Causal Statistical Methods in Higher Education Peer-Reviewed Research: A Scoping Review
College
College of Education & Professional Studies (Darden)
Department
Educational Leadership & Workforce Development
Graduate Level
Doctoral
Graduate Program/Concentration
Community College Leadership
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
The objective of my study is to conduct an exploratory scoping analysis into the prevalence of causal inferential methods in higher educational research over the past decade. Causal inference methods, such as propensity score matching, system equation modeling, regression discontinuity, and difference-in-difference have been around for decades, and they represent a level of rigor beyond correlation analyses, factor analyses, or regression models. Despite this, they are not always used, even in situations where the research question and data quality would warrant it. My scoping analysis will follow the JBI methodology to conduct a review of quantitative higher education research from the past decade to explore the level of causal inferential methods use peer-reviewed journals. My results will hopefully show a trend of causal inferential methods in higher education, and potentially directions for larger systematic reviews in the future.
Keywords
Causal statistics, Causal methods, Scoping analysis, Higher education
Causal Statistical Methods in Higher Education Peer-Reviewed Research: A Scoping Review
The objective of my study is to conduct an exploratory scoping analysis into the prevalence of causal inferential methods in higher educational research over the past decade. Causal inference methods, such as propensity score matching, system equation modeling, regression discontinuity, and difference-in-difference have been around for decades, and they represent a level of rigor beyond correlation analyses, factor analyses, or regression models. Despite this, they are not always used, even in situations where the research question and data quality would warrant it. My scoping analysis will follow the JBI methodology to conduct a review of quantitative higher education research from the past decade to explore the level of causal inferential methods use peer-reviewed journals. My results will hopefully show a trend of causal inferential methods in higher education, and potentially directions for larger systematic reviews in the future.