Covariate balance in simple, stratified and clustered comparative studies

DOI10.1214/08-STS254MaRDI QIDQ900461zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Ben B. Hansen, Jake Bowers

Publication date 22 December 2015

Published in Statistical Science (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0808.3857, https://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ss/1219339114

zbMATH Keywords

clusterrandomization inferencesubclassificationcontiguitycommunity interventiongroup randomization

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Classification and discrimination; cluster analysis (statistical aspects) (62H30)

Abstract: In randomized experiments, treatment and control groups should be roughly the same--balanced--in their distributions of pretreatment variables. But how nearly so? Can descriptive comparisons meaningfully be paired with significance tests? If so, should there be several such tests, one for each pretreatment variable, or should there be a single, omnibus test? Could such a test be engineered to give easily computed $p$-values that are reliable in samples of moderate size, or would simulation be needed for reliable calibration? What new concerns are introduced by random assignment of clusters? Which tests of balance would be optimal? To address these questions, Fisher's randomization inference is applied to the question of balance. Its application suggests the reversal of published conclusions about two studies, one clinical and the other a field experiment in political participation.

Recommendations

• The role of covariate balance in observational studies
• New multivariate tests for assessing covariate balance in matched observational studies
• Comparison of covariate balance weighting methods in estimating treatment effects
• Balancing tests in stratified randomized controlled trials: a cautionary note
• The Effect of Pooling Across Strata in Perfectly Balanced Studies
• Estimation of treatment effects in matched-pair cluster randomized trials by calibrating covariate imbalance between clusters
• Between- and Within-Cluster Covariate Effects in the Analysis of Clustered Data
• Covariates distributions balancing for continuous treatment

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Cited in

(27)

• The classification permutation test: a flexible approach to testing for covariate imbalance in observational studies
• Balancing tests in stratified randomized controlled trials: a cautionary note
• Comparison of covariate balance weighting methods in estimating treatment effects
• Randomization Inference in a Group–Randomized Trial of Treatments for Depression
• No star is good news: a unified look at rerandomization based on \(p\)-values from covariate balance tests
• Randomization Inference With Natural Experiments
• Placebo inference on treatment effects when the number of clusters is small
• Using the Exterior Match to Compare Two Entwined Matched Control Groups
• Evaluating and improving a matched comparison of antidepressants and bone density
• New multivariate tests for assessing covariate balance in matched observational studies
• Attributing effects to a cluster-randomized get-out-the-vote campaign
• Rerandomization in \(2^K\) factorial experiments
• Analyzing propensity matched zero-inflated count outcomes in observational studies
• The Effect of Pooling Across Strata in Perfectly Balanced Studies
• Estimation of treatment effects in matched-pair cluster randomized trials by calibrating covariate imbalance between clusters
• The Perils of Balance Testing in Experimental Design: Messy Analyses of Clean Data
• Response transformation and profit decomposition for revenue uplift modeling
• Tools for re-randomization
• The sensitivity of linear regression coefficients' confidence limits to the omission of a confounder
• Nearly random designs with greatly improved balance
• Rerandomization and optimal matching
• Using standard tools from finite population sampling to improve causal inference for complex experiments
• Comment: Matching methods for observational studies derived from large administrative databases
• Rerandomization to improve covariate balance in experiments
• Early effects of 2014 U.S. Medicaid expansions on mortality: design-based inference for impacts on small subgroups despite small-cell suppression
• Complexity and approximation results for the balance optimization subset selection model for causal inference in observational studies
• A weighting analogue to pair matching in propensity score analysis

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Uses Software

• rms
• RItools

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