AEA RCT Registry

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Misperceptions about Caste and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action Among College Students in India

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0011706

Initial registration date

July 03, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

July 10, 2023, 9:13 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

India

Region

South Asia

Primary Investigator

Name

Ashutosh Bhuradia

Affiliation

Harvard University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-07-05

End date

2023-10-31

Keywords

Behavior, Education

Additional Keywords

JEL code(s)

A20, J15, I23, I24

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

India has a large and comprehensive system of caste-based affirmative action in its public colleges and universities. Affirmative action in India’s higher education is meant to address historical inequities that resulted from centuries of caste-based oppression. The system has resulted in a large number of beneficiaries (students from “lower-caste” backgrounds) and non-beneficiaries (students from “upper-caste” backgrounds). Upper-caste students—who are the non-beneficiaries—might have beliefs about and preferences for affirmative action and other redistributive policies which are shaped, in part, by their misperceptions about caste. In this study, I propose an online survey experiment to capture these biases and misperceptions and conduct interventions to address them. I randomly assign 1600 college students in India to one of three arms: a 2-minute online intervention that provides students with facts about caste; a 2-minute online intervention that provides research evidence about caste-related discrimination; and a 4-minute online intervention that combines facts and research evidence about caste. The results of this study are critical to understanding caste-related biases and misperceptions among college students in India, and, more broadly, for designing interventions that promote diversity and inclusion at higher education institutions around the world.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Bhuradia, Ashutosh. 2023. "Misperceptions about Caste and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action Among College Students in India ." AEA RCT Registry. July 10. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11706-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2023-08-04

Intervention End Date

2023-09-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Preferences for affirmative action in college
2. Preference for supporting organizations that focus specifically on empowering lower-caste students

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

1. Preferences for affirmative action in college: The outcome will be constructed based on respondents' answers to a question in the endline about their preference for affirmative action quotas in higher education in India (e.g., what percentage of seats should be reserved in colleges for students from lower-caste groups)
2. Preference for supporting organizations that focus specifically on empowering lower-caste students: this will be based on respondents' answers to a question in the endline about the choice of organization to which they would like to donate a part of the money they receive for filling out the survey (the question will provide a choice of two organizations: one that specifically supports education for lower-caste students and another generic education NGO. Respondents will also have a choice to donate to neither organizations).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

1. My first outcome variable will measure attitudes toward lower-caste students (an index that uses four attitudinal questions from the survey—this be z-scored).

2. My second outcome variable will measure preferences for affirmative (an index that uses four questions from the survey related to preferences for affirmative action in college —this be also z-scored).

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

1. Attitudes index: an index that uses responses from four attitudinal questions (attitudes toward lower-caste students) from the survey—this be z-scored. The questions will be asked on a standard 5-point Likert scale.
1. Preferences index: an index that uses responses from four questions from the survey that ask respondents about their preferences for affirmative action in higher education—this be z-scored. The questions will be asked on a standard 5-point Likert scale.

Experimental Design

The intervention will be in the form of an online survey experiment. The online survey experiment will take place as follows. Students will be randomized students into four equal groups (randomization is done automatically via Qualtrics): control/placebo (n = 400), fact treatment arm (n = 400), research arm (n = 400), and fact plus research evidence treatment arm (n = 400). The fact treatment arm (T1) will consist of providing students with information/facts about social equality especially related to caste. The second treatment (T2) arm will provide a short video about research evidence pertaining to the misperceptions about lower-caste college students and evidence about caste-based discrimination. The third treatment arm (T3) will combine the fact treatment with the research evidence intervention (fact + research evidence).

Experimental Design Details

The intervention will be in the form of an online survey experiment. The online survey experiment will take place as follows. Students will be randomized students into four equal groups (randomization is done automatically via Qualtrics): control/placebo (n = 400), fact treatment arm (n = 400), research arm (n = 400), and fact plus research evidence treatment arm (n = 400). The fact treatment arm (T1) will consist of providing students with information/facts about social equality especially related to caste. The second treatment (T2) arm will provide a short video about research evidence pertaining to the misperceptions about lower-caste college students and evidence about caste-based discrimination. The third treatment arm (T3) will combine the fact treatment with the research evidence intervention (fact + research evidence).

Randomization Method

Automatically via online survey software (Qualtrics)

Randomization Unit

Individual

Was the treatment clustered?

No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

No clusters. The study is randomized at the individual level

Sample size: planned number of observations

1600 individuals

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

400 individuals per treatment arm

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

0.2 SD (power 80% and alpha 0.05)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

Harvard University IRB

IRB Approval Date

2023-05-09

IRB Approval Number

IRB23-0502

Analysis Plan

Misperceptions about Caste and Attitudes toward Affirmative Action Among College Students in India

Pre-Trial

General Information

Locations

Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Registration Citation

Interventions

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

Experimental Design

Experiment Characteristics

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Post-Trial

Study Withdrawal

Intervention

Data Publication

Program Files

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials