ERIC Number: ED511782
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Aug
Pages: 50
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Technical Methods Report: Statistical Power for Regression Discontinuity Designs in Education Evaluations. NCEE 2008-4026
Schochet, Peter Z.
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
This report examines theoretical and empirical issues related to the statistical power of impact estimates under clustered regression discontinuity (RD) designs. The theory is grounded in the causal inference and HLM modeling literature, and the empirical work focuses on commonly-used designs in education research to test intervention effects on student test scores. The main conclusion is that three to four times larger samples are typically required under RD than experimental clustered designs to produce impacts with the same level of statistical precision. Thus, the viability of using RD designs for new impact evaluations of educational interventions may be limited, and will depend on the point of treatment assignment, the availability of pretests, and key research questions. Appendices include: (1) Values for "Factor(.)" in Equation (1) of Text, by the Number of Degrees of Freedom, for One- and Two-Tailed Tests, and at 80 and 85 Percent Power; and (2) Lemma 1. (Contains 7 tables, 2 figures and 8 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Research Methodology, Models, Regression (Statistics), Sample Size, Research Design, Multivariate Analysis, Scores, Intervention, Pretests Posttests, Educational Assessment
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Available from: ED Pubs. P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Tel: 877-433-7827; Web site: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (ED)
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
IES Publication: http://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20084026
Author Affiliations: N/A