[Phd-behsci] Courtesy reminder: PhD Lab today + Leo's survey draft

Wed Jul 10 11:25:53 BST 2024

Dear PhD Lab,

Just a quick reminder that we will have our first summer PhD lab today at 14:30-16:00

https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZmZjOGJiMDctYzA3Ni00Y2EyLWE3ZTItODUwOGMwYjkzMzNh%40thread.v2/0?context={"Tid"%3a"4e8d09f7-cc79-4ccb-9149-a4238dd17422"%2c"Oid"%3a"687c6002-ec0f-42f0-87a8-916e90b3c5b2"}<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZmZjOGJiMDctYzA3Ni00Y2EyLWE3ZTItODUwOGMwYjkzMzNh%40thread.v2/0?context=%7B%22Tid%22%3a%224e8d09f7-cc79-4ccb-9149-a4238dd17422%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22687c6002-ec0f-42f0-87a8-916e90b3c5b2%22%7D>

Also, please have a look at Leo’s e-mail and survey draft (see below) before the lab, so you are able to give feedback on it.

Thanks and see you later today!
Till

Begin forwarded message:

From: Leonhard Lades <l.k.lades at stir.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [Phd-behsci] PhD Lab meetings over the summer
Date: 8 July 2024 at 09:57:52 BST
To: Till Stowasser <till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk>, phd-behsci Mailing List <phd-behsci at lists.stir.ac.uk>
Cc: Lucie Martin <lucie.martin at esri.ie>, Cara Augustenborg <cara.augustenborg at ucd.ie>, Margaret Samahita <margaret.samahita at ucd.ie>, Niamh Whelan <niamh.whelan1 at ucdconnect.ie>, Patricia Lentz <patricia.lentz at ucd.ie>

Hi all,

Looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday in the Lab session!

From around 4pm on Wednesday, I will be talking about a survey we are going to put into the field in the next few weeks. It is a simple but innovative survey about "Sludge" (~ frictions that make it harder for us to do what we want; the opposite of nudge).

Many people in Behavioural Public Policy talk about the unequal effects of sludge, but so far nobody has quantified such inequalities using a survey.

A Word version of the survey is attached, and a short summary of the idea is below. I will only talk for 5 minutes or so to have enough time for your thoughts.

We'd be grateful for any feedback! Potential feedback relates to the sludge vignettes and ideas for new sludge vignettes (the DVs), the independent variables, whether we should present the data on vulnerability and acceptability in the same paper, what not to forget when pre-registering... And is anybody aware of simple survey measures for scarcity (time/money/energy), present bias, unrealistic optimism, limited attention?

Thanks in advance for your feedback and all the best,
Leo

The key idea of the survey is to present people with about 10 short descriptions such as:

"To apply for financial assistance from the government, you must fill out a lengthy form, providing lots of information that is already on government systems."

and then follow up with questions on vulnerability to sludge (e.g. would it be difficult for you to carry out this task?) as well as acceptability of sludge (e.g. Is this procedure acceptable?).

Then we test whether "vulnerability" and "acceptability" differ depending on (maybe a subset of) age, gender, education, employment status, ethnic group, marital status, living rural or urban, income, a measure of scarcity, physical health, mental health, having a disability, personality traits, trust in government, and left/right political leaning.

Here is a list of the sludge descriptions we have so far come up with. The below only shows sludge when interacting with government services. However, participants will randomly see sludge from either the public or the private sector so we can see differences there.

  *
"To access a government service, you must first set up an online account. This involves providing contact information and agreeing to be contacted."
  *
"To access information from a government website, you must register and log into an account. The website frequently experiences service shut-downs so you are unable to access messages or updates."
  *
"To submit an application for a government grant, you cannot upload a pdf document. Instead you must manually fill out the details in mandatory boxes"
  *
"To apply for financial assistance from the government, you must fill out a lengthy form, providing lots of information that is already on government systems."
  *
"To apply for a rebate from the government, you must make a phone call and wait on hold for long periods before connecting with a staff member"
  *
"To access a government service, you must organise an in-person meeting. The time slots are limited and difficult to obtain"
  *
"To choose a provider for a government service, you must search for the relevant information on various websites. The details are fragmented and presented in different formats, making comparison difficult."
  *
"To choose the best option for a service from the government, you must compare various details, which are often presented in a lengthy and complicated way"
  *
"To unsubscribe from a government mailing list, you must visit the website and fill out a 7 question survey providing reasons for leaving"
  *
"To unsubscribe from a government mailing list, you must visit the website and find the unsubscribe button that is often purposely hard to find"
  *
"To access information on a government website, you frequently encounter pop-up advertisements that block the webpage. This makes it difficult and time-consuming to view the relevant information"
  *
"To switch pension plans you must first post a form to the government authorities detailing the request. This leads to delays for processing the update"
  *
"To obtain a public licence, you must hire an advisor, a process that can be time-consuming and often comes with additional fees."
  *
"To contact support for public services, you must first select a button on an automated menu before being referred to the relevant phone line"
  *
"To apply for assistance from the government, you must compile detailed financial history, employment documents, and references. The approval process can take weeks, often requiring resubmissions due to unclear requirements and conflicting advice online"
  *
"To access government services online, you often encounter broken or outdated links, making it difficult to find the necessary information."
  *
"To apply for a government permit, you often have to wait for extended periods without receiving progress updates. This lack of communication leads to frustration and uncertainty"
  *
"To register for government support, you must provide multiple forms of identification, often without a clear reason."
  *
"To access government services online, you often find websites incompatible with screen readers. This creates barriers for visually impaired users, making it hard to get necessary information and services."
  *
"To access certain government services, you must disclose sensitive information, which can expose you to stigma"

The quite simple analysis will be along these lines:

(1) Are some people more vulnerable to sludge than others? (OLS with random effects or clustered standard errors as we have up to 10 sludge vignettes per person.

  *
Vulnerability = b_0 + b_1 Demographics + b_2 Personality + b_3 SludgeType + epsilon

(2) Is sludge seen as more acceptable by some than by others? (OLS with random effects or clustered standard errors)

  *
Acceptability = b_0 + b_1 Demographics + b_2 Personality + b_3 SludgeType + epsilon
  *
Acceptability = b_0 + b_1 PrivateOrPublic + b_2 Demographics + b_3 Personality + epsilon

________________________________
From: PhD-BehSci <phd-behsci-bounces at lists.stir.ac.uk> on behalf of Till Stowasser <till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk>
Sent: 04 July 2024 20:05
To: phd-behsci Mailing List <phd-behsci at lists.stir.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: [Phd-behsci] PhD Lab meetings over the summer

Hi all,

Thank you to those who have answered the doodle poll. We have a clear winner: 10th of July.

So these are our PhD lab sessions during the Summer

Meeting 1: Wednesday, 10th of July, 14:30–16:00

  *   Agenda Item 1: General Catch Up
  *   Agenda Item 2: Any takers for presentation? (no pressure if not)

Meeting 2: Wednesday, 31st of July, 11:00–12:30

  *   Agenda Item 1: General Catch Up
  *   Agenda Item 2: Any takers for presentation? (no pressure if not)

Meeting 3: Wednesday, 28th of August, 11:00–12:30

  *   Agenda Item 1: General Catch Up
  *   Agenda Item 2: Katie will present her progress

I will send through invites via Teams in a minute.

Best,
Till

On 2 Jul 2024, at 11:58, Till Stowasser <till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk> wrote:

Dear PhD Lab,

I’d like to revisit our three PhD labs over the Summer. We have already found dates for Meetings 2 and 3 but we had to postpone Meeting 1 to TBD because of a clash with the Summer School that Hector is hosting.

Meeting 1: Wednesday, XXth of July
Meeting 2: Wednesday, 31st of July
Meeting 3: Wednesday, 28th of August

I would suggest to move the first meeting to next week (on MSTeams). I have availabilities on Tuesday to Friday that week. To find the date that best fits most of us, I have created the following doodle: https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/eZmjYGgd

I’d be grateful if you could fill it in the doodle.

Best wishes,
Till

On 7 Jun 2024, at 14:50, Till Stowasser <till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk> wrote:

Follow-up 3rd of July won’t work as this collides with Hector’s SGPE Summer School (sorry, Hector, for this oversight).

We will have to move to the week before or after. @Simon: When are you back from leave?

I will let you know an alternative suggestion soonish. Can't commit quite yet as I am waiting for another event around that time to be confirmed.

Best,
Till

On 7 Jun 2024, at 14:00, Till Stowasser <till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk<mailto:till.stowasser at stir.ac.uk>> wrote:

Dear PhD lab,

Apologies, I meant to send this through a lot sooner.

Shall we settle on a few dates to meet during the summer? I believe monthly meetings (on Teams) would make sense. That would give us three meetings until the beginning of the Autumn term.

Let’s have our first meeting once Simon is back from leave.

How about the following?

Meeting 1: Wednesday, 3rd of July
Meeting 2: Wednesday, 31st of July
Meeting 3: Wednesday, 28th of August

@Katie: Which one of these would you like to present in?

I will also schedule 1:1 meetings with all Stirling-based PhD students in June. Please let me know your availability.

Best,
Till
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The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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