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Field
Intervention (Public)
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Before
This is a field experiment in the context of a recruitment drive for the ESSExLab (University of Essex, Colchester). A sample of local participants, drawn from a marketing database, are being paid to join the ESSExLab database as participants, and again to take the Omnibus survey. A sample of students (current participants) are also being paid to take the Omnibus, and again to take an employability survey. Within these contexts we are running experiments into charitable giving following our previous research, and related research by other authors.
See in particular https://davidreinstein.wordpress.com/research-and-publications/
- "Giving and Probability" (Kellner, Reinstein, Riener); Giveifyouwin.org (popular summary)
- "Substitution Among Charitable Contributions: An Experimental Study.” (Reinstein)
The employability study contains another embedded experiment about gender-differences in perceptions of starting salaries.
Further details are given within the hidden section.
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After
This is a field experiment in the context of a recruitment drive for the ESSExLab (University of Essex, Colchester). A sample of local participants, drawn from a marketing database, are being paid to join the ESSExLab database as participants, and again to take the Omnibus survey. A sample of students (current participants) are also being paid to take the Omnibus, and again to take an employability survey. Within these contexts we are running experiments into charitable giving following our previous research, and related research by other authors.
See in particular https://davidreinstein.wordpress.com/research-and-publications/
- "Giving and Probability" (Kellner, Reinstein, Riener); Giveifyouwin.org (popular summary)
- "Substitution Among Charitable Contributions: An Experimental Study.” (Reinstein)
The employability study contains another embedded experiment about gender-differences in perceptions of starting salaries.
Further details are given within the hidden section.
30 Jul 2017: Because of a low response rate to the 'nonstudent' part of the initially planned trial, we have added an additional set of trials for the Giving and Probability and happiness components, involving 320 additional participants recruited on Prolific Academic. This trial will be run on 30 Jul 2017 (except for 20 pilot observations). I am registering this component immediately in advance of running it (160 participants on 30 Jul 2017 and 160 more on 31 July or 1 August). The timing and all details of the trial (and my trial account) on the Prolific site and the Qualtrics site (which includes the time and geocode of each response) can be made available in case of a serious need to verify the integrity of this study and its data.
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Field
Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
##Intervention (Hidden)
*All payments discussed below are in Amazon gift certificates/gift vouchers.*
The overall timeline and procedures for the ESSExLab recruitment drive, Omnibus, Employability survey, and associated experiments are outlined in the following files:
- 'ESSEXLab Recruitment Timeline.xlsx - Study Overview.pdf' ('Lown-Dietrich (LD) Study' is not discussed here)
- ESSEXLab Recruitment Timeline.xlsx - Study Logistics.pdf ('Lown-Dietrich (LD) Study' is not discussed here )
This has been saved on 24 Apr 2017; we may make some small changes for feasibility as the story progresses, but we will try to avoid this.
###Recruitment drive and promotion (Nonstudents)
The experimental variation takes places within the context of a recruitment drive for the ESSExLab (University of Essex, Colchester), focusing on non-students; and an Omnibus survey being administered to all registered participants, including recent recruits.
Note: This could itself be considered an 'intervention' in the real world, as this recruitment drive is not a part of typical day-to-day life in the local community. However recruitment for surveys and studies, as well as the receipt of letters and emails encouraging participation (including from the University of Essex) is not uncommon in this context.
ESSExLab purchased 5000 emails/addresses/demographics from DataHQ, a marketing firm. To garner the most useful for sample for later lab use, we specifically asked for non-students within reasonable commuting range from the University or the center of town, who had access to email, and oversampled those in relatively more diverse postcodes and those with neighbors in the sample.
- See file "23714_University_of_Essex_(Accounts_Payable).pdf" for complete specification of our data request from DataHQ.
On 'day 1' (targeted 4 May, 2017), we post 5000 letters to the addresses and names purchased from DataHQ inviting recipients to become part of the subject pool.
The text for all of these printed letters is identical.
for proposed email content.
Of these 5000 emails, 2600 addresses are randomly assigned to potentially be part of the treatments mentioned below ('DR1-study'). (This was done through pure rather than block randomization, i.e., with no clustering. Random numbers were generated in Excel by Pat Lown.)
Among the 2600 nonstudents in the DR-1 study, we randomize the order of these contact addresses. We will email (roughly) 514 addresses at a time with a personalised link to the specific Qualtrics survey, and a subject line "Recruiting for ESSEXLab experiments: *special £10 reward* for joining". Some email content is given below. Full proposed emails can be found in
> omnibus_plus_emailtexts.md
***
We recently sent you a letter in the post inviting you to join the [ESSEXLab](http://essexlab.essex.ac.uk/) participant database, which can also be found below. You have been randomly selected for a special reward for signing up - a £10 Amazon voucher!
Here’s what you need to do *within the next 48 hours* to do to claim your voucher:
1. If you have not already done so, sign up for the ESSEXLab participant database [HERE](http://essexlab.essex.ac.uk/hroot) using your recruitment ID code: [ID]. *Remember this ID!*
2. Complete the survey linked here [individualised link sent from Qualtrics] (when you begin the survey we will let you know whether you have responded in time to earn the £10 voucher).
3. Wait for us to email your **_£10 Amazon _****_voucher_**!
**We only have 400 vouchers to give out as part of this promotion - so act fast!**
[More information about participating in ESSExLab follows]
***
Each batch of 514 (approx) emails is sent with 48 hours delay. Once 400 rewards have been claimed, we change the email to mention the total amount of remaining rewards only. This changes over on day 16 even if fewer than 400 rewards have been claimed.
The next 200 Nonstudents who sign up get a different email, and have a 1/2 chance of winning a £10 voucher (see designs below). After this (or after day 36 if fewer than 200 sign up), the incentive ends, and the survey instrument shuts down (of course people can still sign up to be part of the ESSExLab pool).
Those who enter the survey in sufficient time are presented a series of questions. They are asked about their level of contact and willingness to exchange contact information with neighbors (this is relevant background for an unrelated study, and also should provide some distraction from the charity questions).
Of the first 400, 2/3 of these participants are also asked whether they would like to donate from their £10 rewards; details of these charity treatments, and the related happiness questions are given below.
*Payment details*: For the first 400 participants, we will make all payments on day 8 (for those participating in days 1-8) and on day 15 (for those participating on days 9-15) (subject to feasibility). For the remaining participants, we will make all payments within 1 week of completion. Participants are informed of this: 'Rewards will be sent and donations will be made within 7 days and receipts will be kept at the ESSExLab office.'
We will download the list of completed surveys and check this against ESSExLab signups (H-Root). We will enter the email addresses of qualifying participants into the Amazon gift-certificate page, along with the amounts they are owed (the £10 less any donations made). (This will be done at the University of Exeter; we are arranging funds and a university account that can be used).
Payments to charities will be made through the charities' own web sites. We will not be able to claim Gift Aid. Receipts for both donations and Amazon payments will be sent to the ESSExLab office for storage and to allow verification if participants request it.
###Omnibus (Students)
ESSExLab is asking all registered participants (subjects) to take an 'Omnibus' survey, to gain a series of background measures which experimenters will be able to use in their analyses and possibly in their participant selection. Omnibus responses will be connectable to responses in lab experiments, but careful measures will be taken to reasonably assure confidentiality and anonymity of both responses, and prevent experimenters from learning the identity of participants.
The Omnibus content (close to final; minus the charitable giving questions noted below) is given in
> omnibusdownload.pdf
This survey will be built and run via the Qualtrics platform. Some small changes to the content may be made, particularly including additional unincentivized measures of beliefs and preferences relevant to economists.
This will begin on Day 16, 15 days after the first emails from Phase 1.
All registered ESSExLab participants, including new recruits, will be invited and eligible to complete the Omnibus survey. These invitations will all go out at the same time, but respondents will be randomized into different incentive treatments, as detailed below. For the first 600 student respondents, we randomize 200 into treatments involving a certain £10 reward, and 400 into treatments involving a 50% chance of a £10 reward.
###Omnibus (Nonstudents)
Nonstudents who participated in phase 1 and who claimed the £10 rewards will be invited with a specific email offering them an additional £10 reward for completing the Omnibus. These participants will be given a second charitable ask.
(Other nonstudent participants will be given a 'vanilla' invitation without a reward.)
###Employability study
On day 30, students who completed the omnibus and were part of the certain-£10 treatment will be invited to take an Employability survey, and offered a £10 reward for completion. These participants will be given a second charitable ask.
They will also be presented a series of questions, and asked to do several tasks involving looking up jobs they might be interested in on a job web site.
They are also asked the questions mentioned below under the experimental design "Requested Salary and Gender".
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After
##Intervention (Hidden)
*All payments discussed below are in Amazon gift certificates/gift vouchers.*
The overall timeline and procedures for the ESSExLab recruitment drive, Omnibus, Employability survey, and associated experiments are outlined in the following files:
- 'ESSEXLab Recruitment Timeline.xlsx - Study Overview.pdf' ('Lown-Dietrich (LD) Study' is not discussed here)
- ESSEXLab Recruitment Timeline.xlsx - Study Logistics.pdf ('Lown-Dietrich (LD) Study' is not discussed here )
This has been saved on 24 Apr 2017; we may make some small changes for feasibility as the story progresses, but we will try to avoid this.
###Recruitment drive and promotion (Nonstudents)
The experimental variation takes places within the context of a recruitment drive for the ESSExLab (University of Essex, Colchester), focusing on non-students; and an Omnibus survey being administered to all registered participants, including recent recruits.
Note: This could itself be considered an 'intervention' in the real world, as this recruitment drive is not a part of typical day-to-day life in the local community. However recruitment for surveys and studies, as well as the receipt of letters and emails encouraging participation (including from the University of Essex) is not uncommon in this context.
ESSExLab purchased 5000 emails/addresses/demographics from DataHQ, a marketing firm. To garner the most useful for sample for later lab use, we specifically asked for non-students within reasonable commuting range from the University or the center of town, who had access to email, and oversampled those in relatively more diverse postcodes and those with neighbors in the sample.
- See file "23714_University_of_Essex_(Accounts_Payable).pdf" for complete specification of our data request from DataHQ.
On 'day 1' (targeted 4 May, 2017), we post 5000 letters to the addresses and names purchased from DataHQ inviting recipients to become part of the subject pool.
The text for all of these printed letters is identical.
for proposed email content.
Of these 5000 emails, 2600 addresses are randomly assigned to potentially be part of the treatments mentioned below ('DR1-study'). (This was done through pure rather than block randomization, i.e., with no clustering. Random numbers were generated in Excel by Pat Lown.)
Among the 2600 nonstudents in the DR-1 study, we randomize the order of these contact addresses. We will email (roughly) 514 addresses at a time with a personalised link to the specific Qualtrics survey, and a subject line "Recruiting for ESSEXLab experiments: *special £10 reward* for joining". Some email content is given below. Full proposed emails can be found in
> omnibus_plus_emailtexts.md
***
We recently sent you a letter in the post inviting you to join the [ESSEXLab](http://essexlab.essex.ac.uk/) participant database, which can also be found below. You have been randomly selected for a special reward for signing up - a £10 Amazon voucher!
Here’s what you need to do *within the next 48 hours* to do to claim your voucher:
1. If you have not already done so, sign up for the ESSEXLab participant database [HERE](http://essexlab.essex.ac.uk/hroot) using your recruitment ID code: [ID]. *Remember this ID!*
2. Complete the survey linked here [individualised link sent from Qualtrics] (when you begin the survey we will let you know whether you have responded in time to earn the £10 voucher).
3. Wait for us to email your **_£10 Amazon _****_voucher_**!
**We only have 400 vouchers to give out as part of this promotion - so act fast!**
[More information about participating in ESSExLab follows]
***
Each batch of 514 (approx) emails is sent with 48 hours delay. Once 400 rewards have been claimed, we change the email to mention the total amount of remaining rewards only. This changes over on day 16 even if fewer than 400 rewards have been claimed.
The next 200 Nonstudents who sign up get a different email, and have a 1/2 chance of winning a £10 voucher (see designs below). After this (or after day 36 if fewer than 200 sign up), the incentive ends, and the survey instrument shuts down (of course people can still sign up to be part of the ESSExLab pool).
Those who enter the survey in sufficient time are presented a series of questions. They are asked about their level of contact and willingness to exchange contact information with neighbors (this is relevant background for an unrelated study, and also should provide some distraction from the charity questions).
Of the first 400, 2/3 of these participants are also asked whether they would like to donate from their £10 rewards; details of these charity treatments, and the related happiness questions are given below.
*Payment details*: For the first 400 participants, we will make all payments on day 8 (for those participating in days 1-8) and on day 15 (for those participating on days 9-15) (subject to feasibility). For the remaining participants, we will make all payments within 1 week of completion. Participants are informed of this: 'Rewards will be sent and donations will be made within 7 days and receipts will be kept at the ESSExLab office.'
We will download the list of completed surveys and check this against ESSExLab signups (H-Root). We will enter the email addresses of qualifying participants into the Amazon gift-certificate page, along with the amounts they are owed (the £10 less any donations made). (This will be done at the University of Exeter; we are arranging funds and a university account that can be used).
Payments to charities will be made through the charities' own web sites. We will not be able to claim Gift Aid. Receipts for both donations and Amazon payments will be sent to the ESSExLab office for storage and to allow verification if participants request it.
###Omnibus (Students)
ESSExLab is asking all registered participants (subjects) to take an 'Omnibus' survey, to gain a series of background measures which experimenters will be able to use in their analyses and possibly in their participant selection. Omnibus responses will be connectable to responses in lab experiments, but careful measures will be taken to reasonably assure confidentiality and anonymity of both responses, and prevent experimenters from learning the identity of participants.
The Omnibus content (close to final; minus the charitable giving questions noted below) is given in
> omnibusdownload.pdf
This survey will be built and run via the Qualtrics platform. Some small changes to the content may be made, particularly including additional unincentivized measures of beliefs and preferences relevant to economists.
This will begin on Day 16, 15 days after the first emails from Phase 1.
All registered ESSExLab participants, including new recruits, will be invited and eligible to complete the Omnibus survey. These invitations will all go out at the same time, but respondents will be randomized into different incentive treatments, as detailed below. For the first 600 student respondents, we randomize 200 into treatments involving a certain £10 reward, and 400 into treatments involving a 50% chance of a £10 reward.
###Omnibus (Nonstudents)
Nonstudents who participated in phase 1 and who claimed the £10 rewards will be invited with a specific email offering them an additional £10 reward for completing the Omnibus. These participants will be given a second charitable ask.
(Other nonstudent participants will be given a 'vanilla' invitation without a reward.)
###Employability study
On day 30, students who completed the omnibus and were part of the certain-£10 treatment will be invited to take an Employability survey, and offered a £10 reward for completion. These participants will be given a second charitable ask.
They will also be presented a series of questions, and asked to do several tasks involving looking up jobs they might be interested in on a job web site.
They are also asked the questions mentioned below under the experimental design "Requested Salary and Gender".
***
Added 30 Jul 2017: Because of a low response rate to the 'nonstudent' part of the initially planned trial, we have added an additional set of trials for the Giving and Probability and happiness components, involving 320 additional participants recruited on Prolific Academic. This trial will be run on 30 Jul 2017 (except for 20 pilot observations). I am registering this component immediately in advance of running it.
- It is advertised as “Employment choices (basic payment plus bonus opportunities)"
- Base pay is £1 for a study advertised to take about 10 minutes
Screeners:
- UK resident, nonstudent, English first language, age 18+, not in my previous studies,
- Gave answer to earlier qns on charitable giving, charitable affiliation, gender, religion
Further basic description in order (Qualtrics docs/code attached)
- Announcement the study is coming from Exeter researchers, non-deception rules, consent form.
- Announce the prize/probability they are eligible for (see below)
- A vignette, questions on requested salary (as presented to students see above)
- Happiness question
- Verbal crystalised intelligence questions (as in omnibus)
- Prize/donation treatments (see below)
- Risk-preference and trust elicitation q's
- Happiness q again.
Prize/donation treatments, randomization using Qualtrics randomiser, 'evenly present elements,' between:
1. Before ask, 50% chance of winning (even randomizer btwn win/lose): 80 participants (close to above 'Before' treatment)
2. After ask, 50% chance of winning (even randomizer btwn win/lose): 160 participants (80 donation choices); (close to above 'After' treatment)
3. Before ask, 10% chance of winning (1 in 10 even randomizer between win/lose): 80 participants; as in the above Before treatment, but with only a 1/10 chance of winning
4. (New) Those in Before treatments who won allowed to revise charity decision
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