Self-Selection and Participant Pools in Economic Experiments
The group of people who participate in lab experiments is often not representative of the general population. Experiments frequently use university students, who may differ systematically from other populations in age, cognitive skills, and social preferences. Furthermore, the act of volunteering for an experiment can introduce self-selection bias, where the volunteers are not a random sample of the population.
0
1
Tags
Economics
Economy
The Economy 2.0 Microeconomics @ CORE Econ
CORE Econ
Social Science
Empirical Science
Science
The Economy 2.0 Macroeconomics @ CORE Econ
Related
Scrutiny in Economic Experiments
Artificiality of Experimental Tasks and Environments
Stakes in Economic Experiments
Self-Selection and Participant Pools in Economic Experiments
A key 2007 study examined why behavior in controlled economic experiments might not reflect real-world actions. Match each factor identified as a potential cause for this discrepancy with the scenario that best illustrates it.
Explaining Discrepancies Between Lab and Field Observations
In a university laboratory, an experiment finds that 80% of student participants, when given a $20 endowment, choose to give half of it to an anonymous peer. However, university records show that the average student donation to a campus-wide charity drive is less than $5 per year. Based on the central critiques of a prominent 2007 study on the external validity of lab experiments, which of the following provides the most comprehensive explanation for this discrepancy?
A central argument in critiques of laboratory-based economic experiments is that the artificiality and scrutiny of the lab environment systematically cause participants to behave more selfishly than they would in comparable real-world situations.
Evaluating Experimental Designs for External Validity
An economist conducts an experiment in a university laboratory using students as participants to study how individuals make decisions about saving for retirement. A critic questions whether the findings from this study can accurately predict the behavior of the general population. What is the most significant methodological concern that supports the critic's argument?
Evaluating an Economic Experiment's Design
Evaluating University Laboratories as a Research Setting
For an economist conducting a study, classify each of the following features typically associated with using a university computer laboratory and student participants as either a primary advantage or a primary disadvantage of this research setting.
Justifying the Use of Laboratory Experiments
The primary reason economists prefer to use university students as participants in laboratory experiments is that this group's decision-making has been shown to be more representative of the general population's economic behavior compared to other easily accessible groups.
Analyzing Experimental Design Choices
An economist is designing a study to test a theory about how individuals make decisions when contributing to a group project. The economist chooses to conduct the study in a university computer lab with student participants rather than observing real-world work teams. Which of the following best explains the primary advantage of the chosen research setting for this specific purpose?
Evaluating a Participant Recruitment Strategy
Evaluating Experimental Methodologies
For an economist conducting a study, classify each of the following features typically associated with using a university computer laboratory and student participants as either a primary advantage or a primary disadvantage of this research setting.
Self-Selection and Participant Pools in Economic Experiments