Evaluating updates to a government form

Last registered on February 26, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluating updates to a government form
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013157
Initial registration date
April 16, 2024

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
April 25, 2024, 11:13 AM EDT

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

Last updated
February 26, 2025, 6:56 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Australia
Region
Canberra, ACT

Primary Investigator

Name
BETA Team Registration
Affiliation
Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Nicholas Hilderson
PI Affiliation
BETA
PI Name
Hanne Watkins
PI Affiliation
BETA
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-03-14
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior, Gender, Governance, Welfare
Additional Keywords
government forms, survey experiment, behavioural insights
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This project examines a government form that is used to apply for an income support payment. BETA has conducted user testing and reviewed existing literature in order to draft updates to the form. This survey experiment will evaluate how the updates to the form influence the allocation of the payment. We will compare the existing form with two ‘active choice’ treatment conditions. The efficacy of the updated forms will be judged by how much of the payment participants allocate to one member of a (fictional) couple. BETA’s survey experiment will sit in a broader survey being run by a university for a government agency. Findings from this research will be shared with relevant government agencies to guide future updates to the form. Findings will also be published on the BETA website.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hilderson, Nicholas, BETA Team Registration and Hanne Watkins. 2025. "Evaluating updates to a government form." AEA RCT Registry. February 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13157-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This survey experiment has been designed as a stratified 3-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT). We will be simulating the decision of how to divide up a government payment between two people. This design includes one control group and two interventions:
1. Control
The control condition will simulate the current income support application form.
2. Active choice
In this condition, participants will be required to make an active choice when deciding how they want to divide their income support payment. The active choice condition aims to make the choice architecture surrounding the payment allocation question as neutral as possible.
3. Active choice + extra information
In this condition, participants will be presented with the active choice condition, as described above, as well as information on the benefits of dividing the payment more equally.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention (hidden):
This survey experiment has been designed as a stratified 3-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT). We will be simulating the decision of how to divide up their Paid Parental Leave (PPL) days between two people in a couple. This design includes one control group and two interventions:
1. Control
The control condition will simulate the current online PPL claim form. In the current form, birth mothers and their partners each see different information and different questions when asked how they wish to allocate their leave. The birth mother is asked how many leave days out of 100 they wish to claim. Meanwhile, the partner is asked if the birth mother has shared any leave days with them and, if yes, how many.
2. Active choice
In this condition, participants will be required to make an active choice when deciding how they want to allocate their PPL. The active choice condition aims to make the choice architecture surrounding the question of how a couple’s PPL will be shared as neutral as possible. The active choice form is gender neutral and participants are asked how their family will be sharing their Parental Leave Pay days. They must then enter the number of days allocated to each partner and the total number of days they wish to claim as a couple.
3. Active choice + PPL Information
In this condition, participants will be presented with the active choice condition, as described above, as well as information on the benefits of dividing PPL between parents. By including this information, we hope to further increase the amount of leave allocated to fathers and partners. This was supported by our user testing, which found that the information presented in the form may influence how people approach the decision of how to share their leave.
Intervention Start Date
2024-03-14
Intervention End Date
2024-03-27

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The amount of payment (measured in number of days) allocated to a (fictional) person in the experiment.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Further details are provided in the pre-analysis plan.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This research will consist of stratified 3-arm RCT embedded in a survey, which will be delivered online using a platform developed by the survey provider.
Experimental Design Details
Further details are provided in the pre-analysis plan.
Randomization Method
Participants will be stratified by gender and simple randomisation will be conducted within each strata by the survey platform developed by the survey provider.
Randomization Unit
Individual respondents
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
1500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
around 500 per arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The experiment will have 95% power to detect a difference of 2 days, when comparing each treatment condition to the control condition separately.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
[the university conducting the broader survey completed the review]
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-01
IRB Approval Number
NA [and the university haven't yet confirmed the date]
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials