Research at Xlab
Registered graduate students, faculty, and official visiting scholars or postdocs at University of California, Berkeley are eligible to conduct research at Xlab.
Benefits of Xlab
Research Dissemination
Xlab hosts Psychology and Economics lunches featuring research in behavioral economics and related fields. The schedule is online.
Administrative Services
Administrative services include subject recruitment, check-in, and payment services.
Subject Pool
Xlab has a human subject pool of 10,000+ and expanding. This consists of students, staff and alumni at the University of California, Berkeley, who show interest in participating in experiments.When joining the subject pool, participants take a prescreen survey to gather information in order to filter subjects. Participants can be filtered based on: age, sex, race, English proficiency (native English speaker), and expected year of graduation.
Grants
Xlab Grants are available for UCB graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and junior faculty conducting research.To learn how to apply for an Xlab Grant, please visit our Grant Form.
Read about the past research grant recipients have conducted here.
Facilities
Xlab consists of 36 laptops loacted in S260. There are desk partitions for the 36 laptops to prevent participants from viewing each other's screens. A wide variety of software is available. Headphones and projectors can be set up upon request.
Technology Support
Technology consultation is offered throughout the entire research cycle. This includes, but is not limited to, session design and program testing.
Auditing Services
Xlab is piloting a new program to help researchers check their work prior to publication. We hope this service will help UC Berkeley researchers to ensure their research is accurate, transparent, and reproducible.
Data Quality Survey
Xlab tracks and compares data quality across participant pools and analyzes potential factors that influence it, searching for interventions to make improvements. Our data quality findings report can be found here."It really is incredible how well-oiled of a machine this is...they [Xlab staff] are going to recruit 36 subjects and those 36 subjects will be sitting lined up outside [the lab] waiting to come in and they will come, assemble into their little rows, the experiment will start and bam, in 40 minutes you will magically have 36 data points. Then they get paid and leave. I really can't say enough how incredible this system is." Professor Dana Carney, 2014
Types of Experiments
In-lab Studies
Internal experiments take place in Xlab located in Thomas Long Business Library, S260. Participants are expected to arrive before the scheduled experiment and receive payment compensation after by check. In-lab studies are suspended until further notice due to the CDC's restrictions and regulations around COVD-19. All in-person studies will be replaced with virtual studies per reseacher needs.
Virtual Studies
Virtual studies will be conducted outside of the Xlab facility via remote computer methods such as Zoom. Virtual studies using Zoom must list the study type, i.e. “Online Zoom Study”, either in the title of the experiment or in the SONA description. Researchers and research assistants are expected to send the Zoom invitation to the participant before the start of the study. Participants receive payment compensation in the form of an e-gift card from Amazon.com sent via email. Options for e-gift cards and types of payment may vary depending on the researcher. Visit "Study Types" for more information about conducting Virtual Studies via Zoom.
External studies
Experiments can be conducted outside the Xlab facility via internet or mobile phones, and in-person; this will be stated in the invitation for participation.
Online Experiments Participants will take online experiments remotely from a personal computer without coming into Xlab. Participants sign up and retrieve the study link from SONA.
Xmobile Experiments Experiments may be completed directly from the participants' mobile phone. Xmobile experiments may require the installation of applications and in-lab participation. Participants must have smart phones that are capable of certain applications (e.g. Android, iPhone).
Xportable Experiments Make your lab anywhere on campus! Xlab has a stock of 30+ laptops that are not needed in the lab. These machines were purchased in 2009 and are still suitable for running many types of experiments and surveys. The Xlab is making these laptops available to the research community at UC Berkeley.