Advancing the measurement of school-related violence among young children

Last registered on December 05, 2024

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Advancing the measurement of school-related violence among young children

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0014828

Initial registration date

November 22, 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

December 02, 2024, 11:08 AM EST

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

Last updated

December 05, 2024, 8:04 AM EST

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

Locations

Country

Malawi

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Gabriela Smarrelli

Affiliation

Center for Global Development

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2024-11-07

End date

2024-12-05

Keywords

Education, Gender, Other

Additional Keywords

Violence

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Prior work

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

Abstract

Data on school-related violence currently focuses on children above 12 years old and we lack knowledge on which data collection methods can ensure accurate and safe reporting. To address this issue, we are conducting a survey experiment with four treatment arms to determine which survey modes and interview locations elicit more reliable disclosures of school-related violence. The study targets children aged 8 to 12 and examines their experiences with bullying, corporal punishment, and sexual violence.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Smarrelli, Gabriela. 2024. "Advancing the measurement of school-related violence among young children." AEA RCT Registry. December 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14828-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The study involves a survey experiment designed to identify the survey modes and interview locations that provide the most reliable measures of school-related violence. In other words, it seeks to determine the strategies and methods that minimize measurement error.

The four treatment arms are:
(i) Direct interviewing (face to face) at Home: survey executed at the student's home using face to face interviewing.
(ii) Direct interviewing at School: survey executed at the student's school using face to face interviewing.
(iii) Audio-Computer Assisted-Interviewing (ACASI) at Home: survey executed at the student's home using ACASI interviewing.
(iv) ACASI at School: survey executed at the student's school using ACASI interviewing.

Intervention (Hidden)

Intervention Start Date

2024-11-07

Intervention End Date

2024-12-05

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

The primary outcomes of the study are:

1) Physical Bullying by Peers: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced physical bullying in the last 30 days.
2) Psychological Bullying by Peers: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced psychological bullying in the last 30 days.
3) Psychological Violence by the School Staff: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced psychological violence from teachers in the last 30 days.
4) Corporal Punishment by the School Staff: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced corporal punishment from teachers in the last 30 days.
5) Sexual Violence by Peers: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced any form of sexual violence by peers.
6) Sexual Violence by the School Staff: Dummy variable that takes the value of 1 if the student experienced any form of sexual violence by teachers.
7) Sexual Violence by Type by Peers: Separate dummy variables by type of sexual violence perpetrated by peers, differentiating between contact and non-contact forms of violence
8) Sexual Violence by Type by the School Staff: Separate dummy variables by type of sexual violence perpetrated by the school staff, differentiating between contact and non-contact forms of violence.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We will follow inidvidual level randomization and students aged 8 to 12 years old will be allocated to one of the four treatment arms.

The experiment has 4 treatment arms:
(i) Direct interviewing (face to face) at Home: survey executed at the student's home using face to face interviewing.
(ii) Direct interviewing at School: survey executed at the student's school using face to face interviewing.
(iii) Audio-Computer Assisted-Interviewing (ACASI) at Home: survey executed at the student's home using ACASI interviewing.
(iv) ACASI at School: survey executed at the student's school using ACASI interviewing.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer using STATA.

Randomization Unit

Indiviual (students)

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

251 schools

Sample size: planned number of observations

6,009 students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

Treatment arms:
(i) Direct interviewing (face to face) at Home: 1502
(ii) Direct interviewing at School: 1502
(iii) Audio-Computer Assisted-Interviewing (ACASI) at Home: 1503
(iv) ACASI at School: 1502

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB