ERIC Number: ED671950
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Aug
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Common Support Violations in Clustered Observational Studies of Educational Interventions. EdWorkingPaper No. 21-454
Luke Keele; Matthew Lenard; Lindsay Page
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
In education settings, treatments are often non-randomly assigned to clusters, such as schools or classrooms, while outcomes are measured for students. This research design is called the clustered observational study (COS). We examine the consequences of common support violations in the COS context. Common support violations occur when the covariate distributions of treated and control units do not overlap. Such violations are likely to occur in a COS, especially with a small number of treated clusters. One common technique for dealing with common support violations is trimming treated units. We demonstrate how this practice can yield nonsensical results in some COSs. More specifically, we show how trimming the data can result in an uninterpretable estimand. We use data on Catholic schools to illustrate concepts throughout.
Descriptors: Cluster Grouping, Educational Environment, Outcomes of Treatment, Compliance (Psychology), Research Methodology, Research Problems, Data, Catholic Schools, Multivariate Analysis, Case Studies, Data Interpretation
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Spencer Foundation
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A