OK, so Dean Karlan did not actually say that. I might be putting words in his mouth.
What does Dean say? Those of you who know him know that no randomized trial opportunity is ever missed–least of all the arrival of hundreds of kids on their doorstep every October 31.
Enter the infamous Hallow’s Eve experiments.
This year’s question: Does being randomly assigned to Michele Obama (vs Ann Romney) inspire children to choose fruit over candy?
20% of those randomly assigned to the Ann Romney treatment opted for fruit over candy. But 36% of those randomly assigned to the Michelle Obama treatment opted for fruit rather than candy. Nothing was said beyond “what do you want, fruit or candy?” The treatment was simply having a big photo of Michele (or Ann) staring at you as you made your choice.
No word on whether the photo included Michelle’s arms.
(And no he did not tell me the standard errors. I say this because I know my audience is nerdy enough that I will get 14 questions about this if I don’t mention it.)
My conclusions:
First, I apparently need a Michelle Obama picture in my apartment, because tonight I ate an inordinate number of peanut butter cups and rasinettes.
Second, as far as I can tell, it actually sounds like it is Dean Karlan who ruins Halloween for kids. But we parents deserve at least one house to enjoy, so I’ll take Dean’s. Unless, of course, Chris Udry is offering Vodka shooters on his porch across the street.
17 Responses
Looking at a picture of Michelle Obama vs Ann Romney #nudge children into choosing candy over fruit at Halloween http://t.co/gdg9Qm6z
A Halloween experiment by @deankarlan finds that the fear of Michelle Obama has been struck into children http://t.co/im9Ab8cP
paper is now up: http://karlan.yale.edu/p/Michelle-2012.pdf and for the record i wouldn’t say Michelle ruined Halloween!! but good headline nonetheless :-) the other paper is here: http://karlan.yale.edu/p/Barack-2012.pdf (found same support for Obama as in 2008 in terms of candy elasticity)
Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/dg9pyxce – Ingenious experiment! Haha.
The results of @DeanKarlan’s Halloween randomized trial this year via @cblatts http://t.co/0oNrl1mZ #candyorfruit #childobesity
Thing I just learned: the Halloween/Michelle Obama trial had to get approved by the Institutional Review Board at Yale. http://t.co/zCs8w98N
well, you would need a sample size of more than 120 to get a 2 sigma significance : – )
just enjoying to read Deidre McCloskey: The cult of statistical significance
RT @cblatts: Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/kQFfTX4f
New study says photo of Michelle Obama may have a) made kids eat healthier b) creeped em out and/or c) ruined Halloween http://t.co/mZ2rJqzc
Was this “study” double blind? Maybe the researcher asked the question with a different tone or inflection in his voice depending on the photo…
RT @cblatts: Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/kQFfTX4f
RT @cblatts: Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/kQFfTX4f
.@deankarlan uses randomized testing, finds that Michelle Obama ruins Halloween for kids: http://t.co/zCs8w98N
RT @cblatts: Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/kQFfTX4f
Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/d10C2Jyc
“I say this because I know my audience is nerdy enough that I will get 14 questions about this if I don’t mention it.”
ZING!
RT @cblatts: Does Michelle Obama ruin Halloween for kids? Dean Karlan says yes. http://t.co/kQFfTX4f