An overview on field experiments in health in developing countries

Medical science recognizes that patients do not always respond to treatment in a way physicians expect; moreover, different people and sometimes unpredictable ways. These differences can be attributed observable patients’ characteristics, such as age gender, but also unobservable characteristics influence the results, lifestyle or an unreported health condition. To overcome this problem, during twentieth century, medical researchers statisticians began extensively using randomized controlled trial (RCT) methods assess effect of separate from other could affect results. During last decades, social scientists, willing go beyond correlational analysis provide insights on causation, have adopted similar approach. This paper gives short overview RCT development economics with special attention programs related developing countries.