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Field
Last Published
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Before
October 30, 2020 09:48 AM
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After
January 20, 2021 09:22 AM
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
We will measure mental well-being using three standard questionnaires from psychology: the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder two-item assessment (GAD-2), and the four-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). Our measures of economic conditions include survey questions on food security, ability to pay rent, worries about finances, outstanding debt and healthcare access. To measure demand for information, we elicit choices between information that varies in usefulness and affect (positive or negative). To measure memory and attention, we seed information at the midline and measure recall at the endline. This includes information related to COVID, as well as the set of news articles used in the demand for information module. Our measures of prosociality include choices of how to allocate money and effort, with variation in who benefits (eg. self vs. others; ingroup vs. outgroup).
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After
We will measure mental well-being using three standard questionnaires from psychology: the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder two-item assessment (GAD-2), and the four-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4). Our measures of economic conditions include survey questions on food security, ability to pay rent, worries about finances, outstanding debt and healthcare access. To measure demand for information, we elicit choices between information that varies in usefulness and affect (positive or negative). To measure memory and attention, we seed information at the midline and measure recall at the endline. This includes information related to COVID, as well as the set of news articles used in the demand for information module. Our measures of prosociality include choices of how to allocate money and effort, with variation in who benefits (eg. self vs. others; ingroup vs. outgroup). We will evaluate heterogeneity of treatment effects using baseline measures of mental health and financial strain.
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Experimental Design (Public)
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Before
The study consists of a randomized controlled trial with three arms: (i) a control group, (ii) a treatment group which receives a one-time cash transfer of approximately 5,000 Rs, and (iii) a treatment group which receives repeated psychosocial support over the phone from trained lay people. Our target size for the entire study is 4,135 participants, with 1,500 in the control group, 1,500 in the PFA group, and 1,135 in the cash transfer group.
We will conduct four surveys with each participant: (i) a demographic survey, (ii) a baseline survey, (iii) a midline survey, and (iv) an endline survey. We will use measurements from our demographic survey to stratify our randomization. In the two weeks following the baseline survey, participants will receive their treatment (a cash transfer, or an initial PFA conversation), if they are not in the control group. In the one to two weeks after this treatment, we will schedule the midline survey with each participant. Following the midline survey, each participant in the PFA group will receive two more PFA conversations in the two to three weeks afterwards. The endline surveys will be scheduled approximately three to four weeks after the midline survey.
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After
The study consists of a randomized controlled trial with three arms: (i) a control group, (ii) a treatment group which receives a one-time cash transfer of approximately 5,000 Rs, and (iii) a treatment group which receives repeated psychosocial support over the phone from trained lay people. Our target size for the entire study is 4,200 participants, with a control group : PFA group : cash transfer group ratio of 5:5:4. However, we will enroll people in the study and assign them to treatment groups using this ratio on a rolling basis until we run out of budget or reach this target, whichever comes first.
We will conduct four surveys with each participant: (i) a demographic survey, (ii) a baseline survey, (iii) a midline survey, and (iv) an endline survey. We will use measurements from our demographic survey to stratify our randomization. In the two weeks following the baseline survey, participants will receive their treatment (a cash transfer, or an initial PFA conversation), if they are not in the control group. In the one to two weeks after this treatment, we will schedule the midline survey with each participant. Following the midline survey, each participant in the PFA group will receive two more PFA conversations in the two to three weeks afterwards. The endline surveys will be scheduled approximately three to four weeks after the midline survey.
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Planned Number of Observations
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Before
4,135
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After
We will enroll participants in the study and assign them to treatment groups on a rolling basis, following a ratio of 5:5:4 of Control:PFA:Cash. Due to budget uncertainty, we will enroll participants in the study until we run out of funding or reach a total sample of 4,200, whichever occurs first.
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Field
Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
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Before
Because our cash treatment arm is more expensive than the PFA treatment arm, our cash treatment group is smaller than the PFA group and the control group. Our power calculations require 1,500 people in the control group and PFA group and 1,135 people in the cash group. This allows us to detect an effect size of at least 0.110σ when comparing the cash treatment to the other two groups (at the 5% significance level with 80% power, assuming equal variance in treatment and control groups). When comparing the PFA group and the control group, our minimum detectable effect decreases to 0.102σ (again at the 5% significance level with 80% power, assuming equal variance in treatment and control groups).
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After
Because our cash treatment arm is more expensive than the PFA treatment arm, our cash treatment group is smaller than the PFA group and the control group, at a ratio of 5:5:4. Our power calculations are calculated to detect effects at the 5% significance level with 80% power, assuming equal variance in treatment and control groups. As described above, we will enroll participants until we exhaust our funding or reach 4,200 participants. The minimum detectable effects corresponding to several possible sample sizes (at our treatment assignment ratio) are as follows:
– 2,240 participants (800 control; 800 PFA; 640 cash): 0.149σ MDE
– 2,800 participants (1,000 control; 1,000 PFA; 800 cash): 0.133σ MDE
– 3,360 participants (1,200 control; 1,200 PFA; 960 cash): 0.121σ MDE
– 3,640 participants (1,300 control; 1,300 PFA; 1040 cash): 0.116σ MDE
– 3,920 participants (1,400 control; 1,400 PFA; 1120 cash): 0.112σ MDE
– 4,200 participants (1,500 control; 1,500 PFA; 120 cash): 0.109σ MDE
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