Matching With Doses in an Observational Study of a Media Campaign Against Drug Abuse

Multivariate matching with doses of treatment differs from the treatment-control matching in three ways. First, pairs must not only balance covariates, but also must differ markedly in dose. Second, any two subjects may be paired, so that the matching is nonbipartite, and different algorithms are required. Finally, a propensity score with doses must be used in place of the conventional propensity score. We illustrate multivariate matching with doses using pilot data from a media campaign against drug abuse. The media campaign is intended to change attitudes and intentions related to illegal drugs, and the evaluation compares stated intentions among ostensibly comparable teens who reported markedly different exposures to the media campaign.