Using Propensity Scores in Quasi-Experimental Designs

Using an accessible approach perfect for social and behavioral science students (requiring minimal use of matrix and vector algebra), Holmes examines how propensity scores can be used to both reduce bias with different kinds of quasi-experimental designs and fix or improve broken experiments. This unique book covers the causal assumptions of propensity score estimates and their many uses, linking these uses with analysis appropriate for different designs. Thorough coverage of bias assessment, propensity score estimation, and estimate improvement is provided, along with graphical and statistical methods for this process. Applications are included for analysis of variance and covariance, maximum likelihood and logistic regression, two-stage least squares, generalized linear regression, and general estimation equations. The examples use public data sets that have policy and programmatic relevance across a variety of social and behavioral science disciplines.

Author Biography

William Holmes is a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in the College of Public and Community Services. He has evaluated criminal justice and community programs serving families, children, individuals who have suffered abuse, and those with substance abuse problems. He coauthored with Kay Kitson Portrait of Divorce, which won the William Goode Award from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association, and coauthored Family Abuse: Consequences, Theories, and Responses with Calvin Larsen and Sylvia Mignon. Dr. Holmes has conducted research funded by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, the U.S. Children′s Bureau, United Way, foundations, and many community agencies. He received a merit award from the Office of Justice Programs for evaluation of criminal justice programs, as well as the G. Paul Sylvester Award for contributions to criminal justice statistics.