From collaboration to high-quality evidence for the energy transition: A total experimental field trial error framework

Experimental field trials are increasingly used to generate policy-relevant behavioral evidence. Yet the field lacks a systematic account of how errors emerge across the full lifecycle of such trials, while capturing the distinctive collaboration challenges of deploying interventions in multi-stakeholder real-world systems. Building on the Total Survey Error framework and situating it in the energy transition, we propose the Total Experimental Field Trial Error framework, a structured account of how measurement, representation, and implementation errors arise and interact across five phases of a field experiment: goal definition, design, contact, data collection, and data engagement. Drawing on 12 field trials conducted in the context of the energy transition, we illustrate how these error sources manifest in practice, why they threaten causal inference and policy usefulness, and how researchers can mitigate them through coordinated planning with external partners, clearer documentation standards, and targeted diagnostic tools. We provide checklists for researchers and policymakers. By formalizing a comprehensive error framework tailored to experimental field trials especially in the energy domain, we provide a common language, and a foundation for more credible causal evidence and more interpretable cross-trial comparisons, aiding to better translate behavioral interventions into large-scale energy policies.