Study Significance
Misinformation threatens public health, democratic governance, and social trust; the authors test whether sustained classroom instruction can produce durable improvements in how people evaluate information and whether those gains spread beyond students to their households.
Classroom-Based Trial in Bihar
The study partnered with a state government agency in Bihar to deliver a four-month curriculum focused on skills, norms, and knowledge about health misinformation to students; the intervention reached about 13,500 students across 583 villages in a field experiment.
Outcome Measurement
Outcomes included tests of students' ability to discern true from false claims on health topics, stated health preferences, reported reliance on scientific sources, reported use of unreliable news outlets, and follow-up measures four months later that repeated discernment tests and added political misinformation judgments.
Comparison and Estimation Approach
The study reports intent-to-treat estimates comparing students in villages or schools assigned to receive the curriculum with those not assigned, using baseline and follow-up surveys to measure differences attributable to the program.
Analysis and Estimation
A Classroom-Based Trial in Bihar The authors partnered with a state government agency in Bihar, India to implement a four-month curriculum aimed at building skills, shifting norms, and increasing knowledge about health-related misinformation. The intervention reached 13,500 students across 583 villages in a field experiment designed to estimate intent-to-treat effects of the program.
Key Findings and Interpretation
Treated respondents were significantly better at discerning true from false health information, shifted health preferences, relied more on scientific sources, and reduced dependence on unreliable news sources; effects persisted four months later, generalized to political misinformation, and appeared to diffuse within households as parents of treated students improved in discernment.
