The effects of observability on health-related outcomes

Last registered on January 17, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The effects of observability on health-related outcomes
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0014642
Initial registration date
January 15, 2025

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
January 17, 2025, 7:00 AM EST

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-01-06
End date
2027-08-31
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study investigates the factors that influence satisfaction, behaviours and intentions of university students. Participants will be put in groups and will spend about 30 minutes on completing this study. They will need to answer a questionnaire, which consists of questions regarding their experiences at Warwick, as well as their intended involvement in health behaviours.

I will also conduct robustness check to make sure results are credible and reliable.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chan, Yuki. 2025. "The effects of observability on health-related outcomes." AEA RCT Registry. January 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.14642-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2025-01-06
Intervention End Date
2027-08-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The dependent variable is a index of health behaviours, which consists of 5 measures on a primary outcome which I care the most: likelihood of receiving the novel combined COVID-flu vaccine. I will pull an average so a higher index means individuals are more prone to prosocial behaviour, and otherwise.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The dependent variable is Health behaviours, which consists of 4 measures on a primary outcome which I care the most: likelihood of receiving the novel combined COVID-flu vaccine.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
The index also includes a list of secondary outcomes: how important is hand washing or hand sanitising, participation of activities in a hypothetical awareness campaign, and an option to make a donation to Long COVID research, with the chance of being selected for donation matching, as well as a guess to total group donation. The independent variables are observability and prosociality. Observability is a dummy variable that takes on the value of 1 if the participant is in the public condition, and 0 if in the private condition otherwise. Prosociality is also a dummy variable. Participants are asked to estimate the amount of their total group donation. Using the median of all estimates, participant whose estimates go above is identified as more prosocial, vice versa. The control variables include gender, ethnicity, and education.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
This study investigates the factors that influence satisfaction, behaviours and intentions of university students. Participants will be put in groups and will spend about 30 minutes on completing this study. They will need to answer a questionnaire, which consists of questions regarding their experiences at Warwick, as well as their intended involvement in health behaviours.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is done on otree.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
40 - 50 groups of 4 or 5 participants.
Sample size: planned number of observations
For each academic term, I plan to recruit 200 participants. Throughout 2025, I aim to achieve a sample size of 400.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
40 - 50 groups, half control, half treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power calculation looking at sample size of 400.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Committee
IRB Approval Date
2024-12-05
IRB Approval Number
BSREC 52/24-25