Peer Networks and Malleability of Aspirations in Educational Outcomes

Last registered on May 18, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Peer Networks and Malleability of Aspirations in Educational Outcomes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009465
Initial registration date
September 17, 2022

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
October 17, 2022, 10:56 AM EDT

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

Last updated
May 18, 2023, 9:30 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Mexico
Region
Colima and Jalisco

Primary Investigator

Name
Michelle González Amador
Affiliation
UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2018-10-08
End date
2019-05-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education
Additional Keywords
Aspirations, Peer effects, Networks, Educational choice, High School Students
JEL code(s)
A21, C21, C22, C93, D83, D91, I29
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
Continuing education beyond the compulsory years of schooling is one of the most important choices
an adolescent has to make; higher education is associated with a host of social and economic benefits both
for the person and its community. Today, there is ample evidence that educational aspirations are an
important determinant of said choice. We implement a multilevel, networked experiment in 45 Mexican
high schools, and provide evidence of the malleability of educational aspirations, and the interdependence
of students’ choices and the effect of our intervention with peer networks. Moreover, we find that a video-
intervention, which combines role-models and information about returns to education, is successful in
updating students’ beliefs and consequently educational aspirations.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
González Amador, Michelle. 2023. "Peer Networks and Malleability of Aspirations in Educational Outcomes." AEA RCT Registry. May 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9465-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

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

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-02-25
Intervention End Date
2019-03-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Change in educational aspirations
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
I measure change in aspirations of adolescents as the point difference between educational aspirations at baseline and midline and midline and endline educational aspirations.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
we propose a hierarchical experimental design where student selection is semi-aleatory and stratified by gender and betweenness centrality. In addition, we use above-median strength as a selection cut-off for intervention-eligible students. The end product is a multilevel networked design where some key students in the peer network are eligible for treatment in treated schools, and some key students in the school peer network are eligible for treatment in non treated schools. We use the network architecture as a way to diffuse information and explore causality.
Experimental Design Details
we propose a hierarchical experimental design where student selection is semi-aleatory and stratified by gender and betweenness centrality. In addition, we use above-median strength as a selection cut-off for intervention-eligible students. The end product is a multilevel networked design where some key students in the peer network are eligible for treatment in treated schools, and some key students in the school peer network are eligible for treatment in non treated schools. We use the network architecture as a way to diffuse information and explore causality.
Randomization Method
From a set of 45 schools, we use a pairwise matching strategy to select a treatment and control groups (one school is unmatched, but randomly placed in a group (treatment)). We define treatment eligibility criteria for students (above median strength*), and randomly select up to .25 percent of the student-eligible population of the treatment schools to be exposed to our video-intervention. We compare treated students from treatment schools to treatment-eligible students from control schools.

*Strength is a weighted degree centrality in the peer network.
Randomization Unit
We randomly select up to .25 percent of treatment-eligible students in treated schools, and compare them to treatment-eligible students from control schools.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
45 schools
Sample size: planned number of observations
4109
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
762 eligible students are treated, and 794 serve as control.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
For the binary outcome yc_it, we obtained a cohen's H value of 0.236, also known as the detectable effect size (Cohen, 2013), given our treatment group size of n1 = 762 and control group size of n2=794, at a significance level = 0.001, and power of 0.91. Meaning, we can confidently report small, medium and large effect sizes for yc_it given our current sample size.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethics Review Committee Inner City faculties (ERCIC)
IRB Approval Date
2018-09-21
IRB Approval Number
N/A
Analysis Plan

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?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
March 15, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
May 31, 2019, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
45 schools and 6073 students
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
45 schools and 4109 students
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
The total student population is of 6073 students, and the experimental subsample is of 1556 students. 762 treated students from 23 treated schools, and 794 treatment-eligible students from 22 non-treated schools (i.e. control students). schools that serve as our control students
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

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

Request Information

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials