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This paper examines the approaches accounting researchers adopt to draw causal inferences using observational (or nonexperimental) data. The vast majority of accounting research papers draw causal inferences notwithstanding the well-known difficulties in doing so. While some recent papers seek to use quasi-experimental methods to improve causal inferences, these methods also make strong assumptions that are not always fully appreciated. We believe that accounting research would benefit from more in-depth descriptive research, including a greater focus on the study of causal mechanisms (or causal pathways) and increased emphasis on the structural modeling of the phenomena of interest. We argue these changes offer a practical path forward for rigorous accounting research.

Regression discontinuity (RD) designs allow for rigorous causal inference when patients receive a treatment based on scoring above or below a cutoff point on a continuously measured variable. We provide an introduction to the theory of RD and a systematic review and assessment of the RD literature in medicine, epidemiology, and public health. We review the necessary conditions for valid RD results, provide a practical guide to RD implementation, compare RD to other methodologies, and conduct a systematic review of the RD literature in PubMed. We describe five key elements of analysis all RD studies should report, including tests of validity conditions and robustness checks. Thirty two empirical RD studies in PubMed met our selection criteria. Most of the 32 RD articles analyzed the effectiveness of social policies or mental health interventions, with only two evaluating clinical interventions to improve physical health. Seven out of the 32 studies reported on all the five key elements. Increased use of RD provides an exciting opportunity for obtaining unbiased causal effect estimates when experiments are not feasible or when we want to evaluate programs under “real-life” conditions. Although treatment eligibility in medicine, epidemiology, and public health is commonly determined by threshold rules, use of RD in these fields has been very limited until now.

As researchers continue to examine the growing number of charter schools in the United States, they have focused attention on the significant heterogeneity of charter effects on student achievement. Our article contributes to this agenda by examining the achievement effects of virtual charter schools vis-à-vis brick-and-mortar charters and traditional public schools and whether characteristics of teachers and classrooms explain the observed impacts. We found that students who switched to virtual charter schools experienced large, negative effects on mathematics and English/language arts achievement that persisted over time and that these effects could not be explained by observed teacher or classroom characteristics.

Methods for assessing usability are advancing rapidly and include think-aloud protocols, objective measures such as task timing, and ultrasensitive measures such as eye tracking and page recording. In this study, we provide proof-of-concept for the new, combined use of these three types of measures within a quasi-experimental paradigm focused on a question relevant to public health. The quasi-experiment specifically involved assessing the usability of four English-language Alzheimer websites from around the world (USA, U.K., Ireland, Canada), all of which contained information about cognitive health. Participants completed two tasks; one requiring them to identify strategies to prevent dementia and another requiring them to locate a definition of Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that the websites would have superior usability for the former task and inferior usability for the latter task. We also hypothesized positive correlations among eye tracking measures, simpler performance measures (e.g., task completion time), and subjective usability measures. We found that the new quasi-experimental protocol facilitated comparison of tasks and websites. It also facilitated interpretation by permitting comparison across measures. Overall, this study provides proof of concept for the use of this multimethod approach to evaluate the usability of websites. It also provides information that could potentially be used to advance further pilot or experimental hypothesis testing on this topic. Les méthodes d'évaluation de la convivialité progressent rapidement et comprennent des protocoles de réflexion à voix haute, des mesures objectives telles que le chronométrage des tâches, et des mesures ultrasensibles telles que l'oculométrie et l'enregistrement des pages. Dans cette étude, nous fournissons une preuve de concept pour l'utilisation nouvelle et combinée de ces trois types de mesures dans un paradigme quasi expérimental axé sur une question pertinente pour la santé publique. La quasi-expérience consistait spécifiquement à évaluer la convivialité de quatre sites Web anglophones consacrés à la maladie d'Alzheimer et provenant du monde entier (États-Unis, Royaume-Uni, Irlande, Canada), qui contenaient tous des informations sur la santé cognitive. Les participants ont effectué deux tâches : l'une leur demandant d'identifier des stratégies de prévention de la démence et l'autre leur demandant de trouver une définition de la maladie d'Alzheimer. Nous avons émis l'hypothèse que les sites Web seraient plus faciles à utiliser pour la première tâche et moins faciles à utiliser pour la seconde. Nous avons également émis l'hypothèse de corrélations positives entre les mesures d'oculométrie, les mesures de performance plus simples (par exemple, le temps de réalisation d'une tâche) et les mesures subjectives de convivialité. Nous avons constaté que le nouveau protocole quasi expérimental facilitait la comparaison des tâches et des sites Web. Il a également facilité l'interprétation en permettant la comparaison entre les mesures. Dans l'ensemble, cette étude fournit une preuve de concept pour l'utilisation de cette approche multiméthodes afin d'évaluer la convivialité des sites Web. Elle fournit également des informations qui pourraient éventuellement être utilisées pour faire avancer d'autres tests pilotes ou de vérification d'hypothèses sur ce sujet. Public Significance Statement In the \"information age,\" the internet is an important venue for translating health information to the public. Unfortunately, previous research has shown that some of the most accurate and informative websites are ultimately not very usable. After reviewing the state of usability science, we noticed that while some researchers rely on subjective measures (how usable do you think the website was?), others rely on simple performance measures like how long it took to find relevant information, and still others use eye tracking software to document exactly how the user navigates the website. In this study, we designed a protocol that combines each type of measure to answer a public health research question. The study provides evidence that these measures are comparable and that using them together can facilitate interpretation.

ABSTRACT Background Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are uncommon in precision oncology. We provide an introduction and illustrative example of matching methods for evaluating precision oncology in the absence of RCTs. We focus on British Columbia's Personalized OncoGenomics (POG) program, which applies whole‐genome and transcriptome analysis (WGTA) to inform advanced cancer care. Methods Our cohort comprises 230 POG patients enrolled between 2014 and 2015 and matched POG‐naive controls. We generated our matched cohort using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) and genetic matching prior to exploring survival differences. Results We find that genetic matching outperformed PSM when balancing covariates. In all cohorts, overall survival did not significantly differ across POG and POG‐naive patients (p > 0.05). Stratification by WGTA‐informed treatment indicated unmatched survival differences. Patients whose WGTA information led to treatment change were at a reduced hazard of death compared to POG‐naive controls in all cohorts, with estimated hazard ratios ranging from 0.33 (95% CI: 0.13, 0.81) to 0.41 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.98). Conclusion These results signal that clinical effectiveness of precision oncology approaches will depend on rates of genomics‐informed treatment change. Our study will guide future evaluations of precision oncology and support reliable effect estimation when RCT data are unavailable.

Teachers in classrooms use many strategies and methods so to make students able to communicate. Amongst these strategies is the strategy of the flipped learning which is the focus of the study in hand. This study focuses on two points; first, it deals with the theoretical part of this strategy. Second, it sheds light on the effect of using this strategy in the classes that taught Arabic as a second language. To assess the effect of this strategy, the researchers of the study in hand conducted a research study on foreign students who studied Arabic. They are in the first and the second levels in the languages centre/ Jordan University. The study also includes the students of the American Middlebury program in Jordan University who were in the second and the third levels. The quasi experimental method was applied on the study sample who were (120) students during a length of five semesters. By conducting a pre-test and post test for each group, the effectiveness of the flipped class strategy on students' performance in learning Arabic language was evident. The experimental group that studied based on the flipped class achieved higher degrees than the control group who studied based on the traditional method. This means that learning Arabic language based on the flipped class strategy enhances students' abilities towards learning Arabic language better than before.

Background Single‐arm trials are common in precision oncology. Owing to the lack of randomized counterfactual, resultant data are not amenable to comparative outcomes analyses. Difference‐in‐difference (DID) methods present an opportunity to generate causal estimates of time‐varying treatment outcomes. Using DID, our study estimates within‐cohort effects of genomics‐informed treatment versus standard care on clinical and cost outcomes. Methods We focus on adults with advanced cancers enrolled in the single‐arm BC Cancer Personalized OncoGenomics program between 2012 and 2017. All individuals had a minimum of 1‐year follow up. Logistic regression explored baseline differences across patients who received a genomics‐informed treatment versus a standard care treatment after genomic sequencing. DID estimated the incremental effects of genomics‐informed treatment on time to treatment discontinuation (TTD), time to next treatment (TTNT), and costs. TTD and TTNT correlate with improved response and survival. Results Our study cohort included 346 patients, of whom 140 (40%) received genomics‐informed treatment after sequencing and 206 (60%) received standard care treatment. No significant differences in baseline characteristics were detected across treatment groups. DID estimated that the incremental effect of genomics‐informed versus standard care treatment was 102 days (95% CI: 35, 167) on TTD, 91 days (95% CI: −9, 175) on TTNT, and CAD$91,098 (95% CI: $46,848, $176,598) on costs. Effects were most pronounced in gastrointestinal cancer patients. Conclusions Genomics‐informed treatment had a statistically significant effect on TTD compared to standard care treatment, but at increased treatment costs. Within‐cohort evidence generated through this single‐arm study informs the early‐stage comparative effectiveness of precision oncology. Difference‐in‐difference analysis is used to address confounding when analyzing real‐world data from a single‐arm precision oncology trial. Enrolled patients receiving genomics‐informed treatment are treated longer, suggesting improved efficacy, but at an increased cost compared to those receiving standard care.

How powerful are political parties in shaping citizens' opinions? Despite long-standing interest in the flow of influence between partisan elites and citizens, few studies to date examine how citizens react when their party changes its position on a major issue in the real world. We present a rare quasi-experimental panel study of how citizens responded when their political party suddenly reversed its position on two major and salient welfare issues in Denmark. With a fivewave panel survey collected just around these two events, we show that citizens' policy opinions changed immediately and substantially when their party switched its policy position—even when the new position went against citizens' previously held views. These findings advance the current, largely experimental literature on partisan elite influence.

The author reviews theory and research by Ehri and her colleagues to document how a scientific approach has been applied over the years to conduct controlled studies whose findings reveal how beginners learn to read words in and out of text. Words may be read by decoding letters into blended sounds or by predicting words from context, but the way that contributes most to reading and comprehending text is reading words automatically from memory by sight. The evidence shows that words are read from memory when graphemes are connected to phonemes. This bonds spellings of individual words to their pronunciations along with their meanings in memory. Readers must know grapheme–phoneme relations and have decoding skill to form connections, and must read words in text to associate spellings with meanings. Readers move through four developmental phases as they acquire knowledge about the alphabetic writing system and apply it to read and write words and build their sight vocabularies. Grapheme–phoneme knowledge and phonemic segmentation are key foundational skills that launch development followed subsequently by knowledge of syllabic and morphemic spelling–sound units. Findings show that when spellings attach to pronunciations and meanings in memory, they enhance memory for vocabulary words. This research underscores the importance of systematic phonics instruction that teaches students the knowledge and skills that are essential in acquiring word-reading skill.

Background. The objective of this quasi-experimental study was to determine whether bolus vitamin D supplementation taken either regularly over the preceding year or after the diagnosis of COVID-19 was effective in improving survival among hospitalized frail elderly COVID-19 patients. Methods. Seventy-seven patients consecutively hospitalized for COVID-19 in a geriatric unit were included. Intervention groups were participants regularly supplemented with vitamin D over the preceding year (Group 1), and those supplemented with vitamin D after COVID-19 diagnosis (Group 2). The comparator group involved participants having received no vitamin D supplements (Group 3). Outcomes were 14-day mortality and highest (worst) score on the ordinal scale for clinical improvement (OSCI) measured during COVID-19 acute phase. Potential confounders were age, gender, functional abilities, undernutrition, cancer, hypertension, cardiomyopathy, glycated hemoglobin, number of acute health issues at admission, hospital use of antibiotics, corticosteroids, and pharmacological treatments of respiratory disorders. Results. The three groups (n = 77; mean ± SD, 88 ± 5 years; 49% women) were similar at baseline (except for woman proportion, p = 0.02), as were the treatments used for COVID-19. In Group 1 (n = 29), 93.1% of COVID-19 participants survived at day 14, compared to 81.2% survivors in Group 2 (n = 16) (p = 0.33) and 68.7% survivors in Group 3 (n = 32) (p = 0.02). While considering Group 3 as reference (hazard ratio (HR) = 1), the fully-adjusted HR for 14-day mortality was HR = 0.07 (p = 0.017) for Group 1 and HR = 0.37 (p = 0.28) for Group 2. Group 1 had longer survival time than Group 3 (log-rank p = 0.015), although there was no difference between Groups 2 and 3 (log-rank p = 0.32). Group 1, but not Group 2 (p = 0.40), was associated with lower risk of OSCI score ≥5 compared to Group 3 (odds ratio = 0.08, p = 0.03). Conclusions. Regular bolus vitamin D supplementation was associated with less severe COVID-19 and better survival in frail elderly.