Close contact, Trust, and Interethnic Friendship - A large scale field experiment of Roma desk mates in Hungarian schools

Last registered on September 07, 2023
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Close contact, Trust, and Interethnic Friendship - A large scale field experiment of Roma desk mates in Hungarian schools
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002795
Initial registration date
March 22, 2018

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
March 22, 2018, 4:08 PM EDT

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

Last updated
September 07, 2023, 2:05 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Hungary
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Andreas Kotsadam
Affiliation
University of Oslo
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Felix Elwert
PI Affiliation
University of Wisconsin-Madison
PI Name
Tamas Keller
PI Affiliation
Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2017-08-01
End date
2019-03-14
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Peer effects; Ethnicity
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We are conducting a large scale field experiment where we randomly assign desk mates in Hungarian schools. By comparing people with Roma desk mates to people with non-Roma desk mates we investigate whether close personal contact to Roma increases inter-ethnic friendship and trust. In this plan we pre-register some key decisions to follow once we receive the data.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Elwert, Felix, Tamas Keller and Andreas Kotsadam. 2023. "Close contact, Trust, and Interethnic Friendship - A large scale field experiment of Roma desk mates in Hungarian schools." AEA RCT Registry. September 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2795-1.1
Former Citation
Elwert, Felix, Tamas Keller and Andreas Kotsadam. 2023. "Close contact, Trust, and Interethnic Friendship - A large scale field experiment of Roma desk mates in Hungarian schools." AEA RCT Registry. September 07. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2795/history/192120
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We execute a large-scale randomized field experiment in Hungarian primary schools. Students are randomly assigned to desk mates. Non-Roma students are then randomly exposed to Roma students.
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2017-08-01
Intervention End Date
2018-05-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Lend to Classmate and Roma friend
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Lend to Classmate is based on a survey experiment where students were presented with a scenario where they could lend money to a classmate.
Roma friend captures whether an individual has a Roma friend among his or her best friends..

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
See Analysis plan
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We execute a large-scale randomized field experiment in Hungarian primary schools. Students are randomly assigned to desk mates.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
3539 students
Sample size: planned number of observations
3539 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
2000 for the non-vignette outcome.
1000 for the vignette outcome
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Minimum detectable effect size adjusted for multiple testing: 0.2 Standard deviations
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Hungarian Academy of Science
IRB Approval Date
2017-12-12
IRB Approval Number
N/A
IRB Name
University of Wisconsin
IRB Approval Date
2018-02-12
IRB Approval Number
2018-0093
IRB Name
University of Wisconsin
IRB Approval Date
2018-02-12
IRB Approval Number
2018-0093
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Analysis plan

MD5: 858d3aeb3475e9299917aa576306a812

SHA1: 1550a068a678509d7f7496ef22695997683fd2c1

Uploaded At: March 22, 2018

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
Yes
Public Data URL
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/NQKPGY

Program Files

Program Files
Yes
Program Files URL
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/NQKPGY
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Abstract
Contact theory predicts that interethnic exposure reduces antiminority discrimination. By contrast, conflict theory predicts that interethnic exposure worsens discrimination. Received scope conditions, however, are vague and do not properly differentiate between the domains of the theories. Furthermore, prior evidence is mostly correlational, and supportive field experiments for contact theory have largely accrued in rarefied settings. This begs the question how interethnic contact affects interethnic relations in everyday situations. The authors test the causal effect of interethnic exposure on discrimination under quotidian conditions in a large preregistered randomized field experiment involving N=2,395
students in 39 Hungarian schools. The authors find that neither manipulating the closeness of interethnic exposure between students within classrooms nor variation in ethnic composition across grade levels affects antiminority discrimination. This indicates that the domains of contact and conflict theory are much narrower than previously thought. Interethnic contact may not affect discrimination either way in many everyday settings.
Citation
Elwert, F., Keller, T., & Kotsadam, A. (2023). Rearranging the Desk Chairs: A large randomized field experiment on the effects of close contact on interethnic relations. American Journal of Sociology, 128(6), 1809-1840.
URL
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/724865?casa_token=ivROCmXehOwAAAAA%3AxHgrDydx6eUgkxHhNm7thn2MtaRLs5sAszS_hw3V9gWKX3eemoUpVs02xiCUhmFeGE0XWIoxmaQ8

Reports & Other Materials