2019 EERS Annual Conference

The 2019 Eastern Evaluation Research Society (EERS) Annual Conference will take place in Galloway, New Jersey, May 5-7, 2019. NORC experts Jennifer Hamilton (EERS board member) and Eric Hedberg (presenter) will attend the conference.

The theme of the 42nd Annual EERS Conference is Adapt! Evaluators in a Changing World.

Learn more about the conference online.

Read about NORC staff presentations below:

Practical Power Analysis
May 5, 2019, 3:00 - 6 pm (Eastern)
Presenter: Eric Hedberg

Power Analysis is increasingly required by funding agencies in evaluation proposals. The reason for this is important: under powered studies are at risk of producing inconclusive results and ceding publication attention to possibly unreliable findings. However, power analysis is typically not a major topic area in many graduate programs, which leads to a disconnect between graduate training and professional practice.

This workshop seeks to introduce participants to the broad strokes of power analysis, focusing on what most evaluations include: a contrast between two treatment groups. Rather than tour through a particular software program, this workshop covers the major conceptual foundations that support all the available tools:

  • Finding power using the null and alternative distributions
  • Noncentrally parameters
  • Formulas for power, sample size, and minimum detectable effects
  • How covariates influence power
  • Multilevel/multifactor ANOVA models as extensions to two-group contrasts

The presentation materials (available for preview at hedbergec.com) include widgets (apps) that allow participants to calculate power interactively to reinforce the conceptual presentation.