Randomized control trial on smart phone habits

Last registered on February 18, 2020

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Randomized control trial on smart phone habits
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005002
Initial registration date
February 15, 2020

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
February 18, 2020, 2:13 PM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
IE UNIVERSITY
PI Affiliation
IE UNIVERSITY

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-02-09
End date
2020-03-20
Secondary IDs
Abstract
The research explores if monetary interventions can reduce excessive mobile phone usage. It uses the mobile phone context to study interventions that work effectively in removing bad habits. The study will also provide insights on the effects of reduced mobile phone usage on educational outcomes.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
DUC, PHAM QUANG, JEEVA SOMASUNDARAM and LAURA ZIMMERMANN. 2020. "Randomized control trial on smart phone habits." AEA RCT Registry. February 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5002-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-02-18
Intervention End Date
2020-03-10

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Mobile phone screen time
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The average daily mobile phone usage over the experimental period

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Grade point average and educational outcomesI
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We test monetary interventions that are effective in reducing excessive mobile phone usage..
Experimental Design Details
Week 1: baseline screen time data collection
Treatment period:
Week 2-3 (10 days): period 1 of screen time reduction (incentivized)
Week 3-4 (10 days): period 2 of screen time reduction (incentivized)
Week 5-6 (post treatment): follow-up screen time data collection

Subjects will be randomized into one of the following conditions:

1. Control condition: no incentive or no targets for screen time reduction.

2. Treatment 1 (Habit formation): goal of 25% screen time reduction from baseline, during Period 1 and 2. Every day in both periods, the participant meets the goal of 25% screen time reduction from baseline, they receive 2 Euros for that day.

3. Treatment 2 (Anticipation): No incentive and target during Period 1. Every day in Period 2, the participant meets the goal of 25% screen time reduction from baseline, they get 2 Euros for that day. Participants will be informed about the Period 2 target at the beginning of Period 1 itself. This will allow subject to anticipate the habit formation process.

The mobile phone data collection will be operationalized by asking student to activate a feature in the iPhone (Screen Time) or Android phone (an app called Screen time downloadable from play store). Students will take screenshots of their average weekly screen time usage and submit them to us.
Randomization Method
Done in office by a computer using excel.
Randomization Unit
At the individual level. Each subject allocated to control or treatment conditions randomly.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
117
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
35 students in control
41 students Treatment 1
41 students Treatment 2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IE Research Committee
IRB Approval Date
2019-11-08
IRB Approval Number
IERC/06-2019-2020

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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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