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

Last registered on July 10, 2023

Pre-Trial

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

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Harvard University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-07-05
End date
2023-10-31
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
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

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)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Harvard University IRB
IRB Approval Date
2023-05-09
IRB Approval Number
IRB23-0502

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials