Lab-like Findings of Non-Lab Experiments

A special issue of Games (ISSN 2073-4336).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2021) | Viewed by 6117

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Luiss University, Rome, Italy
Interests: individual choices in conditions of risk and uncertainty; the economics of networks and the experimental and behavioral economics

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Like commerce and administrative work, based on physical interaction, academic work also had to be paused or was at least troubled with serious difficulties cause by social distancing. Whereas in game playing, physical interaction of players can be usually circumvented, experimental game playing was fully hit by the recent pandemic. Although there has been a rise in internet experiments, their data are inferior in various aspects of experimental control. Of course, better controlled lab studios can locate participants in visually separated cubicles. However, the lab environment is far from virus-proof. Because of this, essentially all data collection via lab experiment had to be stopped.

The Special Issue is devoted to presenting and discussing creative ideas how to collect lab-like data outside the lab without too much loss of control and with the same qualitative findings as in earlier (lab) research. Are there chances to continue research via web-lab experiments but lab-like findings? If not, this would guarantee a smooth continuation of experimental research, based on the lab-like data to whose high standards we have become so used. If, on the contrary, certain ways of internet-data elicitation yield very different results, such findings should be received cautiously, and rather than questioning earlier lab-findings, one may doubt the quality of the data. 

Prof. Dr. Daniela Di Cagno
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Keywords

  • economic and psycological methodology
  • experimental economics
  • data collection and quality of on line research
  • behavioral and cognitive research
  • bounded rationality

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

22 pages, 3038 KiB  
Review
Games and Fieldwork in Agriculture: A Systematic Review of the 21st Century in Economics and Social Science
by J. Nicolas Hernandez-Aguilera, Max Mauerman, Alexandra Herrera, Kathryn Vasilaky, Walter Baethgen, Ana Maria Loboguerrero, Rahel Diro, Yohana Tesfamariam Tekeste and Daniel Osgood
Games 2020, 11(4), 47; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/g11040047 - 23 Oct 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5620
Abstract
Games are particularly relevant for field research in agriculture, where alternative experimental designs can be costly and unfeasible. Games are also popular for non-experimental purposes such as recreating learning experiences and facilitating dialogue with local communities. After a systematic review of the literature, [...] Read more.
Games are particularly relevant for field research in agriculture, where alternative experimental designs can be costly and unfeasible. Games are also popular for non-experimental purposes such as recreating learning experiences and facilitating dialogue with local communities. After a systematic review of the literature, we found that the volume of published studies employing coordination and cooperation games increased during the 2000–2020 period. In recent years, more attention has been given to the areas of natural resource management, conservation, and ecology, particularly in regions important to agricultural sustainability. Other games, such as trust and risk games, have come to be regarded as standards of artefactual and framed field experiments in agriculture. Regardless of their scope, most games’ results are subject to criticism for their internal and external validity. In particular, a significant portion of the games reviewed here reveal recruitment biases towards women and provide few opportunities for continued impact assessment. However, games’ validity should be judged on a case-by-case basis. Specific cultural aspects of games might reflect the real context, and generalizing games’ conclusions to different settings is often constrained by cost and utility. Overall, games in agriculture could benefit from more significant, frequent, and inclusive experiments and data—all possibilities offered by digital technology. Present-day physical distance restrictions may accelerate this shift. New technologies and engaging mediums to approach farmers might present a turning point for integrating experimental and non-experimental games for agriculture in the 21st century. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Lab-like Findings of Non-Lab Experiments)
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