Conceptual, Design, and Statistical Complications Associated with Participant Preference

Participants in randomized trials sometimes prefer to be assigned to one arm rather than another. While randomization aims to ensure that participants with different preferences are spread equally among the arms of the trials, it cannot always address the possible effects of participant preferences...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 2010-03, Vol.628 (1), p.176-188
Main Authors: AINSWORTH, HANNAH R., TORGERSON, DAVID J., KANG'OMBE, ARTHUR R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attrition
Children
Compliance
Control groups
Design analysis
Design evaluation
Effects
Evaluation
Experiment design
Experimentation
Mathematics education
Nurses
Participant observation
Preferences
Random allocation
Random sampling
Randomized controlled trials
Research Design
Research methods
Selection bias
Trials
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Participants in randomized trials sometimes prefer to be assigned to one arm rather than another. While randomization aims to ensure that participants with different preferences are spread equally among the arms of the trials, it cannot always address the possible effects of participant preferences on outcomes, compliance, and attrition. This paper discusses the conceptual, design, and statistical complications associated with preference effects and evaluates a number of experimental designs that have been proposed to gauge and minimize the effect of participant preferences.
ISSN:0002-7162
1552-3349
DOI:10.1177/0002716209351524