Experimenting with Measurement Error: Techniques with Applications to the Caltech Cohort Study

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gillen, Ben; Snowberg, Erik; Yariv, Leeat
• 署名单位: Claremont Colleges; Claremont McKenna College; Claremont Graduate University; California Institute of Technology; University of British Columbia; National Bureau of Economic Research; Princeton University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/701681
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1826-1863
• 关键词: Risk-taking; ambiguity aversion; gender-differences; preferences; attitudes; variables; PARADOX

摘要

Measurement error is ubiquitous in experimental work. It leads to imperfect statistical controls, attenuated estimated effects of elicited behaviors, and biased correlations between characteristics. We develop statistical techniques for handling experimental measurement error. These techniques are applied to data from the Caltech Cohort Study, which conducts repeated incentivized surveys of the Caltech student body. We replicate three classic experiments, demonstrating that results change substantially when measurement error is accounted for. Collectively, these results show that failing to properly account for measurement error may cause a field-wide bias leading scholars to identify new phenomena.