Vignette and scenario experiments
Manipulate realistic hypothetical situations
Vignette experiments vary specified features of short hypothetical situations and measure participants' judgements or intended responses. Scenarios may use text, images or video. Random assignment can isolate effects of manipulated attributes on the measured response, while factorial variants vary several attributes. Realism and comprehension require piloting, and stated intentions may differ from behaviour in consequential settings.
Choose when manipulating a real-world situation would be impractical or inappropriate but a clearly defined judgement can be studied experimentally. Pilot whether participants understand and believe the scenario.
Strengths
- Controls focal attributes in complex situations
- Can study sensitive decisions without imposing real consequences
Limitations
- Hypothetical responses may lack behavioural validity
- Unrealistic combinations or demand cues weaken interpretation
Know the boundary
Causal effects concern the presented vignette and measured judgement, not automatically real behaviour.