Elizabeth Tipton
Professor of Statistics and Data Science
Northwestern University
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research
I develop methods for designing studies and for building evidence that decision-makers can use.
Recently
- Apr 2026 What schools want vs. what evidence can deliver — PIER seminar, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
- 2025 Elected to the National Academy of Education.
- 2025 Designing Small Evaluation Studies, with Larry Hedges — Sage.
70 papers, 2010–2026. Each block is one paper, coloured by the problem it addresses. Click a block or a name below to filter.
Working papers
Meta-analysis without normality: Estimating the true effect distribution with penalized Gaussian mixtures
Inherent collinearity in behavior change studies limits what we learn: Evidence from mapping the literature across 60 moderators
How well does the literature on behavioral interventions generalize? An empirical test
A meta-analytic database of 789 choice architecture interventions from 280 experiments coded on 298 variables
When seeing more leads to understanding less: Visualizing meta-analytic evidence for decision-making in education
Published
70 entries
IN PRESS
Reconceiving meta-analysis from a finite population perspective
What can we learn from 1000 meta-analyses across 10 different disciplines?
A field-initiated vision of research infrastructure for STEM education
Prophylactic antiseizure medication in patients with lobar intracerebral hemorrhage
2026
We need an ‘engineering of reading’: Why the ‘science of reading’ may not be enough
A preliminary data analysis workflow for meta-analysis of dependent effect sizes
2025
Designing randomized experiments to predict unit-specific treatment effects
Precision ecology for targeted conservation action
Meta-analytic rain cloud plots: Improving evidence communication through data visualization design principles
Using extant data to improve estimation of the standardized mean difference
2024
The value of variation: Embracing heterogeneity in intervention research
Enhancing recall in automated record screening: A resampling algorithm
A knowledge mobilization framework: Toward evidence-based statistical communication practices in education research
2023
Four best practices for meta-analysis: A systematic review of methodological rigor in mathematics interventions for students with or at risk of disabilities
★ LDQ Must-Read Article Award, 2024
Why meta-analyses of growth mindset and other interventions should follow best practices for examining heterogeneity
Effects of action video game play on cognitive skills: A meta-analysis
Effect sizes in ANCOVA and difference-in-differences designs
MetaExplorer: Facilitating reasoning with epistemic uncertainty in meta-analysis
Accuracy of self-assessment in gastrointestinal endoscopy: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2022
No reason to expect large and consistent effects of nudge interventions
Sample selection in randomized trials with multiple target populations
Meta-analysis with robust variance estimation: Expanding the range of working models
The meta-analytic rain cloud (MARC) plot: A new approach to visualizing clearinghouse data
The future of education research at IES: Advancing an equity-oriented science
Accuracy and precision of energy expenditure, heart rate, and steps measured by combined-sensing Fitbits against reference measures
A machine learning analysis of the relationship of demographics and social gathering attendance from 41 countries during pandemic
Factors determining the agreement between aerobic threshold and point of maximal fat oxidation
2021
Behavioral science is unlikely to change the world without a heterogeneity revolution
Beyond generalization of the ATE: Designing randomized trials to understand treatment effect heterogeneity
Towards a system of evidence for all: Current practices and future opportunities in 37 randomized trials
Wellness in the schools: A lunch and recess intervention increases fruit and vegetable consumption
Accuracy and precision of zero-heat-flux temperature measurements with the 3M Bair Hugger Temperature Monitoring System
2020
Examining factors contributing to variation in effect size estimates of teacher outcomes from studies of science teacher professional development
Why physicians prescribe prophylactic seizure medications after intracerebral hemorrhage: An adaptive conjoint analysis
2019
A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement
★ Best Publication Award, Behavioral Science and Policy Association, 2020
Improved generalizability through improved recruitment: Lessons learned from a large-scale randomized trial
Designing probability samples to identify sources of treatment effect heterogeneity
A history of meta-regression: Technical, conceptual, and practical developments between 1974 and 2018
Current practices in meta-regression in psychology, education, and medicine
Improving methodological standards in behavioral interventions for cognitive enhancement
Do student mindsets differ by socioeconomic status and explain disparities in academic achievement in the United States?
Accuracy and precision of transcutaneous carbon dioxide monitoring: A systematic review and meta-analysis
School lunch environmental factors impacting fruit and vegetable consumption
2018
A review of statistical methods for generalizing from evaluations of educational interventions
Small sample methods for cluster-robust variance estimation and hypothesis testing in fixed effects models
Investigating science education intervention effect sizes for a priori power analyses
Meta-analysis of action video game impact on perceptual, attentional, and cognitive skills
2017
Implications of small samples for generalization: Adjustments and rules of thumb
A design-based approach to improve external validity in welfare policy evaluations
The role of the sample in estimating and explaining treatment effect variation: A commentary on three papers
A framework for the meta-analysis of Bland-Altman studies based on a limits of agreement approach
The effect of an analysis-of-practice, videocase-based teacher professional development program on elementary students’ science achievement
Testing an integrated model of program implementation: The ‘Food, Health, and Choices’ school-based childhood obesity prevention intervention process evaluation
Exploring the role of sugar sweetened beverage consumption in obesity among New Yorkers using propensity score matching
2016
Handling complex meta-analytic data structures using robust variance estimates: A tutorial in R
Site selection in experiments: A follow-up evaluation of site recruitment in two scale-up studies
Propensity score analysis in R: A software review
Intraclass correlation coefficients for obesity indicators and energy balance related behaviors among New York City public elementary schools
2015
Small-sample adjustments to multivariate hypothesis tests in robust variance estimation in meta-regression
Small sample adjustments for robust variance estimation with meta-regression
The recline exercise: Comparisons with the head lift exercise in healthy adults
2014
How generalizable is your experiment? Comparing a sample and population through a generalizability index
Stratified sampling using cluster analysis: A sample selection strategy for improved generalizations from experiments
Sample selection in randomized experiments: A new method using propensity score stratified sampling
Robust variance estimation with dependent effect sizes: Practical considerations including a software tutorial in Stata and SPSS
2013
Robust variance estimation in meta-regression for binary dependent outcomes
Improving generalizations from experiments using propensity score subclassification: Assumptions, properties, and contexts
The malleability of spatial skills: A meta-analysis of training studies
★ George A. Miller Award for Outstanding Recent Article in General Psychology, 2014
2012
Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) for improving health, quality of life and social functioning in adults
2010
Robust variance estimation in meta-regression with dependent effect size estimates
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