The Dorm Privatization Experiment.
Simply put, I'm surrounded by college dorm rooms, and have the money to pay people to temporarily abide by a FULL dorm privatization, like I've described in past posts here, and here.
Dorm rooms will be sampled in a random manner.
Dorms with less than 6 members will be excluded as possible sampling options.
If girls and boys dorms are used (to be determined), there will be equal representation of these in both the regular dorm organization and the private dorm organization, as gender plays a major role in dorm tidiness and functionality.
The experiment will run for one month, with 5 dorms being payed to enact privatization, and another 5 being payed a much smaller sum for my being allowed to observe them in their "normal" state.
Those "experimented upon" will be payed with a weekly sum, based on their continued participation in the experiment.
Values measured will be:
-Time spent with transaction (by survey)
-Couch usage
-Dish clutter
-Table clutter
-Counter cleanliness
-Overabundance of trash
-Individual Contentedness (by survey)
-Refrigerator and Freezer Clutter/Organization
-Efficiency of Cabinet Space Use
-I'm open to further recommendations.
It's a valid complaint that people in each dorm will have differing level of value ascribed to clutter, and the removal thereof, which is why these are simply values to be *measured.* I'm not to conclude, immediately, that given any range of values one system functions "better" than another-- conclusions about the data collected can be made after the experiment has ended. As a result of this method, it is preferable to observe more things than less, as I can always discard irrelevant data, but may wish I had collected something I didn't by the experiment's end.
Privatized dorms will be discouraged from freely granting favors to one another, instead using a system of money, which I will introduce to their newfound micro-economy. What to use for this money has yet to be determined, but it will abide by the criteria for money I have outlined in my blog post, here. The amount of money I introduce will be a fixed, relatively large number, and all members of the dorm will accept it amongst one another as terms for participation in the experiment.
I will be present for the initial auctioning of capital in the dorm, to make sure the process does, in fact, privatize the dorm, but I will otherwise remain aloof from those in the experiment. I will not intervene in their activities, provide recommendations, or tell them what it is I'm attempting to observe (so readers of my blog can't be participants, sorry. ;) ).
Observation will occur on a daily basis, at the same time of day for all participants- most likely sometime in the late evening. The kitchen area will be observed only when the participants are not in the room with me.
I expect, from this experiment, to see dramatic changes in the behavior of college dorm students. Obviously such dramatic results would be required to establish any sort of causation, given the relatively-small sample size, and the imperfection of measurement for the qualities observed.
Any readers who have suggestions as to modifications I can make for conducting the experiment are welcome to post them in the comments.
The experiment will start officially on January 28th, and last through the 28th of February. Blog posts may be sporadic until that time, as preparations still have to be made.
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