Welcome to MDRC’s Implementation Research Incubator!  We’re glad you’re here. Our monthly posts aim to inform implementation research in social policy evaluations, through

• sharing ideas about implementation research data, methods, analysis, and findings
• fostering development of ideas and insights about implementation research
• integrating understanding across policy domains and academic disciplines
• advancing transparent, rigorous implementation research
• informing implementation practice and scale-up of evidence-based programs

What do the posts cover?

The incubating ideas, concepts, frameworks, approaches, measures, and connections that you read about here will come in various sizes and shapes. Posts, for example, may highlight findings from a completed study, approaches in a planned or ongoing study, adaptations of frameworks from another policy domain to a social policy evaluation setting, unique data collection methods, or data availability. Upcoming posts will address

• incorporating program model adaptation into implementation research
• understanding evidence-based practices in organizations that provide multiple services
• anticipating and measuring variation in implementation 

Who contributes?

Most of the posts will be written by MDRC researchers. Rekha Balu and Carolyn Hill will curate the posts and will solicit occasional posts from authors at universities and other research organizations.

Who should read the Incubator?

This blog aims to be of interest to researchers and others in both university and nonacademic settings:

• Social policy implementation researchers in evaluation and public management
• Implementation researchers from other policy domains
• Social policy impact researchers
• Faculty members who teach program evaluation courses

We also welcome any others involved with social policy interventions.

We look forward to sharing ideas!