POL SCI 3 Chapter 1: Reading- Regression Discontinuity Design
Document Summary
Rd design refers to a set of design variations. Participants are assigned to program or comparison groups solely on the basis of a cutoff score on a pre-program measure. Appropriate when we wish to target a program or treatment to those who most need or deserve it. School children who obtain scores which fall below some predetermined cutoff value on an achievement test are assigned to remedial training designed to improve their performance. Term pretest implies that the same measure is given twice. Term pre-program measure implies that before and after measures may be the same or different. A program effect is suggested when we observe a jump or discontinuity in regression lines at the cutoff point. All persons on one side of the cutoff are assigned to one group. All persons on the other side of the cutoff are assigned to another.
