Variable selection and raking in propensity scoring

This paper discusses some practical issues in applying propensity scoring in the context of endpoint analysis in a pre‐/posttest longitudinal design with an ordinal measure of treatment intensity and a high‐dimensional potential covariate space: how many covariates to include in propensity models; how to evaluate the adequacy of tentative propensity models; and how to tailor models to provide hypercontrol on a limited subset of covariates. These issues arose in the evaluation of a health communication program. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.