Abstract
When randomized experiments cannot be conducted, propensity score (PS) matching and regression techniques are frequently used for estimating causal treatment effects from observational data. These methods remove bias caused by baseline differences in the treatment and control groups. Instead of using a PS technique or an outcome regression singly, one might use a doubly robust estimator that combines a PS technique (matching, stratification, or inverse propensity weighting) with an outcome regression in an attempt to address bias more effectively. Theoretically, if the PS or outcome model is correctly specified, a doubly robust estimator will produce an unbiased estimate of the average treatment effect (ATE). Doubly robust estimators are not yet well studied for multilevel data where selection into treatment takes place among level-one units within clusters. Using four simulated multilevel populations, we compare doubly robust estimators to standard PS and regression estimators and investigate their relative performance with respect to bias reduction.
IMPS 2014 Proceedings
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Acknowledgements
The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305D120005. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.
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Hall, C.E., Steiner, P.M., Kim, JS. (2015). Doubly Robust Estimation of Treatment Effects from Observational Multilevel Data. In: van der Ark, L., Bolt, D., Wang, WC., Douglas, J., Chow, SM. (eds) Quantitative Psychology Research. Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, vol 140. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19977-1_23
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19977-1_23
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