Project Details
Projekt
The Behavioral Measurement Toolbox (BMT)
Subject Area
Empirical Social Research
Economic Policy, Applied Economics
Economic Policy, Applied Economics
Term
since 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 539621476
We introduce the Behavioral Measurement Toolbox (BMT) to establish the systematic use of behavioral measurement in the quantitative social sciences. The BMT addresses two critical challenges in this regard. First, there is a strong need for standardization of behavioral measurement protocols to ensure consistency and reliability in findings. Second, implementing these protocols (e.g., in large survey studies) has been hampered by the high technical requirements, restricting accessibility. The BMT is planned as a user-friendly platform empowering social science researchers to conduct behavioral measurement efficiently. Providing a repository of measurement templates, researchers will have the flexibility to adjust key parameters while maintaining transparency and comparability. A database within the BMT will serve as a valuable resource, allowing researchers to draw insights from past implementations. Additionally, with the option for researchers to contribute data to a publicly accessible database, the BMT fosters collaboration among researchers following an open science approach. This also holds the promise of enabling meta-studies for refining measurement protocols. We anticipate the emergence of valid and improved paradigms for specific preferences and sample characteristics. By simplifying the integration of behavioral measurement into existing research projects, the BMT also opens new avenues for interdisciplinary collaborations. In Work Package 1, the primary focus is on refining the existing BMT platform to enable standardized measurement studies by other researchers. This involves redesigning the software architecture, adopting a mobile-first approach, and incorporating a core set of templates to measure various economic preferences. Work Package 2 aims to leverage community knowledge to determine the types of social and economic behavior explained by economic preferences and identify the most effective behavioral measures through expert surveys. Finally, Work Package 3 combines the first two work packages by providing first-time empirical evidence of the predictive power of behavioral measures for relevant economic and social outcomes using the BMT. In conclusion, the BMT project is our endeavor to standardize behavioral measurement, enhance accessibility, and promote collaboration on this topic in the quantitative social sciences. With a user-centric approach, we aim to empower fellow researchers to conduct precise and impactful studies not only in behavioral economics but also in other fields.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
