This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1076998607306078v1 33/3/279    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Stuart, E. A. Articles by Rubin, D. B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Matching With Multiple Control Groups With Adjustment for Group Differences

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: estuart{at}jhsph.edu.

	Abstract

When estimating causal effects from observational data, it is desirable to approximate a randomized experiment as closely as possible. This goal can often be achieved by choosing a subsample from the original control group that matches the treatment group on the distribution of the observed covariates. However, sometimes the original control group cannot provide adequate matches for the treatment group. This article presents a method to obtain matches from multiple control groups. In addition to adjusting for differences in observed covariates between the groups, the method adjusts for a group effect that distinguishes between the control groups. This group effect captures the additional otherwise unobserved differences between the control groups, beyond that accounted for by the observed covariates. The method is illustrated and evaluated using data from an evaluation of a school drop-out prevention program that uses matches from both local and nonlocal control groups.

First published on November 26, 2007, doi:10.3102/1076998607306078

Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 2008;33:279.

A more recent version of this article appeared on September 1, 2008


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?