We are researchers interested in helping people make decisions. In this task, you will read about hypothetical scenarios about medical drug trials and be asked some related questions. These scenarios range from treatments for high blood pressure to treatments for COVID-19. If you are uncomfortable thinking about these scenarios you may not want to accept the HIT.
If you answer all of the questions, you will earn $2.00. This will take about 10 minutes.
In this task, you will read about hypothetical scenarios about medical drug trials and be asked some related questions. These scenarios range from treatments for high blood pressure to treatments for COVID-19. If you are uncomfortable thinking about these scenarios you may not want to accept the HIT. This task is part of a research project on decision making. You will be compensated $2.00 for your participation.
Thank you for taking the time to consider volunteering in a Microsoft Corporation research project. This form explains what would happen if you join this research project. Please read it carefully and take as much time as you need. Email the study team to ask about anything that is not clear.
Participation in this study is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
Reasoning about medical trials
Principal Investigator: Dan Goldstein
The purpose of this project is to study how people make decisions about medical trials.
During this project, you will read some information about hypothetical new medications and be shown some related graphs, and asked a few questions about each medication.
Microsoft may document and collect information about your participation by recording your answers to multiple choice and free response questions.
Aside from your Mechanical Turk ID, no personal information will be collected during this study. Your Mechanical Turk ID will not be shared outside of Microsoft Research and the confines of this study without your permission, and will be promptly deleted after compensation has been successfully provided (30 days or less). De-identified data may be used for future research or given to another investigator for future use without additional consent.
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Benefits: There are no direct benefits to you that might reasonably be expected as a result of being in this study. The research team expects to learn about human decision making from the results of this research, as well as any public benefit that may come from these research results being shared with the greater scientific community.
Risks: If you are unable to submit a HIT due to technical difficulties on your end there is a risk of loss of payment. To mitigate participants can reach out to the research team for input on resolving any difficulties encountered.
You will receive $2.00 after completing the entire study.
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Recent studies have shown that lowering systolic blood pressure below 120mm Hg reduces the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events in high risk patients.
On the next screen we are going to show you information about a hypothetical new medication designed to lower blood pressure in high risk patients and ask you some questions about it.
There are many candidates being explored for treating patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19.
On the next screen we are going to show you information about a hypothetical new treatment for COVID-19 designed to reduce time to recovery for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and ask you some questions about it.
Suppose that there is a new medication designed to lower blood pressure in high-risk patients, and that it has been tested in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial restricted to patients with high systolic blood pressure.
Each patient's systolic blood pressure was measured by a physician in a pre-treatment examination, and if patients qualified for the trial they were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. In the pre-treatment phase, participants in both groups had an average systolic blood pressure of 130mm Hg. There were 150 patients in each of the treatment and control groups.
The control group received a placebo and the treatment group received the new medication. Several months later, each patient's systolic blood pressure was again measured by a physician in a post-treatment examination.
Here is a summary of the results of the trial, which are depicted in the figure to the right:
Suppose that there is a new medication designed to reduce time to recovery for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, and that it has been tested in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial.
In the trial, patients admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 were randomly assigned to either a control or treatment group. The control group received a placebo and the treatment group received the new medication. The primary outcome was the time to recovery (defined as discharge from the hospital). There were 150 patients in each of the treatment and control groups.
Here is a summary of the results of the trial, which are depicted in the figure to the right:
Outcomes were approximately normally distributed in both groups before and after the treatment, with roughly equal percentages of patients falling above and below the average.
On the next screen we are going to show you another scenario about a hypothetical new medication designed to lower blood pressure in high risk patients and ask you some questions about it.
On the next screen we are going to show you another scenario about a hypothetical new treatment for COVID-19 designed to reduce time to recovery and ask you some questions about it.
Whereas in the previous scenario the error bars showed two standard errors above and below the average in each group, in the next scenario the error bars show two standard deviations above and below the average in each group.
You must click the submit button to turn in your answers and complete the HIT.