Rigor in Behavior Experiments: A Basic Primer for OM Researchers

The study of the nuances of human behavior in operations management contexts and the behavioral reactions that accompany changes in operating policies has finally started to gain a strong headwind. This has come after several decades of operational modeling in which the behavior of the human actors, so critical to the mechanics of operating policies, has either been largely simplified or ignored. With the growth in joint work in experimental behavioral testing and improvements in behavioral codification, greater insight into the practicality of operational policies is now emerging. Yet in order to ensure such practicality, the rigor of this new joint experimentation needs to be ensured. While OM researchers have a rich history in the rigor of artificial modeling, the sparse history of behavioral experimentation in OM provides much less evidence of an understanding what “rigor” with such methods entails. The purpose of this brief primer is to touch on some of the basic tenants of rigorous behavioral experimentation, and to hopefully promote such rigor in future joint OM behavioral studies.