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Increasing Precision without Altering Treatment Effects: Repeated Measures Designs in Survey Experiments

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  • CLIFFORD, SCOTT
  • SHEAGLEY, GEOFFREY
  • PISTON, SPENCER

Abstract

The use of survey experiments has surged in political science. The most common design is the between-subjects design in which the outcome is only measured posttreatment. This design relies heavily on recruiting a large number of subjects to precisely estimate treatment effects. Alternative designs that involve repeated measurements of the dependent variable promise greater precision, but they are rarely used out of fears that these designs will yield different results than a standard design (e.g., due to consistency pressures). Across six studies, we assess this conventional wisdom by testing experimental designs against each other. Contrary to common fears, repeated measures designs tend to yield the same results as more common designs while substantially increasing precision. These designs also offer new insights into treatment effect size and heterogeneity. We conclude by encouraging researchers to adopt repeated measures designs and providing guidelines for when and how to use them.

Suggested Citation

  • Clifford, Scott & Sheagley, Geoffrey & Piston, Spencer, 2021. "Increasing Precision without Altering Treatment Effects: Repeated Measures Designs in Survey Experiments," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(3), pages 1048-1065, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:115:y:2021:i:3:p:1048-1065_22
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Neil & Pardy, Martina & Mcneil, Andrew, 2024. "The political impact of inflation: a survey experiment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123926, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Ingar Haaland & Julian König & Christopher Roth & Johannes Wohlfart, 2024. "Information Experiments," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 271, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    3. Wassim Le Lann & Gauthier Delozière & Yann Le Lann, 2023. "Greenwashing the Talents: attracting human capital through environmental pledges," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04140191, HAL.
    4. Halling, Aske & Petersen, Niels Bjørn Grund, 2024. "Frontline Employees’ Responses to Citizens’ Communication of Administrative Burdens," OSF Preprints yqzg4, Center for Open Science.
    5. Wassim Le Lann & Gauthier Delozière & Yann Le Lann, 2023. "Greenwashing the Talents: attracting human capital through environmental pledges," Working Papers hal-04140191, HAL.
    6. Jens Eger & Sebastian H. Schneider & Martin Bruder & Solveig H. Gleser, 2023. "Does Evidence Matter? The Impact of Evidence Regarding Aid Effectiveness on Attitudes Towards Aid," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(5), pages 1149-1172, October.
    7. Clifford, Scott & Rainey, Carlisle, 2023. "Estimators for Topic-Sampling Designs," SocArXiv 7ady6, Center for Open Science.
    8. Hoffmann, Mathias & Mönch, Emanuel & Pavlova, Lora & Schultefrankenfeld, Guido, 2023. "Forceful or persistent: Wow the ECB's new inflation target affects households' inflation expectations," Discussion Papers 27/2023, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    9. Briggs, Ryan C & Solodoch, Omer, 2021. "Changes in perceptions of border security influence desired levels of immigration," OSF Preprints wt74y, Center for Open Science.

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