My primary research interests and some recent publications in each area are:
1. Designing behavior change interventions
Drawing on behavioral insights from a range of fields, including psychology, sociology, behavioral economics, and neuroscience, I design and evaluation behavior change interventions and seek to understand how to model demand and choice behavior. My research to date has primarily focused on sanitation and hand hygiene, I’ve also worked on a range of health and WASH behaviors including reproductive health, maternal/child health and nutrition, SGBV, and FGM.
Tidwell JB, Chipungu J, Bosomprah S, Aunger R, Curtis V, Chilengi R: Effect of a behavior change intervention to improve peri-urban sanitation quality in Lusaka, Zambia: a randomized controlled trial. Lancet Planetary Health 2019.
Tidwell JB, Chipungu J, Chilengi R, Curtis V, Aunger R: Theory-driven formative research on on-site, shared sanitation quality improvement among landlords and tenants in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 2018.
Tidwell JB, Chipungu J, Chilengi R, Curtis V, Aunger R: Using a Theory-Driven Creative Process to Design a Peri-Urban Sanitation Intervention in Lusaka, Zambia. BMC Public Health 2019.
Chipungu J, Tidwell JB, Chilengi R, Curtis V, Aunger R: The social dynamics around shared sanitation in an informal settlement of Lusaka, Zambia. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 2018.
2. Eliciting individual preferences
How do you understand individual preferences when choices cannot be observed directly, when preferences are constructed based on the choice environment, and when so many environmental, biological, and social factors contribute to choices made? My research focuses on validating methods of exploring the underlying causes of preferences, developing useful measures, and understanding how these can be used to predict future behavior.
Tidwell JB, Terris-Prestholt F, Quaife M, Aunger R: Understanding the economic case for consumer-driven sanitation quality improvement using stated and revealed preference methods in peri-urban Lusaka, Zambia. Social Science and Medicine 2019.
Tidwell JB, Chipungu J, Chilengi R, Aunger R: Assessing peri-urban sanitation quality using a theoretically derived composite measure in Lusaka, Zambia. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 2018.
3. Driving behavior change at scale
I investigate how both the public and private sectors can sustainably drive mass behavioral change to improve public health.
Tidwell JB, Gopalakrishnan A, Lovelady S, Sheth E, Unni A, Wright R, Ghosh S, Sidibe M: Effect of two complementary mass-scale media interventions on handwashing with soap among mothers. Journal of Health Communication 2019.
Tidwell JB, Fergus C, Gopalakrishnan A, Sheth E, Sidibe M, Wohlgemuth L, Jain A, Woods G: Integrating Face Washing into a School-Based, Handwashing Behavior Change Program to Prevent Trachoma in Turkana, Kenya. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2019.
I’ve also listed a few interesting articles I’ve come across – some because of their methods, others because of their findings. It’s less a comprehensive reading list, and more a list of what will whet your appetite in each of these areas.
Other interesting references:
Behavior Change
Aunger R, Curtis V: Gaining Control: How human behavior evolved. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2015.
Aunger R, Curtis V: Behaviour Centred Design: towards an applied science of behaviour change. Health Psychol Rev 2016:1-22.
Intervention Design
Datta S, Mullainathan S: Behavioral design: a new approach to development policy. Review of Income and Wealth 2014, 60:7-35.
Demand Measurement
Gall-ely ML: Definition, Measurement and Determinants of the Consumer’s Willingness to Pay: a Critical Synthesis and Directions for Further Research. Working Papers 2009, 2:91-113.
Poe GL: Behavioral Anomalies in Contingent Values and Actual Choices. Agricultural and Resource Economics Review 2016, 45:246-269.
Human Reasoning
Mercier H, Sperber D: Why do humans reason? Arguments for an argumentative theory. Behavioral and brain sciences 2011, 34:57-74.
Sloman S, Fernbach P: The knowledge illusion: why we never think alone. Penguin; 2017.
Neuroscience
Clark A: Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science. Behav Brain Sci 2013, 36:181-204.
Glimcher PW: Foundations of neuroeconomic analysis. OUP USA; 2011.
Shared Sanitation
Evans B, Hueso A, Johnston R, Norman G, Pérez E, Slaymaker T, Trémolet S: Limited services? The role of shared sanitation in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. IWA Publishing; 2017.
Alam MU, Winch PJ, Saxton RE, Nizame FA, Yeasmin F, Norman G, Masud AA, Begum F, Rahman M, Hossain K: Behaviour change intervention to improve shared toilet maintenance and cleanliness in urban slums of Dhaka: A cluster‐randomized controlled trial. Tropical Medicine & International Health 2017.
Nakagiri A, Niwagaba CB, Nyenje PM, Kulabako RN, Tumuhairwe JB, Kansiime F: Are pit latrines in urban areas of Sub-Saharan Africa performing? A review of usage, filling, insects and odour nuisances. BMC Public Health 2016, 16:120.
Mara D: Shared sanitation: to include or to exclude? Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2016, 110:265-267.
Tumwebaze IK, Mosler HJ: Effectiveness of group discussions and commitment in improving cleaning behaviour of shared sanitation users in Kampala, Uganda slums. Social Science and Medicine 2015, 147:72-79.
Exley JLR, Liseka B, Cumming O, Ensink JHJ: The sanitation ladder, what constitutes an improved form of sanitation? Environmental Science and Technology 2015, 49:1086-1094.
Heijnen M, Cumming O, Peletz R, Chan GK, Brown J, Baker K, Clasen T: Shared sanitation versus individual household latrines: a systematic review of health outcomes. PLoS One 2014, 9:e93300.
Peri-Urban Areas
Ezeh A, Oyebode O, Satterthwaite D, Chen Y-F, Ndugwa R, Sartori J, Mberu B, Melendez-Torres G, Haregu T, Watson SI: The history, geography, and sociology of slums and the health problems of people who live in slums. The lancet 2017, 389:547-558.
UN-HABITAT: The Challenge of Slums: Global Report on Human Settlements. 2003.
Social Network Analysis
J.M. Perkins, S.V. Subramanian, N.A. Christakis. Social networks and health: a systematic review of sociocentric network studies in low- and middle- income countries. Soc. Sci. Med., 125 (2015), pp. 60–78.
Detecting implausible social network effects in acne, height, and headaches: longitudinal analysis.
DA Kim, AR Hwong, D Stafford, et al. Social network targeting to maximise population behaviour change: a cluster randomised controlled trial. Lancet (2015) published online May 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60095-2