Private schooling and admission to medicine: a case study using matched samples and causal mediation analysis
Private schooling and admission to medicine: a case study using matched samples and causal mediation analysis
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私立学校和医学入学：使用匹配样本和因果中介分析的案例研究
作者：
M. Houston;M. Osborne;R. Rimmer
背景私立学校的申请人是否有资格获得医学学位？这具有国际意义，包括美国、英国、其他英语国家和欧盟国家在内的一系列国家正在继续研究。我们的目的是寻求因果关系的解释，使用一个定量的approach.MethodsWe作为一个案例研究录取到医学在英国和那些谁参加了私立学校和那些谁没有，与样本成员匹配的背景特征。与该领域的其他研究不同，因果中介分析被应用于解决私立学校的直接和间接影响的影响。在这样做的时候，我们寻求一个基准，使用2004年的数据，在过去十年中通过的政策的有效性进行评估。这并不是通过学校类型对学习成绩的影响而间接发生的，而是直接来自于上私立学校。敏感性分析表明，这一发现是不太可能被消除的影响，一个unobserved variable.ConclusionsAcademic卓越的是不是一定的途径进入医学在大学，但申请参加私立学校后取得好成绩是更肯定的。我们论文的结果与早期的观察性研究不同，并在后来的研究中找到了支持。从早期的观察性研究的差异来源的考虑表明，因果关系的方法提供了很大的好处和因果关系研究的性别，种族，社会经济分类和居住地区的后果提供了一个基准，在未来的研究中评估政策。
BackgroundAre applicants from private schools advantaged in gaining entry to degrees in medicine? This is of international significance and there is continuing research in a range of nations including the USA, the UK, other English-speaking nations and EU countries. Our purpose is to seek causal explanations using a quantitative approach.MethodsWe took as a case study admission to medicine in the UK and drew samples of those who attended private schools and those who did not, with sample members matched on background characteristics. Unlike other studies in the area, causal mediation analysis was applied to resolve private-school influence into direct and indirect effects. In so doing, we sought a benchmark, using data for 2004, against which the effectiveness of policies adopted over the past decade can be assessed.ResultsPrivate schooling improved admission likelihood. This did not occur indirectly via the effect of school type on academic performance; but arose directly from attending private schools. A sensitivity analysis suggests this finding is unlikely to be eliminated by the influence of an unobserved variable.ConclusionsAcademic excellence is not a certain pathway into medicine at university; yet applying with good grades after attending private school is more certain. The results of our paper differ from those in an earlier observational study and find support in a later study. Consideration of sources of difference from the earlier observational study suggest the causal approach offers substantial benefits and the consequences in the causal study for gender, ethnicity, socio-economic classification and region of residence provide a benchmark for assessing policy in future research.