Field
Work.
One of the main
responsibilities of my postdoctoral position is to manage the
assessment and research component of the Griffin Early Childhood
Center. I also engage in extension activities and run large-scale field
studies that require extensive training and preparation.
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The GECC is an
innovative field study launched by Steven Levitt (The University of
Chicago), John List (The University of Chicago) and Roland Fryer
(Harvard University) in 2010.
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At the GECC, we had 570 families
participate in 2010-2011 and have almost 900 families participating for
the 2011-2012 school year. The families are randomized to receive
either a free, full day preschool, a Parent Academy program, or are
placed in a Family Program where they participate only in assessments
and family events. The PIs are tracking the academic and non-cognitive
development of these students, and I am in charge of conducting
assessments with each student three times a year. I recruit and train
experienced assessors to conduct the hour-long one-on-one assessment,
which includes the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Woodcock-Johnson
III Assessment, and several non-cognitive measures. I am responsible
for analyzing and presenting that data to the PIs, and also explain the
data in layman terms to our staff at the preschool. In addition, I keep
our IRB up to date and conduct smaller-scale research studies within
GECC with the help of several Research Assistants. One of the biggest
challenges that we have is keeping attrition rates low - so we
are always developing new ways to reach out to and engage families.
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Child
Food Choice Studies
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John List and I have
been working on a series of projects to determine the best way to
encourage healthier habits among children and adolescents.
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In Spring-Summer 2011, we conducted a
large-scale field experiment during which we partnered with 24
non-profit organizations that serve after-school meals to children from
low-income households in the Chicago area. Over 1,900 children
participated in the studies. We investigated the impact of educational
messages and different incentives on child food choice and habit
formation. In Spring 2012, we are going to run another large-scale
study, this time in the school cafeterias in Chicago Heights. This
study will focus on the impact of different informational messages on
children's choice of a healthy side item. I have conducted several
presentations to explain the importance of research studies and go over
logistics with the site leads. I have also worked on brochures and
informational packets to engage potential collaborators and
participants. I am in charge of implementing these study with the help
of Research Assistants (we had over 40 research assistants conducting
the initial study, and expect to hire 20 for the spring study).
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Extension Activities
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When we run
field experiments, we also try to "give back" to the partnering
organization. To that end, I have been in charge of organizational
membership data reports (analyzing membership and giving trends using
econometrics as well as basic approaches), and am currently running a
phone survey to measure the value of different high school educational
programs.
I am also
currently in discussion with potential firms about collaborating on new
behavioral economics projects to investigate the impact of different
incentives and prompts on health behavior, and to develop new visual
analytic tools for 401(k) planning.
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Griffin
Scholar
Becker Friedman Institute
The University of Chicago
Contact me:
savikhin (at)
uchicago.edu
(773) 609-0425
Keep in Touch:
Affiliated Labs & Centers
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