My essential questions are: What are subtle ways economists can influence people to make smarter financial decisions? How can economists prove that behavioral economics is real? And How can economists prove that behavioral economics is real? As I work through my project I realize these have become more like guiding questions rather than questions I’m working to answer. I have not thought to reframe my questions but if I did I’m not sure what they would be. I am doing all the work I planned to do yet the work I’m doing doesn’t seem to directly align with my questions. 

Another obstacle I’ve run into is my sample size. The sample size is the number of participants used in a given study. I have expanded my sample size but I can’t run the experiments I’m doing on everyone at once which may affect my results. My first-week experiment (based on repeating a number throughout the day and asking participants to pick a number between 1-10 by hours later) will give the same results regardless of how many participants are present at once. However, the experiment I did this week (testing whether or not the placement of different priced items affects what is purchased) could give different results depending on how many participants are present at once. 

The issue of my essential questions can be fixed but working with a number of participants at once may not be as easily solved. Because of covid, everyone has different bubbles and my senior project can’t take priority over a pandemic.