Back to History Current Version

Pre-Analysis Plan for Hypothetical Social Norms

Last registered on August 21, 2024
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Pre-Analysis Plan for Hypothetical Social Norms
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013518
Initial registration date
August 09, 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
August 21, 2024, 9:23 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Uganda
Region
Mbale

Primary Investigator

Name
Joshua Hill
Affiliation
University of East Anglia
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-12
End date
2024-09-20
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
Hypothetical Social Norms, Cooperation, Empirical Expectations, Normative Beliefs, Lab-in-the-Field
JEL code(s)
C71, C91, C92
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Social norms have been shown to be a central part of a wide range of decision making, including cooperation. Social norms have also been shown to be highly susceptible to context, which acts to cue or prime a specific mental mode. Despite recent methodological improvements in eliciting social norms, this has not been extended to ‘hypothetical’ social norms. This study investigates whether ‘hypothetical’ social norms can be reliably determined by ‘actual’ social norms across subjects in a framed Public Goods Game. The primary contributions of this study is methodological.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hill, Joshua. 2024. "Pre-Analysis Plan for Hypothetical Social Norms." AEA RCT Registry. August 21. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13518-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-12
Intervention End Date
2024-09-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Determining whether hypothetical social norms can accurately determine actual social norms.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Framed public good game, with two treatments: Wall Street / Community Game [actual] -> Community / Wall Street Game [hypothetical]
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Sampling frame employed - see page 5 of attached pre-analysis plan.
Randomization Unit
Randomly selected at parish level, and then electoral register forms sampling frame.
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
300 Gisu participants
Sample size: planned number of observations
3,000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
300 participants, 10 observations per participant (participant is cluster)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
This depends on the specific hypothesis - please see power analysis in Appendix 2 of the attached pre-analysis plan.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of East Anglia Ethics Committee (UK)
IRB Approval Date
2024-02-05
IRB Approval Number
ETH2324-0063
IRB Name
LIRA University Research Ethics Commitee
IRB Approval Date
2024-07-22
IRB Approval Number
LUREC-2024-173
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

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