. | ||
* An experiment is a test performed to discover an unknown or to validate (or refute) a theoretical principle. | * An experiment is a test performed to discover an unknown or to validate (or refute) a theoretical principle. | ||
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+ | How can we frame a feasibility study, or pilot project as an experiment? Is it more, or less than an existence proof? How does it help? | ||
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+ | Replicability [...] | ||
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+ | (to be continued) | ||
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