“Exploring Noise in Charity Evaluations” by Malin Ploder

EA Forum Podcast (All audio) - A podcast by EA Forum Team

Hi! My name is Malin and I wrote my master's thesis in cognitive science in collaboration with Don Efficace, a young evaluator organization building their evaluation process to find the most effective charities in France. Together, we set out to explore the concept of noise (see below) in charity evaluations. Many researchers from other evaluator organizations contributed to this endeavor by responding to my survey or participating in interviews. This post serves to summarize my research for them and anyone else who is interested in the topic - have a good read! TL:DR Noise, as defined by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein[1], refers to the unwanted variability in judgments caused by cognitive biases. In charity evaluations, this inconsistency can lead to unreliable recommendations, which can significantly affect the allocation of funds and erode donor trust. Given the complex nature of charity evaluations, noise is likely to [...] ---Outline:(00:41) TL:DR(02:23) Introduction: Noise(03:58) Noise in Charity Evaluations(06:14) Noise-Reduction Strategies(06:33) 1. Decision Guidelines and Scales(10:41) 2. Aggregation(14:05) 3. Sequencing Information(15:19) 4. Structured Interviews(15:56) 5. “Mediating Assessments Protocol”(17:35) Future Research(18:31) Summary and RecommendationsThe original text contained 22 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. The original text contained 2 images which were described by AI. --- First published: July 11th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/aJ8EXHydjNPDA9GEa/exploring-noise-in-charity-evaluations --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.