2. The Goal, Context, and Methods Behind Our Case Studies

This chapter will introduce general lessons from the interviews, mapping out key conclusions in terms of context of and methodologies implemented to evaluate results in each case study. It will start by discussing the main conclusion from the interviews: how each of our case studies differ tremendously—in terms of their main characteristics and their general goals and details. This leads to a discussion of how our case studies can be construed as basic income experiments, pilots, or policies (or not). From there, we will raise key questions on the methodological decisions, either in terms of design model, type of evidence collected, and even the way ethical criteria can sometimes be taken into account. This discussion leads us to conclusions on the role the sociopolitical context plays in any basic income experiment and can therefore have tremendous impacts on how experiments are conducted, implemented, and perceived. The chapter closes with key conclusions from the interviews related to the implications of methodological decisions and context, specifically the limited comparability and scalability that basic income experiments offer so far.