Professional development of governance institutions personnel

Last registered on December 03, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Professional development of governance institutions personnel
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014785
Initial registration date
November 10, 2024

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
November 15, 2024, 1:43 PM EST

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

Last updated
December 03, 2024, 5:34 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Pakistan
Region
Merged Areas, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Primary Investigator

Name
Saad Gulzar
Affiliation
Princeton University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Saad Gulzar
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
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PI Name
Musharraf Cyan
PI Affiliation
Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP), United Nations Development Programme
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PI Name
Zain Abbasi
PI Affiliation
Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP), United Nations Development Programme
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PI Name
Zeeshan Shafqat
PI Affiliation
Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP), United Nations Development Programme
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PI Name
Anila Shafa Ali
PI Affiliation
Merged Areas Governance Programme (MAGP), United Nations Development Programme
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Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-01-01
End date
2024-12-31
Keywords
Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study proposes a professional development intervention conducted by UNDP in collaboration with the government. The program aims at improving police behaviour and community relations in the Merged Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The RCT focuses on training police officials in empathy, conflict resolution, and non-violent communication strategies to address public safety needs and enhance trust between law enforcement and communities. Through the use of instructional videos, in-person training, the intervention seeks to instill skills that foster respectful and effective policing, with the potential for scaling the approach across other regions. The main outcomes of interest are the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the police officers; Knowledge and Attitudes will be measured through an index based on a telephonic survey of the police officers, while the "Practices" will be measured through a "mystery shopper" observational approach.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Abbasi, Zain et al. 2024. "Professional development of governance institutions personnel." AEA RCT Registry. December 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14785-2.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention designed to improve police-community relations and reduce the use of force among police officials in the Merged Areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. This initiative focuses on professional development and behavioral training for police officers to foster positive interactions with the community. The intervention will follow a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) methodology, with 1 treatment arm and 1 control arm. The police officials in the treatment arm will receive 40 instructional videos via WhatsApp. These videos cover essential topics, including communication strategies and conflict resolution, making learning accessible and convenient for officers.

Key components of the intervention include:
1. Behavioral Training Modules: Police officials will receive training in empathy, effective communication, conflict resolution, and non-violent techniques to handle challenging situations. This training aims to equip officers with soft skills that enable them to engage constructively with citizens and de-escalate conflicts.
2. Digital Learning through WhatsApp: 40 instructional videos will be shared with police officials over three months via WhatsApp. These videos cover essential topics, including communication strategies and conflict resolution, making learning accessible and convenient for officers.
3. Face-to-Face Training Sessions: After the video modules are completed, additional in-person training sessions with role-playing and practical exercises will reinforce the skills learned.

Measurement:
-Mystery Shopper Assessments: To measure the impact of training on real life police behavior, trained "mystery shoppers" will observe interactions at police check point, providing an objective assessment of officers' behaviors.
-Incentivized Knowledge Assessments: The intervention includes baseline, midline, and endline assessments, with incentives for officers based on quiz performance to encourage engagement and retention of the training material.

UNDP was unable to deliver treatment and measure outcomes in one of the districts (Kurram) where the intervention was initially randomized because of on-going security concerns. Since one of the blocking variables for the randomization is the district, we will drop this district from our main analysis. If UNDP is able to collect some outcome data in this district, we will analyze it in a set of exploratory exercises.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-05-16
Intervention End Date
2024-10-25

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Practices & Behaviours Index of Police Officers
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The measurement of Practices and Behaviours Index of the polices officers will done through a mystery shopper approach, where "mystery shoppers" will observe the behaviour and practices of the police officials (through a check list) appointed at each police unit. The mystery shopper approach is designed to assess the practices and behaviours of the police officials, including how they interact with mystery shoppers and whether they exhibit the desired behaviour and conduct. After each visit, the mystery shopper fills out an observation form consisting of 7 questions that are scored. Based on these 7 questions and their scoring, an additive index will be created to represent the Practices and Behaviours of Police Officers.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Knowledge and Attitudes Index of Polices Officers
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
The Knowledge and Attitudes Index will be based on a 25 survey questions on knowledge and attitudes of the police officers. An additive index on Knowledge and Attitudes will be created based on the scoring of each of the questions.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The intervention will follow a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) methodology consisting of two arms: A Treatment Arm in which police officials will receive training content via whatsapp as well as in-person training, and a control group in which no treatment will be provided.

The unit of randomization is Police Checkpoints in 4 districts of the Merged Areas region in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. The sample consists of 135 police checkpoints (with 1,624 police officials), from which 68 police checkpoints were randomly assigned to the control arm and 67 were assigned to the treatment arm. Initially, the intervention was to be implemented in 5 districts and 191 clusters (and 2,194 police officials), however, due to security issues, the complete treatment was not able to be provided in one of the districts. Hence, that district has been dropped from the main analysis. If data collection in eventually possible on that district, we will analyze this district in a set of exploratory exercises.

The main outcomes of interest are Knowledge, Attitudes, and in-field Behaviours of police officials. Data collection will happen at baseline, midline, and endline through telephonic surveys and ‘mystery shopper’ observation of police officials.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Block randomisation into treatment and control groups conducted through STATA computer programme. Blocking variables were district, type of facility (checkpost or police station), and size of facility.
Randomization Unit
Police Checkpoints (checkposts and police stations)
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
135 Police Checkpoints
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,624 police officers
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
68 Police Checkpoints (clusters) in control group, 67 clusters in the Police Checkpoints (clusters) group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
MAGP Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-01
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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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