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Letter

Reply to Mislavsky et al.: Sometimes people really are averse to experiments

Michelle N. Meyer, View ORCID ProfilePatrick R. Heck, Geoffrey S. Holtzman, Stephen M. Anderson, William Cai, View ORCID ProfileDuncan J. Watts, and Christopher F. Chabris
PNAS November 26, 2019 116 (48) 23885-23886; first published November 12, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914509116
Michelle N. Meyer
aCenter for Translational Bioethics and Health Care Policy, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA 17821;
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  • For correspondence: michellenmeyer@gmail.com
Patrick R. Heck
aCenter for Translational Bioethics and Health Care Policy, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA 17821;bAutism and Developmental Medicine Institute, Geisinger Health System, Lewisburg, PA 17837;
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Geoffrey S. Holtzman
cDepartment of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA 17603;
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Stephen M. Anderson
dDepartment of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802;
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William Cai
eDepartment of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
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Duncan J. Watts
fDepartment of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;gAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;hDepartment of Operations, Information and Decisions, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
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Christopher F. Chabris
bAutism and Developmental Medicine Institute, Geisinger Health System, Lewisburg, PA 17837;
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This article has a Letter. Please see:

  • The minimum mean paradox: A mechanical explanation for apparent experiment aversion

See related content:

  • Objecting to experiments that compare two unobjectionable policies or treatments
    - May 28, 2019
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In response to our article (1), Mislavsky et al. (2) claim that “experiment aversion” does not exist because they found no evidence of it in their own research on low-stakes corporate experiments (3) and because our studies used between- rather than within-subjects designs.

First, as we noted, we do not expect (and did not ourselves find) an A/B effect in every scenario, and we called for research on how the effect might vary across contexts.

Second, we deliberately used a between-subjects design to maximize external validity: Universal implementation of policies usually occurs without mention of foregone alternatives, whereas A/B tests inherently acknowledge those alternatives. The belief that experiments deprive people of potentially beneficial interventions, but universally implemented policies do not, is not a “confound” to be avoided (2) but, rather, a key …

↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: michellenmeyer{at}gmail.com.

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Reply to Mislavsky et al.: Sometimes people really are averse to experiments
Michelle N. Meyer, Patrick R. Heck, Geoffrey S. Holtzman, Stephen M. Anderson, William Cai, Duncan J. Watts, Christopher F. Chabris
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2019, 116 (48) 23885-23886; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1914509116

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Reply to Mislavsky et al.: Sometimes people really are averse to experiments
Michelle N. Meyer, Patrick R. Heck, Geoffrey S. Holtzman, Stephen M. Anderson, William Cai, Duncan J. Watts, Christopher F. Chabris
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nov 2019, 116 (48) 23885-23886; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1914509116
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