Empathy, statistics and learning

Last registered on March 06, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Empathy, statistics and learning
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014224
Initial registration date
August 20, 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 28, 2024, 2:59 PM EDT

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

Last updated
March 06, 2025, 9:38 PM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Sandra Sequeira
Affiliation
LSE
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-08-21
End date
2025-12-31
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Learning, Migrants, Refugees
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines how exposure to audiovisual content and written content shapes retention in memory, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours about important policy issues.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Sequeira, Sandra. 2025. "Empathy, statistics and learning." AEA RCT Registry. March 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14224-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The online survey experiment will have four experimental arms. In treatment arm 1, participants will read a paper and watch a documentary before answering questions about what they remember and their opinions on the topic. Treatment arm 2 will watch a documentary and then read the paper before answering questions. The last two arms will only read the paper or only watch the documentary. We added a pure control group when the sample reached approximately 600 respondents, and continued to randomly assign participants thereafter to 5 different groups to include this pure control.
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-21
Intervention End Date
2025-02-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Knowledge of the issue discussed in the paper and in the documentary (this measures retention in memory)
Policy views (on climate change, immigration and refugees)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This will be an online survey experiment in which participants will be randomly assigned to one of five experimental groups: a group that first reads a paper and then watches a documentary, a group that first watches the documentary and then reads the paper, a group that only reads the paper and a group that only watches the documentary. The final group is a pure control that participates in the survey but does not receive any new information.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomisation done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual respondent
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
There are no clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
500 to 600 respondents. The sample size was increased to 1200 and we added a follow up survey to construct a panel to detect the persistence (or lack thereof) of changes in attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Depending on the final sample, I am planning for 125-150 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
London School of Economics
IRB Approval Date
2024-06-05
IRB Approval Number
NA
Analysis Plan