Followup (II) to Historical Narratives and Political Behavior

Last registered on October 04, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Followup (II) to Historical Narratives and Political Behavior
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012177
Initial registration date
September 25, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 04, 2023, 1:53 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Diego Ramos-Toro
Affiliation
Dartmouth College
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Elsa Voytas
PI Affiliation
Dartmouth College
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-09-26
End date
2024-07-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Electoral, Governance
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We describe the analysis plan for an online intervention designed to examine the effects of exposure to historical narratives representing the views of different demographics on the political polarization of white Americans. Our protocol will also enable an exploratory analysis of the effects of these narratives on the political attitudes of African Americans. The study is a follow-up that builds on two previous rounds of data collection (AEARCTR-0009108 & AEARCTR-0011305), asking similar questions from a different set of participants recruited through a different platform (Dynata).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Ramos-Toro, Diego and Elsa Voytas. 2023. "Followup (II) to Historical Narratives and Political Behavior." AEA RCT Registry. October 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12177-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The interventions will consist of exposing participants to historical narratives that represent the views of different demographics. Moreover, one treatment arm will not be exposed to a historical narrative but will be asked to share their historical views before answering the main survey questions, while a pure control group will answer all questions without being exposed to any treatment.
Intervention Start Date
2023-09-26
Intervention End Date
2024-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Index of institutional support, support for capitalism, support for democracy, support for substantial institutional reform, donation to political organizations
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
We will generate indicators for whether the participant expresses support for capitalism, democracy, and for avoiding substantial institutional reform. We will then generate a summary index based on these three outcomes following Anderson (2008). As for the political donations, we will ask participants to allocate $100 between a progressive organization, a bipartisan one, and a conservative one, and we will examine donations to the political ones (e.g., the difference in the money allocated to the conservative and to the progressive one) as a measure of polarization.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
national pride, trust, altruism, emotional response to narratives
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Based on data collected in previous rounds of work, we have generated a succinct historical narrative that represents the views of Black liberals, one that represents the views of Black conservatives, one for white liberals, and another one for white conservatives. We will randomly expose participants to one of these narratives or to one of the following two treatment arms: Participants who are not exposed to a historical narrative but who share their own historical views before answering other survey questions, or a pure control condition. Our protocol will be slightly different for Black respondents and for white respondents. The latter will be exposed to one of the six treatment arms described above, while the former will be exposed to one of the following three: a white conservative narrative, a white liberal one, or a pure control condition.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done with the assistance of Qualtrics.
Randomization Unit
Individual. We stratify randomization by ideology and race. Within each racial and ideological group, respondents are assigned with equal probability to one of the described treatment or control arms.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
8000
Sample size: planned number of observations
8000 (6000 white respondents and 2000 Black respondents).
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1500 white respondents per treatment arm; 666 African American respondents per treatment arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at Dartmouth
IRB Approval Date
2023-08-30
IRB Approval Number
STUDY00032438
Analysis Plan

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