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Technical Problems in Social Experimentation: Cost versus Ease of Analysis

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  • Jerry A. Hausman
  • David A. Wise

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to set forth general guidelines that we believe would enhance the usefulness of future social experiments and to suggest ways of correcting for inherent limitations of them. Although the major motivation for an experiment is to overcome the inherent limitations of structural econometric models, in many instances the experimental designs have subverted this motivation. The primary advantages of randomized controlled experiments were often lost. The major complication for the analysis of the experiments was induced by an endogenous sample selection and treatment assignment procedure that selected the experimental participants and assigned them to controlversus treatment groups partly on the basis of the variable whose response the experiments were intended to measure. We propose that to overcome these difficulties, the goal of an experimental design should be as nearly as possible to allow analysis based on a simple analysis of variance model. Although complexities attendant to endogenous stratification can be avoided, there are inherent limitations of the experiments that cannot. Two major ones are self-determination of participation and self-selection out, through attrition.But these problems, we believe, can be corrected for with relative ease if endogenous stratification is eliminated. Finally, we propose that as a guiding principle, the experiments should have as a first priority the precise estimation of a single or a small number of treatment effects.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 1061.

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Date of creation: Sep 1985
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Publication status: published as Jerry A. Hausman, David A. Wise. "Technical Problems in Social Experimentation: Cost versus Ease of Analysis," in Jerry A. Hausman and David A. Wise, eds., "Social Experimentation" University of Chicago Press (1985)
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1061

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Cited by:
  1. Orley Ashenfelter & David Ashmore & Olivier Deschenes, 1999. "Do Unemployment Insurance Recipients Actively Seek Work? Randomized Trials in Four U.S. States," NBER Working Papers 6982, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. V. Kerry Smith & William H. Desvousges & F. Reed Johnson & Ann Fisher, 1990. "Can public information programs affect risk perceptions?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 41-59.
  3. repec:fth:prinin:412 is not listed on IDEAS
  4. Guido W. Imbens & Donald B. Rubin & Bruce Sacerdote, 1999. "Estimating the Effects of Unearned Income on Labor Supply, Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players," NBER Working Papers 7001, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  5. Ashenfelter, Orley & Ashmore, David & Deschenes, Olivier, 2000. "Do Unemployment Insurance Recipients Actively Seek Work? Evidence From Randomized Trials in Four U.S. States," IZA Discussion Papers 128, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Mullahy, John & Sindelar, Jody, 1996. "Employment, unemployment, and problem drinking," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 409-434, August.
  7. Guido W. Imbens & Donald B. Rubin & Bruce I. Sacerdote, 2001. "Estimating the Effect of Unearned Income on Labor Earnings, Savings, and Consumption: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 778-794, September.
  8. Imbens, G.W. & Rubin, D. & Sacerdote, B., 1999. "Estimating the effect of unearned income on labor supply, earnings, savings and consumption: Evidence from a survey of lottery players," Discussion Paper 99.34, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.

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