Design-based RCT analysis with grouped administrative data

Research Method · All research methods
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 theoretical), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description

The article recommends analyzing RCTs with grouped administrative data "to help improve data access," using design-based estimators formed as group-level averages. This allows evaluators to estimate average treatment effects when individual-level data cannot be obtained, provided the design conditions the article identifies are met.

Accounts

• Use grouped administrative data with design-based methods to improve data access for RCT analysis: The article recommends analyzing RCTs with grouped administrative data "to help improve data access," using design-based estimators formed as group-level averages. This allows evaluators to estimate average treatment effects when individual-level data cannot be obtained, provided the design conditions the article identifies are met. (Peter Z. Schochet (2020))
• Design-based estimators framework for analyzing grouped administrative data in RCTs: The article presents a framework of "design-based estimators, derived using the building blocks of experiments" for estimating average treatment effects in randomized controlled trials when analysts have access only to grouped administrative data. The framework is "conducive to grouped data for a wide range of RCT designs, including clustered and blocked designs, and models with weights and covariates." It aims to improve data access by allowing analysis at the group level rather than the individual level. (Peter Z. Schochet (2020))

Claims

• Design effects from aggregation are tolerable with moderate numbers of groups and few covariates [+M]
• Ecological inference methods for subgroup analyses yield large design effects [~M] — (also cited [+W])
• Empirical examples using real-world education RCT data demonstrate the design-based grouped-data theory [+W]

Related Research Methods

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Key Sources

• Peter Z. Schochet. (2020). Analyzing Grouped Administrative Data for RCTs Using Design-Based Methods. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, vol. 45, issue 1.
• Peter Z. Schochet. (2020). Analyzing Grouped Administrative Data for RCTs Using Design-Based Methods. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, vol. 45, issue 1. https://www.mathematica.org/publications/analyzing-grouped-administrative-data-for-rcts-using-design-based-methods

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	research-method
id	design-based-rct-analysis-with-grouped-administrative-data
title	Design-based RCT analysis with grouped administrative data
description	The article recommends analyzing RCTs with grouped administrative data "to help improve data access," using design-based estimators formed as group-level averages.
status	review
moved_from	theory/design-based-estimators-grouped-administrative-data-rcts
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-09
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — peter-z-schochet-2020

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