Novel Measurement Methods for Understanding Economic Behaviour

 

The overall theme of the project was to examine new measurement methods available to social and behavioural scientists studying economic behaviour, broadly defined. This might include sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, epidemiologists and researchers in other disciplines, as well as economists. Key aim of the project was to foster linkages across disciplines and to speed the diffusion of new measurement methods both within and across disciplines.

The following events took place:

• Biomarkers in Social Science Research, Friday 30 April, 2010. The purpose of this one-day workshop was to exchange ideas on the utility of biomarkers in social science research, and to discuss priorities for future data collection. The morning session comprised presentations of social science research using biomarkers. The afternoon session focused on presentations from a number of major social science surveys (including ELSA, TILDA, MESS and UKLHS) along with a panel discussion of current and future data collection priorities. The programme (opens a .pdf file) and presentations are available at cemmap website.
• Experiments in Surveys, 3 December 2010. This workshop explored the nesting of behavioural experiments within large scale social surveys. Psychologists, economists and others have designed experiments that provide useful measures of risk tolerance, trust, time preference and other constructs. Conducting such experiments within large surveys allows the resulting measures to be considered in the context of detailed information on the backgrounds and choices of the respondents. This workshop considered what has been learned from recent experience with such methods and the implications for future research designs. The programme (opens a .pdf file) and presentations from the event are available at cemmap website.
• Innovations in the Measurement of Living Standards and Wellbeing, 11 March 2011. This workshop explored the measurement of living standards and wellbeing, particularly at an individual and household level. Speakers reported new findings on the value of traditional measures such as income and consumption, as well as describing new approaches such as subjective measures of wellbeing and the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM). Speakers included: Michael Daly, Trinity College Dublin; Gunther Fink, Harvard; Bruce Meyer, University of Chicago; Steve Pudney, Essex; and Arthur van Soest, Tilburg. The programme (opens a .pdf file)

 

Details of all events and the papers and presentations from them can be accessed via the above links and from the cemmap website.

 

For further information please contact:
Dr. Thomas Crossley
Institute for Fiscal Studies, London
thomas_c@ifs.org.uk