Randomization Distributions

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Randomization Distributions Section 4.4 Creating Randomization Distributions Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomization Distributions p-values can be calculated by randomization distributions: simulate samples, assuming H0 is true calculate the statistic of interest for each sample find the p-value as the proportion of simulated statistics as extreme as the observed statistic Today we’ll see ways to simulate randomization samples for a variety of situations Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Cocaine Addiction • In a randomized experiment on treating cocaine addiction, 48 people were randomly assigned to take either Desipramine (a new drug), or Lithium (an existing drug), and then followed to see who relapsed • Question of interest: Is Desipramine better than Lithium at treating cocaine addiction? Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Cocaine Addiction • What are the null and alternative hypotheses? • What are the possible conclusions? Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Cocaine Addiction • What are the null and alternative hypotheses? pD, pL: proportion of cocaine addicts who relapse after taking Desipramine or Lithium, respectively ̂ H0: pD = pL H : p < p a D L • What are the possible conclusions? Reject H0; Desipramine is better than Lithium Do not reject H0: We cannot determine from these data whether Desipramine is better than Lithium Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R 1. Randomly assign units to treatment groups Desipramine Lithium R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 2. Conduct experiment 3. Observe relapse counts in each group R = Relapse N = No Relapse 1. Randomly assign units to treatment groups Desipramine Lithium R R R R R R ppˆˆDL− R R R R R R R R R R NR NR 10 18 R R R R R R = − NR NR N N N N 24 24 R R R R R R = −.333 N N N N N N N N N N N N 10 relapse, 14 no relapse 18 relapse, 6 no relapse Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Measuring Evidence against H0 To see if a statistic provides evidence against H0, we need to see what kind of sample statistics we would observe, just by random chance, if H0 were true Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Cocaine Addiction • “by random chance” means by the random assignment to the two treatment groups • “if H0 were true” means if the two drugs were equally effective at preventing relapses (equivalently: whether a person relapses or not does not depend on which drug is taken) • Simulate what would happen just by random chance, if H0 were true… Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R N N R R R R R R N N N N N N R R R R R R N N N N N N N N N N N N 10 relapse, 14 no relapse 18 relapse, 6 no relapse Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R N N R R R R R R N N N N N N R R R R R R N N N N N N N N N N N N Simulate another randomization Desipramine Lithium R N R N N N N R ppˆˆD − L R R R R R R 16 12 N R R N N N = − R N R R R N 24 24 N R N R R N R N N N R R = 0.167 R N R R R R 16 relapse, 8 no relapse 12 relapse, 12 no relapse Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Simulate another randomization Desipramine Lithium R R R R R R R R R R R R ppˆˆDL− R N R R N N 17 11 R R R R R R = − R R N R N R 24 24 R R R R R R R N R N R R = 0.250 N N N N N N 17 relapse, 7 no relapse 11 relapse, 13 no relapse Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Simulate Your Own Sample In the experiment, 28 people relapsed and 20 people did not relapse. Create cards or slips of paper with 28 “R” values and 20 “N” values. Pool these response values together, and randomly divide them into two groups (representing Desipramine and Lithium) Calculate your difference in proportions Plot your statistic on the class dotplot To create an entire randomization distribution, we simulate this process many more times with technology: StatKey Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 www.lock5stat.com/statkey p-value Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomization Distribution Center A randomization distribution simulates samples assuming the null hypothesis is true, so A randomization distribution is centered at the value of the parameter given in the null hypothesis. Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomization Distribution In a hypothesis test for H0: µ = 12 vs Ha: µ < 12, we have a sample with n = 45 and = 10.2. • What do we require about the method̅ to produce randomization samples? µ = 12 • Where will the randomization distribution be centered? 12 Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomization Distribution For a randomization distribution, each simulated sample should… •be consistent with the null hypothesis •use the data in the observed sample •reflect the way the data were collected Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomized Experiments • In randomized experiments the “randomness” is the random allocation to treatment groups • If the null hypothesis is true, the response values would be the same, regardless of treatment group assignment • To simulate what would happen just by random chance, if H0 were true: o reallocate cases to treatment groups, keeping the response values the same Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Observational Studies In observational studies, the “randomness” is random sampling from the population To simulate what would happen, just by random chance, if H0 were true: Simulate resampling from a population in which H0 is true How do we simulate resampling from a population when we only have sample data? Bootstrap! How can we generate randomization samples for observational studies? Make H0 true, then bootstrap! Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Body Temperatures • µ = average human body temperate98.6° H0 : µ = 98.6° Ha : µ ° • = 98.26≠ 98.6 • We̅ can make the null true just by adding 98.6 – 98.26 = 0.34° to each value, to make the mean be 98.6 • Bootstrapping from this revised sample lets us simulate samples, assuming H0 is true! Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Body Temperatures • In StatKey, when we enter the null hypothesis, this shifting is automatically done for us StatKey p-value = 0.002 Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Creating Randomization Samples 1. Do males exercise more hours per week than females? = 3 ̅ − ̅ 2. Is blood pressure negatively correlated with heart rate? = 0.057 State null and alternative hypotheses − Devise a way to generate a randomization sample that Uses the observed sample data Makes the null hypothesis true Reflects the way the data were collected Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Exercise and Gender • H0: µm = µf , Ha: µm > µf • To make H0 true, we must make the means equal. One way to do this is to add 3 to every female value (there are other ways) • Bootstrap from this modified sample • In StatKey, the default randomization method is “reallocate groups”, but “Shift Groups” is also an option, and will do this Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Exercise and Gender p-value = 0.095 Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Blood Pressure and Heart Rate • H0: ρ = 0 , Ha: ρ < 0 • Two variables have correlation 0 if they are not associated. We can “break the association” by randomly permuting/scrambling/shuffling one of the variables • Each time we do this, we get a sample we might observe just by random chance, if there really is no correlation Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Even if blood pressure and p-value = heart rate are not correlated, 0.219 we would see correlations this extreme about 22% of the time, just by random chance. Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Randomization Distribution Paul the Octopus (single proportion): Flip a coin 8 times Cocaine Addiction (randomized experiment): Rerandomize cases to treatment groups, keeping response values fixed Body Temperature (single mean): Shift to make H0 true, then bootstrap Exercise and Gender (observational study): Shift to make H0 true, then bootstrap Blood Pressure and Heart Rate (correlation): Randomly permute/scramble/shuffle one variable Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Generating Randomization Samples • As long as the original data is used and the null hypothesis is true for the randomization samples, most methods usually give similar answers in terms of a p-value • StatKey generates the randomizations for you, so most important is not understanding how to generate randomization samples, but understanding why Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Summary Randomization samples should be generated Consistent with the null hypothesis Using the observed data Reflecting the way the data were collected The specific method varies with the situation, but the general idea is always the same Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 .
Recommended publications
  • Data Collection: Randomized Experiments
    9/2/15 STAT 250 Dr. Kari Lock Morgan Knee Surgery for Arthritis Researchers conducted a study on the effectiveness of a knee surgery to cure arthritis. Collecting Data: It was randomly determined whether people got Randomized Experiments the knee surgery. Everyone who underwent the surgery reported feeling less pain. SECTION 1.3 Is this evidence that the surgery causes a • Control/comparison group decrease in pain? • Clinical trials • Placebo Effect (a) Yes • Blinding • Crossover studies / Matched pairs (b) No Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Control Group Clinical Trials Clinical trials are randomized experiments When determining whether a treatment is dealing with medicine or medical interventions, effective, it is important to have a comparison conducted on human subjects group, known as the control group Clinical trials require additional aspects, beyond just randomization to treatment groups: All randomized experiments need a control or ¡ Placebo comparison group (could be two different ¡ Double-blind treatments) Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Statistics: Unlocking the Power of Data Lock5 Placebo Effect Study on Placebos Often, people will experience the effect they think they should be experiencing, even if they aren’t actually Blue pills are better than yellow pills receiving the treatment. This is known as the placebo effect. Red pills are better than blue pills Example: Eurotrip 2 pills are better than 1 pill One study estimated that 75% of the
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4: Fisher's Exact Test in Completely Randomized Experiments
    1 Chapter 4: Fisher’s Exact Test in Completely Randomized Experiments Fisher (1925, 1926) was concerned with testing hypotheses regarding the effect of treat- ments. Specifically, he focused on testing sharp null hypotheses, that is, null hypotheses under which all potential outcomes are known exactly. Under such null hypotheses all un- known quantities in Table 4 in Chapter 1 are known–there are no missing data anymore. As we shall see, this implies that we can figure out the distribution of any statistic generated by the randomization. Fisher’s great insight concerns the value of the physical randomization of the treatments for inference. Fisher’s classic example is that of the tea-drinking lady: “A lady declares that by tasting a cup of tea made with milk she can discriminate whether the milk or the tea infusion was first added to the cup. ... Our experi- ment consists in mixing eight cups of tea, four in one way and four in the other, and presenting them to the subject in random order. ... Her task is to divide the cups into two sets of 4, agreeing, if possible, with the treatments received. ... The element in the experimental procedure which contains the essential safeguard is that the two modifications of the test beverage are to be prepared “in random order.” This is in fact the only point in the experimental procedure in which the laws of chance, which are to be in exclusive control of our frequency distribution, have been explicitly introduced. ... it may be said that the simple precaution of randomisation will suffice to guarantee the validity of the test of significance, by which the result of the experiment is to be judged.” The approach is clear: an experiment is designed to evaluate the lady’s claim to be able to discriminate wether the milk or tea was first poured into the cup.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of Variance and Analysis of Variance and Design of Experiments of Experiments-I
    Analysis of Variance and Design of Experimentseriments--II MODULE ––IVIV LECTURE - 19 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS AND THEIR ANALYSIS Dr. Shalabh Department of Mathematics and Statistics Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur 2 Design of experiment means how to design an experiment in the sense that how the observations or measurements should be obtained to answer a qqyuery inavalid, efficient and economical way. The desigggning of experiment and the analysis of obtained data are inseparable. If the experiment is designed properly keeping in mind the question, then the data generated is valid and proper analysis of data provides the valid statistical inferences. If the experiment is not well designed, the validity of the statistical inferences is questionable and may be invalid. It is important to understand first the basic terminologies used in the experimental design. Experimental unit For conducting an experiment, the experimental material is divided into smaller parts and each part is referred to as experimental unit. The experimental unit is randomly assigned to a treatment. The phrase “randomly assigned” is very important in this definition. Experiment A way of getting an answer to a question which the experimenter wants to know. Treatment Different objects or procedures which are to be compared in an experiment are called treatments. Sampling unit The object that is measured in an experiment is called the sampling unit. This may be different from the experimental unit. 3 Factor A factor is a variable defining a categorization. A factor can be fixed or random in nature. • A factor is termed as fixed factor if all the levels of interest are included in the experiment.
    [Show full text]
  • The Theory of the Design of Experiments
    The Theory of the Design of Experiments D.R. COX Honorary Fellow Nuffield College Oxford, UK AND N. REID Professor of Statistics University of Toronto, Canada CHAPMAN & HALL/CRC Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C. C195X/disclaimer Page 1 Friday, April 28, 2000 10:59 AM Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cox, D. R. (David Roxbee) The theory of the design of experiments / D. R. Cox, N. Reid. p. cm. — (Monographs on statistics and applied probability ; 86) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-58488-195-X (alk. paper) 1. Experimental design. I. Reid, N. II.Title. III. Series. QA279 .C73 2000 001.4 '34 —dc21 00-029529 CIP This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying. Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Randomize?
    TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO ACTION How to Randomize? Roland Rathelot J-PAL Course Overview 1. What is Evaluation? 2. Outcomes, Impact, and Indicators 3. Why Randomize and Common Critiques 4. How to Randomize 5. Sampling and Sample Size 6. Threats and Analysis 7. Project from Start to Finish 8. Cost-Effectiveness Analysis and Scaling Up Lecture Overview • Unit and method of randomization • Real-world constraints • Revisiting unit and method • Variations on simple treatment-control Lecture Overview • Unit and method of randomization • Real-world constraints • Revisiting unit and method • Variations on simple treatment-control Unit of Randomization: Options 1. Randomizing at the individual level 2. Randomizing at the group level “Cluster Randomized Trial” • Which level to randomize? Unit of Randomization: Considerations • What unit does the program target for treatment? • What is the unit of analysis? Unit of Randomization: Individual? Unit of Randomization: Individual? Unit of Randomization: Clusters? Unit of Randomization: Class? Unit of Randomization: Class? Unit of Randomization: School? Unit of Randomization: School? How to Choose the Level • Nature of the Treatment – How is the intervention administered? – What is the catchment area of each “unit of intervention” – How wide is the potential impact? • Aggregation level of available data • Power requirements • Generally, best to randomize at the level at which the treatment is administered. Suppose an intervention targets health outcomes of children through info on hand-washing. What is the appropriate level of randomization? A. Child level 30% B. Household level 23% C. Classroom level D. School level 17% E. Village level 13% 10% F. Don’t know 7% A. B. C. D.
    [Show full text]
  • Designing Experiments
    Designing experiments Outline for today • What is an experimental study • Why do experiments • Clinical trials • How to minimize bias in experiments • How to minimize effects of sampling error in experiments • Experiments with more than one factor • What if you can’t do experiments • Planning your sample size to maximize precision and power What is an experimental study • In an experimental study the researcher assigns treatments to units or subjects so that differences in response can be compared. o Clinical trials, reciprocal transplant experiments, factorial experiments on competition and predation, etc. are examples of experimental studies. • In an observational study, nature does the assigning of treatments to subjects. The researcher has no influence over which subjects receive which treatment. Common garden “experiments”, QTL “experiments”, etc, are examples of observational studies (no matter how complex the apparatus needed to measure response). What is an experimental study • In an experimental study, there must be at least two treatments • The experimenter (rather than nature) must assign treatments to units or subjects. • The crucial advantage of experiments derives from the random assignment of treatments to units. • Random assignment, or randomization, minimizes the influence of confounding variables, allowing the experimenter to isolate the effects of the treatment variable. Why do experiments • By itself an observational study cannot distinguish between two reasons behind an association between an explanatory variable and a response variable. • For example, survival of climbers to Mount Everest is higher for individuals taking supplemental oxygen than those not taking supplemental oxygen. • One possibility is that supplemental oxygen (explanatory variable) really does cause higher survival (response variable).
    [Show full text]
  • Randomized Experimentsexperiments Randomized Trials
    Impact Evaluation RandomizedRandomized ExperimentsExperiments Randomized Trials How do researchers learn about counterfactual states of the world in practice? In many fields, and especially in medical research, evidence about counterfactuals is generated by randomized trials. In principle, randomized trials ensure that outcomes in the control group really do capture the counterfactual for a treatment group. 2 Randomization To answer causal questions, statisticians recommend a formal two-stage statistical model. In the first stage, a random sample of participants is selected from a defined population. In the second stage, this sample of participants is randomly assigned to treatment and comparison (control) conditions. 3 Population Randomization Sample Randomization Treatment Group Control Group 4 External & Internal Validity The purpose of the first-stage is to ensure that the results in the sample will represent the results in the population within a defined level of sampling error (external validity). The purpose of the second-stage is to ensure that the observed effect on the dependent variable is due to some aspect of the treatment rather than other confounding factors (internal validity). 5 Population Non-target group Target group Randomization Treatment group Comparison group 6 Two-Stage Randomized Trials In large samples, two-stage randomized trials ensure that: [Y1 | D =1]= [Y1 | D = 0] and [Y0 | D =1]= [Y0 | D = 0] • Thus, the estimator ˆ ˆ ˆ δ = [Y1 | D =1]-[Y0 | D = 0] • Consistently estimates ATE 7 One-Stage Randomized Trials Instead, if randomization takes place on a selected subpopulation –e.g., list of volunteers-, it only ensures: [Y0 | D =1] = [Y0 | D = 0] • And hence, the estimator ˆ ˆ ˆ δ = [Y1 | D =1]-[Y0 | D = 0] • Only estimates TOT Consistently 8 Randomized Trials Furthermore, even in idealized randomized designs, 1.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Do Random Allocation (Randomization) Jeehyoung Kim, MD, Wonshik Shin, MD
    Special Report Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery 2014;6:103-109 • http://dx.doi.org/10.4055/cios.2014.6.1.103 How to Do Random Allocation (Randomization) Jeehyoung Kim, MD, Wonshik Shin, MD Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Seoul Sacred Heart General Hospital, Seoul, Korea Purpose: To explain the concept and procedure of random allocation as used in a randomized controlled study. Methods: We explain the general concept of random allocation and demonstrate how to perform the procedure easily and how to report it in a paper. Keywords: Random allocation, Simple randomization, Block randomization, Stratified randomization Randomized controlled trials (RCT) are known as the best On the other hand, many researchers are still un- method to prove causality in spite of various limitations. familiar with how to do randomization, and it has been Random allocation is a technique that chooses individuals shown that there are problems in many studies with the for treatment groups and control groups entirely by chance accurate performance of the randomization and that some with no regard to the will of researchers or patients’ con- studies are reporting incorrect results. So, we will intro- dition and preference. This allows researchers to control duce the recommended way of using statistical methods all known and unknown factors that may affect results in for a randomized controlled study and show how to report treatment groups and control groups. the results properly. Allocation concealment is a technique used to pre- vent selection bias by concealing the allocation sequence CATEGORIES OF RANDOMIZATION from those assigning participants to intervention groups, until the moment of assignment.
    [Show full text]
  • Bias in Rcts: Confounders, Selection Bias and Allocation Concealment
    Vol. 10, No. 3, 2005 Middle East Fertility Society Journal © Copyright Middle East Fertility Society EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE CORNER Bias in RCTs: confounders, selection bias and allocation concealment Abdelhamid Attia, M.D. Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology and secretary general of the center of evidence-Based Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt The double blind randomized controlled trial that may distort a RCT results and how to avoid (RCT) is considered the gold-standard in clinical them is mandatory for researchers who seek research. Evidence for the effectiveness of conducting proper research of high relevance and therapeutic interventions should rely on well validity. conducted RCTs. The importance of RCTs for clinical practice can be illustrated by its impact on What is bias? the shift of practice in hormone replacement therapy (HRT). For decades HRT was considered Bias is the lack of neutrality or prejudice. It can the standard care for all postmenopausal, be simply defined as "the deviation from the truth". symptomatic and asymptomatic women. Evidence In scientific terms it is "any factor or process that for the effectiveness of HRT relied always on tends to deviate the results or conclusions of a trial observational studies mostly cohort studies. But a systematically away from the truth2". Such single RCT that was published in 2002 (The women's deviation leads, usually, to over-estimating the health initiative trial (1) has changed clinical practice effects of interventions making them look better all over the world from the liberal use of HRT to the than they actually are. conservative use in selected symptomatic cases and Bias can occur and affect any part of a study for the shortest period of time.
    [Show full text]
  • Design of Engineering Experiments the Blocking Principle
    Design of Engineering Experiments The Blocking Principle • Montgomery text Reference, Chapter 4 • Bloc king and nuiftisance factors • The randomized complete block design or the RCBD • Extension of the ANOVA to the RCBD • Other blocking scenarios…Latin square designs 1 The Blockinggp Principle • Blocking is a technique for dealing with nuisance factors • A nuisance factor is a factor that probably has some effect on the response, but it’s of no interest to the experimenter…however, the variability it transmits to the response needs to be minimized • Typical nuisance factors include batches of raw material, operators, pieces of test equipment, time (shifts, days, etc.), different experimental units • Many industrial experiments involve blocking (or should) • Failure to block is a common flaw in designing an experiment (consequences?) 2 The Blocking Principle • If the nuisance variable is known and controllable, we use blocking • If the nuisance factor is known and uncontrollable, sometimes we can use the analysis of covariance (see Chapter 15) to remove the effect of the nuisance factor from the analysis • If the nuisance factor is unknown and uncontrollable (a “lurking” variable), we hope that randomization balances out its impact across the experiment • Sometimes several sources of variability are combined in a block, so the block becomes an aggregate variable 3 The Hardness Testinggp Example • Text reference, pg 120 • We wish to determine whether 4 different tippps produce different (mean) hardness reading on a Rockwell hardness tester
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 9, Compact Version
    Announcements: • Midterm Monday. Bring calculator and one sheet of notes. No calculator = cell phone! • Assigned seats, random ID check. Chapter 4 • Review Friday. Review sheet posted on website. • Mon discussion is for credit (3rd of 7 for credit). • Week 3 quiz starts at 1pm today, ends Fri. • After midterm, a “week” will be Wed, Fri, Mon, so Gathering Useful Data for Examining quizzes start on Mondays, homework due Weds. Relationships See website for specific days and dates. Homework (due Friday) Chapter 4: #13, 21, 36 Today: Chapter 4 and finish Ch 3 lecture. Research Studies to Detect Relationships Examples (details given in class) Observational Study: Are these experiments or observational studies? Researchers observe or question participants about 1. Mozart and IQ opinions, behaviors, or outcomes. Participants are not asked to do anything differently. 2. Drinking tea and conception (p. 721) Experiment: 3. Autistic spectrum disorder and mercury Researchers manipulate something and measure the http://www.jpands.org/vol8no3/geier.pdf effect of the manipulation on some outcome of interest. Randomized experiment: The participants are 4. Aspirin and heart attacks (Case study 1.6) randomly assigned to participate in one condition or another, or if they do all conditions the order is randomly assigned. Who is Measured: Explanatory and Response Units, Subjects, Participants Variables Unit: a single individual or object being Explanatory variable (or independent measured once. variable) is one that may explain or may If an experiment, then called an experimental cause differences in a response variable unit. (or outcome or dependent variable). When units are people, often called subjects or Explanatory Response participants.
    [Show full text]
  • The Core Analytics of Randomized Experiments for Social Research
    MDRC Working Papers on Research Methodology The Core Analytics of Randomized Experiments for Social Research Howard S. Bloom August 2006 This working paper is part of a series of publications by MDRC on alternative methods of evaluating the implementation and impacts of social and educational programs and policies. The paper will be published as a chapter in the forthcoming Handbook of Social Research by Sage Publications, Inc. Many thanks are due to Richard Dorsett, Carolyn Hill, Rob Hollister, and Charles Michalopoulos for their helpful suggestions on revising earlier drafts. This working paper was supported by the Judith Gueron Fund for Methodological Innovation in Social Policy Research at MDRC, which was created through gifts from the Annie E. Casey, Rocke- feller, Jerry Lee, Spencer, William T. Grant, and Grable Foundations. The findings and conclusions in this paper do not necessarily represent the official positions or poli- cies of the funders. Dissemination of MDRC publications is supported by the following funders that help finance MDRC’s public policy outreach and expanding efforts to communicate the results and implications of our work to policymakers, practitioners, and others: Alcoa Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Open Society Institute, and The Starr Foundation. In addition, earnings from the MDRC Endowment help sustain our dis- semination efforts. Contributors to the MDRC Endowment include Alcoa Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Anheuser-Busch Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Charles Stew- art Mott Foundation, Ford Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Grable Foundation, The Lizabeth and Frank Newman Charitable Foundation, The New York Times Company Foundation, Jan Nicholson, Paul H.
    [Show full text]