The Effect of Experimenter Demand on Inference
-
Series
-
Speaker(s)Alistair Wilson (University of Pittsburgh, United States)
-
FieldBehavioral Economics
-
LocationUniversity of Amsterdam, Roeterseilandcampus, E0.22
Amsterdam -
Date and time
October 31, 2024
16:00 - 17:15
Abstract
To assess the threat of experimenter demand, we ask whether a hypothetical ill-intentioned researcher can manipulate inference. Four classic behavioral comparative statics are evaluated, and the potential for false inference is gauged by differentially applying strong positive and negative experimenter demand across the relevant decision pair. Evaluating three different subject pools (laboratory, Prolific, and MTurk) we find no evidence of experimenter demand eliminating or reversing directional effects. The response to experimenter demand is very limited for all three subject pools and is not large enough to generate false negatives, though we do find evidence of false positives when testing precise nulls in larger online-subject pools.