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The challenge of representative design in psychology and economics

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Abstract

The demands of representative design, as formulated by Egon Brunswik (1956), set a high methodological standard. Both experimental participants and the situations with which they are faced should be representative of the populations to which researchers claim to generalize results. Failure to observe the latter has led to notable experimental failures in psychology from which economics could learn. It also raises questions about the meaning of testing economic theories in “abstract” environments. Logically, abstract tests can only be generalized to “abstract realities” and these may or may not have anything to do with the “empirical realities” experienced by economic actors.

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  • Robin Hogarth, 2004. "The challenge of representative design in psychology and economics," Economics Working Papers 751, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2005.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:751
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    4. Robin Hogarth, 2003. "Is confidence in decisions related to feedback? Evidence-and lack of evidence-from random samples of real-world managerial behavior?," Economics Working Papers 655, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Apr 2004.
    5. Hogarth, Rm, 1982. "An Assessment Of Laboratory Experiments In Accounting - Discussion," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20, pages 108-116.
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    1. Rode, Julian & Hogarth, Robin M. & Le Menestrel, Marc, 2008. "Ethical differentiation and market behavior: An experimental approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 265-280, May.
    2. Fiore, Annamaria, 2009. "Experimental Economics: Some Methodological Notes," MPRA Paper 12498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. John Garvey & Martin Mullins, 2009. "An Examination of "New" and "Old" Terrorism Using High-Frequency Data," Economics of Security Working Paper Series 18, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Dohmen, Thomas & Falk, Armin & Huffman, David & Marklein, Felix & Sunde, Uwe, 2009. "Biased probability judgment: Evidence of incidence and relationship to economic outcomes from a representative sample," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(3), pages 903-915, December.
    5. Rode, Julian, 2008. "Truth and trust in communication : experiments on the effect of a competitive context," Papers 08-04, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    6. Ohana, Marc, 2009. "La réciprocité sur le marché du travail : les limites du laboratoire," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 85(2), pages 239-256, juin.
    7. Bolle, Friedel & Kaehler, Jessica, 2007. "Experimenters' choices of trust experiments and their consequence for meta-studies," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 865-874, December.
    8. Rode, Julian & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & Krause, Torsten, 2015. "Motivation crowding by economic incentives in conservation policy: A review of the empirical evidence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 270-282.
    9. Lex Borghans & Bas ter Weel, 2008. "Understanding the Technology of Computer Technology Diffusion: Explaining Computer Adoption Patterns and Implications for the Wage Structure," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 17(3-4), pages 37-70, September.
    10. Rode, Julian & Gómez-Baggethun, Erik & Krause, Torsten, 2013. "Economic incentives for biodiversity conservation: What is the evidence for motivation crowding?," UFZ Discussion Papers 19/2013, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
    11. Kausel, Edgar E. & Culbertson, Satoris S. & Madrid, Hector P., 2016. "Overconfidence in personnel selection: When and why unstructured interview information can hurt hiring decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 27-44.
    12. Marrero, Hipólito & Gámez, Elena & Díaz, José M., 2016. "Do people reason when they accept tricky offers? A case of approach and avoidance motivated reasoning," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 26-38.
    13. Rode, Julian, 2010. "Truth and trust in communication: Experiments on the effect of a competitive context," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 325-338, January.
    14. Ferdinand Vieider, 2011. "Separating real incentives and accountability," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 14(4), pages 507-518, November.
    15. Siddique Abu Bakkar, 2020. "Identity-based Earning Discrimination among Chinese People," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-42, January.
    16. Noguera José A. & De Wispelaere Jurgen, 2006. "A Plea for the Use of Laboratory Experiments in Basic Income Research," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 1(2), pages 1-8, December.
    17. Read, Daniel & Airoldi, Mara & Loewe, G, 2005. "Intertemporal tradeoffs priced in interest rates and amounts: a study of method variance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 19823, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Experiments; representative design; sampling; Leex;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B41 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - Economic Methodology

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