From time to time I’m using oTree as a framework to implement computer-based lab or online experiments for researchers at the WZB. Most experiments include a survey and it’s always quite a hassle to efficiently implement a questionnaire with oTree as its API is mostly designed for more complex things such as multiplayer games and controlled behavioral experiments. For example, for a simple survey question you would need to implement three steps: 1) add a field to the Player model; 2) set up a page and the form fields to display; and 3) set up a template for that page.
I’ve created a Python package named otreeutils (available for installation via pip on PyPI) that contains several utility functions to tackle some of oTree’s deficiencies and it was initially released in November 2016. Since then I added new features from time to time, for example the ability to integrate “custom data models” more easily into oTree, allowing live monitoring and exporting data from such models. I published a short paper that describes how using custom data models and otreeutils helps when trying to collect data of dynamically determined quantity.1
I recently added a new feature to this package that further facilitates creating surveys, especially when using Likert scale inputs. In this post I’m giving a short example on how to use otreeutils for this purpose.
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