In this part, you will be informed of the timeline of the experiment performed by future participants.
Practice Period
During the practice period, the participants will complete a number of assignments: transcribing strings of Greek letters and symbols. There will be two types of transcription assignments: task 1 and task 2.
For task 1, the string length will be 6 Greek letters and symbols (see Figure 1A below) for each assignment.
Figure 1A: Task 1 - Example
For task 2, the string length will be 8 Greek letters and symbols. In addition, the images provided for the task 2 will be blurred (see Figure 1B below).
Figure 1B: Task 2 - Example
As shown in the two figures, for each transcription assignment, the participants will see an image at the top of the screen with a string of Greek letters and symbols. By clicking on the buttons in the bottom row, the participants can generate a string so that it matches what is given in the image. Note that the participant can always correct the input by clicking on the backwards button .
All participants will complete one round of the task 1 and then one round of the task 2 in order to familiarize themselves with the transcription task. They also need to rate the difficulty of task 1 and task 2 (on a scale from 1 to 10, where 1 = Extremely easy and 10 = Extremely difficult) after experiencing them.
The Main Experiment
After completing the practice period, participants will be randomly and uniquely paired into groups of two. The groups will then work on additional transcription assignments. Within each group, there will be a manager and a worker. Participants will be informed of their role before they make any decisions.
Part I
The worker will work on task 1 for 3 rounds and each round will last 60 seconds.
At the end of each round, the manager will receive performance report for his/her paired worker (as shown in figure 2B). The report will include the number of assignments attempted, the transcription entered for each assignment, the solution for the assignments attempted, number of correctly transcribed letters for each assignment, and the time spent on each assignment. Moreover, the report will provide an overview of the total number of correctly transcribed letters, the total number of fully correct transcriptions and the experiment currency units earned in that round.
Figure 2B: Performance report for the worker - Example
After reading the report, in round 1 and 2, the manager can send feedback to his/her paired worker. The feedback will be in the form of two short messages selected from lists of messages (as shown in Figure 2C). The list of available messages remains the same across rounds, and different messages can be selected in different round.
Figure 2C: Provision of feedback
Part II
After completing three rounds of task 1, the manager will decide whether his/her paired worker should continue with task 1 or task 2 in the next three rounds. Once the task is chosen, it remains unchanged till the end of the experiment.
Similar to Part I, the worker will work on the task for three rounds. Each round will last 60 seconds.
At the end of each round, the manager will receive performance report of his/her paired worker. After reading the report, in round 1 and round 2, the manager will send a feedback to the worker. The feedback will again be in the form of two short messages selected from lists of messages. The list of available messages remains the same across rounds, and different messages can be selected in different round.
Payment Rule: The Worker
For each assignment in task 1, the worker will be paid 1 ECU (Experimental Currency Unit) for each letter transcribed correctly and a bonus of 10 ECUs for each string that is transcribed fully correctly. A transcription is said to be “fully correct” if and only if the input matches the string in the image perfectly.
For each assignment in task 2, the worker will be paid 1 ECU for each letter transcribed correctly and a bonus of 24 ECUs for each string that is transcribed fully correctly.
The total payment received by the worker is the sum of the ECUs received in all rounds in Part I and Part II. Every 120 ECUs can be exchanged for $1.
Payment Rule: The Manager
The manager will receive equal payment as his/her paired worker.
Comprehension Test
Please complete the following comprehension questions. You are required to correctly answer the questions before proceeding to the next screen.