Students must not also be able to perfectly manipulate their grade so as to determine their treatment status perfectly. Two examples include students being able to convince teachers to "mercy pass" them, or students being allowed to retake the exam until they pass. In the former case, those students who barely fail but are able to secure a "mercy pass" may differ from those who just barely fail but cannot secure a "mercy pass". This leads to [[selection bias]], as the treatment and control groups now differ. In the latter case, some students may decide to retake the exam, stopping once they pass. This also leads to [[selection bias]] since only some students will decide to retake the exam.<ref name="Lee and Lemieux 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |last2=Lemieux |title=Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics |year=2010 |journal=[[Journal of Economic Literature]] |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=281–355 |doi=10.1257/jel.48.2.281 |s2cid=14166110 |url=http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp015138jd866 }}</ref> | Students must not also be able to perfectly manipulate their grade so as to determine their treatment status perfectly. Two examples include students being able to convince teachers to "mercy pass" them, or students being allowed to retake the exam until they pass. In the former case, those students who barely fail but are able to secure a "mercy pass" may differ from those who just barely fail but cannot secure a "mercy pass". This leads to [[selection bias]], as the treatment and control groups now differ. In the latter case, some students may decide to retake the exam, stopping once they pass. This also leads to [[selection bias]] since only some students will decide to retake the exam.<ref name="Lee and Lemieux 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |last2=Lemieux |title=Regression Discontinuity Designs in Economics |year=2010 |journal=[[Journal of Economic Literature]] |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=281–355 |doi=10.1257/jel.48.2.281 |s2cid=14166110 |url=http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp015138jd866 }}</ref> |