Russel Sage Foundation

Sociologist David Grusky and computer scientist Jure Leskovec will convene a workshop to launch data analysis for the Opportunity Study (OS), a project that combines qualitative, survey, administrative, and experimental approaches to study the lived experiences of people in poverty. OS is based on three premises: (1) that existing quantitative protocols for counting those in poverty tell us relatively little about the day-to-day experience of poverty; (2) that existing qualitative studies do not allow for systematic comparisons across different types and levels of poverty; and (3) that a new hybrid form of data collection that blends the best of qualitative, survey, administrative, and experimental approaches can further our understanding of poverty. By incorporating all these approaches, OS expects to provide a comprehensive portrait of low-income life and set a new twenty-first century standard for poverty description, poverty monitoring, and evidence-based anti-poverty policies.