Behavioral Research Paper
Due date: Monday, November 11 (prospectus); Friday,
December 13 (final draft)
Length: 5-6 pages (double-spaced; standard font and margins)
Point total: 150
Citations: Chicago-style footnotes
Primary objective: construct an experiment that will demonstrate something about daily economic behavior.
Stage 1: Define the question you want to ask. Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, as well as the companion pieces The Upside of Irrationality and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, provide examples of such initial questions: for instance, what effect does being “free” have on the attractiveness of a given item or set of items? To what extent are people’s choices about value based on “anchoring” from a popular brand or company, such as iTunes offering songs at $0.99 (or the effects of a jump in price to $1.29)? An alternative approach is to create a decision scenario based on “game theory.” Examples of such economic games can be found in chapter 20 of Colander’s Micro textbook. If you decide to create a game make sure that it does not assume that the participants behave completely rationally, as this would take you out of the realm of behavioral economics. You might also want to explore Richard Thaler's idea of "nudge" in your paper - one of the most important ideas to have come out of Behavioral Economics.
Stage 2: Define the method of answering your question. You will likely approach this stage as a series of questions that you pose to classmates, or perhaps as gathering data on the choices people make when looking at a certain set of goods or services. Your project should have a quantitative element – that is, something measurable – that can be analyzed for the final draft. Please turn in your research question and a brief (i.e. two well-developed paragraphs) statement of your methodology by Monday, November 11. This part of the assignment is worth 30 points of the final grade. Mr. Janus and Mr. Disantis will look over the proposals and then either give approval or ask for reworking.
Stage 3: Run the experiment. Once your experiment has been approved, you will run it in the high school community or in another well-defined community. Be sure to establish controls and record data carefully so that your analysis is specific and well-organized.
Stage 4: Write the final draft. The final draft should be 5-6 pages in length. You should also consider including a literature review in your paper concerning past experiments done or theories held on your question. For example, if you are conducting an experiment about the effects of labeling a product “organic,” you should look into past studies about the topic and summarize their findings. Citations for the literature review should be in Chicago-style footnotes. The paper should have a clear thesis that addresses the results of your experiment and whether you were surprised by or expected the results. Remember that an experiment turning out differently than you thought it would is not a mark of failure. Rather it is an opportunity to assess what your experiment says about human economic behavior. The due date for the final draft will is Friday, December 13.
Length: 5-6 pages (double-spaced; standard font and margins)
Point total: 150
Citations: Chicago-style footnotes
Primary objective: construct an experiment that will demonstrate something about daily economic behavior.
Stage 1: Define the question you want to ask. Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational, as well as the companion pieces The Upside of Irrationality and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, provide examples of such initial questions: for instance, what effect does being “free” have on the attractiveness of a given item or set of items? To what extent are people’s choices about value based on “anchoring” from a popular brand or company, such as iTunes offering songs at $0.99 (or the effects of a jump in price to $1.29)? An alternative approach is to create a decision scenario based on “game theory.” Examples of such economic games can be found in chapter 20 of Colander’s Micro textbook. If you decide to create a game make sure that it does not assume that the participants behave completely rationally, as this would take you out of the realm of behavioral economics. You might also want to explore Richard Thaler's idea of "nudge" in your paper - one of the most important ideas to have come out of Behavioral Economics.
Stage 2: Define the method of answering your question. You will likely approach this stage as a series of questions that you pose to classmates, or perhaps as gathering data on the choices people make when looking at a certain set of goods or services. Your project should have a quantitative element – that is, something measurable – that can be analyzed for the final draft. Please turn in your research question and a brief (i.e. two well-developed paragraphs) statement of your methodology by Monday, November 11. This part of the assignment is worth 30 points of the final grade. Mr. Janus and Mr. Disantis will look over the proposals and then either give approval or ask for reworking.
Stage 3: Run the experiment. Once your experiment has been approved, you will run it in the high school community or in another well-defined community. Be sure to establish controls and record data carefully so that your analysis is specific and well-organized.
Stage 4: Write the final draft. The final draft should be 5-6 pages in length. You should also consider including a literature review in your paper concerning past experiments done or theories held on your question. For example, if you are conducting an experiment about the effects of labeling a product “organic,” you should look into past studies about the topic and summarize their findings. Citations for the literature review should be in Chicago-style footnotes. The paper should have a clear thesis that addresses the results of your experiment and whether you were surprised by or expected the results. Remember that an experiment turning out differently than you thought it would is not a mark of failure. Rather it is an opportunity to assess what your experiment says about human economic behavior. The due date for the final draft will is Friday, December 13.
Grading Criteria for Final Draft
Question: specificity and articulation. 20% - The Prospectus
What led you to explore this question? Is the question
specific enough to provide commentary on economic concepts and also accessible
enough to facilitate participation in the experiment from outside
parties?
Research: explanation
of methods. 20%
How did you go about finding participants? What questions
did you ask and in what environment? Were there any limitations on your project
that you feel should be taken into account?
Research: commentary
on expectations. 20%
What did you expect and why? Did the findings correlate with
those expectations? If not, why?
Analysis: relevance to
economics. 20%
What economic concepts are reflected in your findings? What
do your findings suggest about economic thinking and general culture at Lab
School or in the wider community?
Analysis:
recommendations. 20%
Do your findings reflect a problem or an opportunity for
people in the Lab School community? If the former, how can it be resolved? If
the latter, how can it be capitalized upon?
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