An experiment to promote the uptake of 3ie’s TREE review framework

Last registered on December 21, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
An experiment to promote the uptake of 3ie’s TREE review framework
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012580
Initial registration date
December 18, 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
December 21, 2023, 7:57 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Chandan Jain
Affiliation
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sebastian Martinez
PI Affiliation
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
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PI Name
Dale Pereira
PI Affiliation
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
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PI Name
Rohan Shah
PI Affiliation
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-12-10
End date
2024-12-09
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Globally, there is now greater emphasis on integrating evidence into policy making. Government policies and programs affect society at large, research generating evidence therefore needs to be credible and implemented in a transparent and ethical manner. Concerns, however, exist around the credibility, rigor, and reproducibility of existing evidence. Experts have pointed out various issues, such as selective reporting, p-hacking, lack of reproducibility, and ethical concerns plaguing social sciences research. Also, awareness and use of best practices in evidence generation remains low. Promoting adoption and integration of best practices (such as, pre-analysis plan, computational reproducibility) into research workflow becomes important to produce credible and ethical evidence. This study is an experiment to test the effectiveness of an information campaign on the uptake of the best practices to produce credible research.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jain, Chandan et al. 2023. "An experiment to promote the uptake of 3ie’s TREE review framework." AEA RCT Registry. December 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12580-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-12-10
Intervention End Date
2024-12-09

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Awareness about the Review Framework, 2. Use of the Review Framework in upcoming or ongoing impact evaluations, 3. Use of TREE best practices in upcoming or ongoing impact evaluations.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study is based on a cluster-randomized control trial, wherein we will randomly allocate on-going research studies to either the treatment group or control group. The researchers on these studies will comprise the participants in this experiment. If a study is assigned to the treatment group, then all associated researchers on that study will be assigned to the treatment group as a cluster. The treatment group consisting of researchers on studies assigned to the treatment will be exposed to an information campaign
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer
Randomization Unit
RCT study
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
453 studies
Sample size: planned number of observations
1244 primary investigators
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
The proposed sample includes 1244 primary investigators across 453 studies. The sample is split equally between the treatment and control arms.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Not available
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Monk Prayogshala
IRB Approval Date
2023-12-05
IRB Approval Number
#130-023
Analysis Plan