|
Field
Trial Title
|
Before
Building social cohesion through online shared collective experiences: Mobile app experiment in Bangladesh
|
After
Building social cohesion through virtual intergroup contact: Mobile app experiment in Bangladesh
|
|
Field
Abstract
|
Before
In order to achieve nation-building and sustainable development, it is important to build social cohesion between groups with different social identities. In particular, building social cohesion becomes critically important for countries receiving significant numbers of displaced people and refugees. To effectively nurture social cohesion, recent literature focused on shared collective experiences among different groups. For example, Depetris-Chauvin et al. (2020) indicated that shared collective experiences created by sporting achievements, such as winning in international football competitions, strengthened nation-level social cohesion. Mousa (2020) found that shared experience of sports play stimulated tolerant behaviors toward another religious group. In contrast, the recent advances in information and communication technology has made it possible to generate shared collective experiences through online interactions (e.g., playing online games together). However, it remains unclear whether online shared experiences can stimulate social cohesion among groups with different social identities.
We hypothesize that social cohesion between groups with different social identities can be built by shared experiences through virtual interaction. To examine our hypothesis, we will develop an original mobile game application (app) and conduct a randomized experiment in Bangladesh, the largest hosting country of Rohingya refugees. In this experiment, we investigate whether shared experiences through online games stimulate the tolerant behavior of the hosts toward Rohingya refugees.
|
After
This study explores whether virtual intergroup contact enhances social cohesion between refugees and host communities. Given the rising number of refugees, tensions between refugees and host communities have intensified. While intergroup contact has been widely studied as a means to alleviate such tensions, the potential of virtual intergroup contact remains underexplored. To address this gap, we will conduct a randomized control trial in Bangladesh, a major host country for Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. We developed an original online gaming application where participants collaborate in teams to harvest fruit from a shared farm. In the treatment groups, teams will include computer-generated players (bots) representing Rohingya refugees, enabling us to simulate virtual intergroup interactions and flexibly adjust both the performance of these bots and the duration of interactions. We will assess its impact on general attitudes towards refugees, hostility through an incentivized joy-of-destruction experiment, and implicit bias using the list experiment technique.
|
|
Field
Trial Start Date
|
Before
December 17, 2023
|
After
July 21, 2024
|
|
Field
Trial End Date
|
Before
March 31, 2024
|
After
October 31, 2024
|
|
Field
JEL Code(s)
|
Before
|
After
F22, H12, J15, O15
|
|
Field
Last Published
|
Before
December 20, 2023 01:59 PM
|
After
April 30, 2024 10:17 PM
|
|
Field
Intervention Start Date
|
Before
December 25, 2023
|
After
August 11, 2024
|
|
Field
Intervention End Date
|
Before
February 03, 2024
|
After
September 16, 2024
|
|
Field
Primary Outcomes (End Points)
|
Before
The primary outcome variable is the behavior in the JoD minigame.
|
After
The primary outcome variables are general attitudes towards refugees, hostility through an incentivized joy-of-destruction experiment, and implicit bias using the list experiment technique.
|
|
Field
Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
|
Before
In the JoD, we ask the participants how much they are willing to reduce the donation for Rohingya refugees at a personal cost. Participants will be informed that a a donation of 400 BDT will be made to an international non-governmental organization (NGO) working in the refugee camp. However, the identity and specific activities of the NGO will not be disclosed. Following this, participants will be given the choice to use a portion of their 100 BDT survey participation fee to reduce the donation amount. The payment is in discrete choices of 0, 20, 40, 60, or 80 BDT, with every unit of BDT paid resulting in five times that amount deducted from the donation. This amount is indeed deducted from their survey participation fee of 100 BDT. As the JoD section will be included in both baseline and endline surveys, we can create a panel data set for the JoD.
|
After
|
|
Field
Experimental Design (Public)
|
Before
We plan to recruit up to 2,004 smartphone users in Bangladesh. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the four treatment arms or the control group prior to the beginning of the game. Each group will consist of 400 to 402 participants.
|
After
We plan to recruit up to 2,508 smartphone users in Bangladesh. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the four treatment arms or the control group prior to the beginning of the game. Each group will consist of 500 to 504 participants.
|
|
Field
Planned Number of Clusters
|
Before
2,004 smartphone users
|
After
No cluster
|
|
Field
Planned Number of Observations
|
Before
2,004 smartphone users
|
After
2,508 smartphone users
|
|
Field
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
|
Before
Each group will consist of 400 to 402 participants.
|
After
Each group will consist of 500 to 504 participants.
|
|
Field
Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
|
Before
In our previous study (Higuchi et al. 2023), we conducted the Joy-of-Destruction (JoD) game in 2020 with 1,679 households in Bangladesh, using the same payment options as planned for this study. The mean payment observed was 23.9 BDT, with a standard deviation of 28.1.
For the current study, we have calculated the power and minimum detectable effect (MDE). With an established false discovery rate of 0.05 and a power of 0.80, our analysis suggests that for the comparison between Treatment 1 and the control group, having approximately 400 participants in each group is optimal. This leads to a planned total sample size of 800.
With this sample size, the estimated MDE is 0.20, which translates to about 5.6 BDT, based on the results from our previous study. We consider this MDE to be reasonable for the current experiment. Our previous research demonstrated that being one standard deviation farther from the refugee camp increased the amount paid in the JoD game by up to 7.5 BDT. Therefore, an MDE of 5.6 BDT, with the set parameters for false discovery rate and power, seems within a sensible range to detect significant effects in our study.
Higuchi, Y., K. Higashida, M.M. Hossain, M. Sujauddin, R. Takahashi, and K. Tanaka. 2023. From Hospitality to Hostility: Impact of the Rohingya Refugee Influx on the Sentiments of Host Communities. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4348051
|
After
This section details the power analysis conducted for our game experiment, where the unit of analysis is individual level. In this experiment, we anticipate a 100% take-up rate for all treatment arms, as participants are automatically assigned to one of the treatment groups. It is important to note that failure to access the game during its duration does not count as attrition in this study, as it potentially reflects both attrition and free-riding behavior. Instead, attrition is defined strictly as the failure to respond to the post-game endline survey. In a pre-test conducted in February 2024, the observed attrition rate was 13%. Using this figure as a reference, we conservatively estimated the attrition rate to be 15% for this power analysis.
We performed power calculations for selected primary outcomes: the burning amount in the Joy-of-Destruction (JoD) experiment, the social cohesion index, and the index of beliefs about refugees’ abilities. These calculations are based on a hypothesis test with a significance level of 5% and 80% power, comparing two trial arms with 500 participants each in balanced treatment assignment. For the burning amount in the JoD experiment, our analysis builds upon the study by Higuchi et al. (2024), which implemented the JoD experiment against Rohingya refugees in 2020, targeting 1,679 households in Bangladesh. They reported a mean payment of 23.9 BDT and a standard deviation of 28.1 BDT to participants to decrease donations. For the indexes measuring social cohesion and beliefs about refugees’ abilities, we use standardized scales (z-scores) with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.
In our power analysis, the anticipated effect size with a 15% attrition rate is 0.19, which Cohen (1988) categorizes as a small effect. We are powered to detect a MDE of 5.41 BDT for the burning amount in the JoD experiment, which is approximately 23% of the mean reported in previous studies. For the social cohesion index and the index of beliefs about refugees’ abilities, the MDEs are set at 0.19 z-scores. These MDEs are considered reasonable for our experimental design, especially in light of findings from prior studies, such as one indicating that each standard deviation increase in distance from the refugee camp correlated with an increase of up to 7.5 BDT in the amount paid in the JoD experiment (Higuchi et al., 2024).
|
|
Field
Additional Keyword(s)
|
Before
refugee, social cohesion
|
After
refugee, social cohesion, intergroup contact, Rohingya, Bangladesh
|
|
Field
Intervention (Hidden)
|
Before
In the game, three players will form a group and collaboratively manage a fruit farm. Each group member’s information is limited to only their nationality (Bangladeshi or Rohingya), while all other details remain anonymous. In addition, the game does not include any communication features, preventing players from interacting with other group members.
The game is simple, where the only task is to open the app and harvest the fruits that appear on the tree by tapping the screen. The farm in the game hosts around 24 fruit trees, and on average, one fruit grows on any of these trees every minute. If players do not harvest the fruits, they continue to accumulate on the trees. However, each tree can bear a maximum of 6-7 fruits; after reaching this limit, no additional fruits will appear. The game interface displays both the total harvest of the group and the individual harvests of each of the three members.
Players engage in this game with their group for five days, which constitutes one round. In total, there are six rounds to be played, with group members being randomly shuffled at the beginning of each round. At the end of each round, players receive rewards based on the total fruits harvested by their group. The maximum group reward per round is set at 900 Bangladesh Taka (BDT), with a total of 5,000 fruits generated in every round. Consequently, the value of each fruit is set at 0.18 BDT. Regardless of individual contributions, the total reward is divided equally among the three members. Actual payments are made in a lump sum after the completion of all six rounds and once all rewards are finalized. The total rewards will be transferred through bKash, an electronic payment system commonly used in Bangladesh.
Before the game begins, participants will be informed that Rohingya players may be included in their team. They will also be told that computer players (bots) may be in the team. In reality, all Rohingya players are bots because of the practical difficulties in invloving Rohingya refugees. However, this information will not be disclosed to the participants. In our pre-test, the majority of participants believed that the Rohingya players were real human players.
|
After
In the game, three players will form a group and collaboratively manage a fruit farm. Each group member’s information is limited to only their nationality (Bangladeshi or Rohingya), while all other details remain anonymous. In addition, the game does not include any communication features, preventing players from interacting with other group members.
The game is simple, where the only task is to open the app and harvest the fruits that appear on the tree by tapping the screen. The game interface displays both the total harvest of the group and the individual harvests of each of the three members.
Players engage in this game with their group for five days, which constitutes one round. In total, there are six rounds to be played, with group members being randomly shuffled at the beginning of each round. At the end of each round, players receive rewards based on the total fruits harvested by their group. The maximum group reward per round is set at 900 Bangladesh Taka (BDT), with a total of 5,000 fruits generated in every round. Consequently, the value of each fruit is set at 0.18 BDT. Regardless of individual contributions, the total reward is divided equally among the three members. Actual payments are made in a lump sum after the completion of all six rounds and once all rewards are finalized. The total rewards will be transferred through bKash, an electronic payment system commonly used in Bangladesh.
Before the game begins, participants will be informed that Rohingya players may be included in their team. They will also be told that computer players (bots) may be in the team. In reality, all Rohingya players are bots because of the practical difficulties in invloving Rohingya refugees. However, this information will not be disclosed to the participants. In our pre-test, the majority of participants believed that the Rohingya players were real human players.
|
|
Field
Pi as first author
|
Before
No
|
After
Yes
|