For each experimental session, at least one experimenter (you or another qualified person) must be in the laboratory during the whole period of the experiment to coordinate with the participants and, in cases of technical problems, contact the IT Team.

When participants arrive, you should ensure that you or someone else is there to meet them in reception and accompany them to the Experimental Computer Laboratory. Once they are in the laboratory you should ask them to read and sign the consent form approved as part of your ethical clearance. Both you and the participant should receive a signed copy of the consent form. You are required to keep your copies of the consent forms.

Payment

For studies conducted online or in the Experimental Computer Laboratory, participants can also be paid using Amazon and other vouchers, or UPS5.

After the experiment is over, participants are paid. There are two major types of payment: fixed payments or a combination of fixed and variable payments. The fixed payment is a lump sum the experimenter pays equally to all participants. If a combination of fixed and variable payments is used, a participant receives a fixed payment of £3 as show-up fee and will earn a variable payment depending on the participant’s decisions and those of other participants. The average for both types of payment is £10 per hour. This applies to all experiments conducted in the laboratory so that no competition amongst experiments occurs. In order to receive their payment, participants must sign a receipt form for accounting purposes.

CJBS researchers should submit the cash or voucher request form (in order to pay participants with either cash or vouchers) to the School’s Finance Office about two weeks before you would like to run your experiment.

Debriefing

Debriefing is not normally provided in economics experiments and is not a requirement; the design may even require that there is no debriefing. However, for ethical reasons researchers sometime need to debrief participants once the experiment is over. During the debriefing, the experimenter explains the purpose of the experiment and the expected research findings. The Experimental Lab Manager can provide you with a standard debriefing form.

Forms and further information

Researchers at Cambridge Judge Business School can find the necessary forms referred to on these pages, plus additional guidance on aspects such as paying participants, on the School’s Intranet.

If you’re a researcher from outside Cambridge Judge, please get in touch with Experimental Lab Manager at [email protected] to request more information about conducting research at the lab.

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