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Survey Design for Sensitive Information in Organizations

Last registered on February 25, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Survey Design for Sensitive Information in Organizations
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007103
Initial registration date
February 25, 2021

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 25, 2021, 8:50 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region
South Asia

Primary Investigator

Name
Ada Gonzalez-Torres
Affiliation
Ben Gurion University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rachel Heath
PI Affiliation
Washington University
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PI Name
Sylvain Chassang
PI Affiliation
Princeton University
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PI Name
Laura Boudreau
PI Affiliation
Columbia Business School
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-03-01
End date
2021-09-30
Keywords
Behavior, Firms & Productivity, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This research studies how survey design affects information transmission of sensitive issues within organizations. We conduct a mobile-based survey experiment with workers at two garment factories in Bangladesh to study how survey design affects employees’ willingness to report instances of misbehavior by managers, including threats, physical harassment, sexual harassment and gender-based violence. We also aim to calculate policy-relevant statistics for this setting, including the proportion of managers that misbehave, the share of workers that experienced different types of misbehavior and the number of people that know of an instance of misbehavior.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Boudreau, Laura et al. 2021. "Survey Design for Sensitive Information in Organizations." AEA RCT Registry. February 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7103-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2021-03-01
Intervention End Date
2021-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The key outcome variables are: reporting of different types of labor issues, including threats, physical harassment, sexual harassment and gender-based violence.

We also aim to calculate policy-relevant statistics for this setting, including the proportion of managers that misbehave, the share of workers that experienced misbehavior and the number of workers that know of a single instance of misbehavior.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Additionally, as secondary outcomes, we study the types of deterrents to reporting sensitive issues, and the number and types of harassment cases to other workers witnessed by other team members.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We experimentally vary direct and indirect survey methods to ask sensitive questions on management misbehavior, as well as the extent to which the enumerator builds rapport or trust with the surveyed individual, and the level of identifiability of a surveyed worker through demographic questions.

In the survey, we also elicit workers’ primary deterrents to reporting, and use demographic and other less sensitive survey measures to predict their probability of being victimized.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The randomization is done by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is a worker, stratified by factory-production team, gender and type of position in the production line.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 2,000 workers.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
400 workers 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
University of Washington
IRB Approval Date
2020-12-22
IRB Approval Number
STUDY00010219
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

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