## Case 2: Wealth and selfishness

In this case, possible egoistic behaviour of wealthy people is central. Please take your time to read through all of the information about the case before trying to answer the questions. In this way you will discover your current knowledge of handling personal data in this type of study.

### Title of the study:

"Are rich people more selfish than poor people? "

### Purpose of the study

This study researched the extent to which wealthy people show selfish behaviour compared to less wealthy people.

### Set-up of the study

This study was performed in the department of one university. | This study was performed in the Netherlands. | This study used a CBS data set.

### Performance of the study

In this case, the researcher sent so-called incorrectly addressed mail containing cash to wealthy and less wealthy people. The data about the wealth of the persons involved was derived from the CBS. In broad lines, the study included the following steps:

| The researcher divides two areas in a city into ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ based on CBS data.
| The researcher sends without prior permission (‘covert research’) a letter with cash to all addresses.
| The researcher registers which percentage from both areas returns the ‘incorrectly addressed’ mail.
| The researcher processes the data at the university.
| The researcher publishes the study and archives the data. Afterwards, he informs the persons involved.

This gives you a general impression of the set-up and performance of this study. Now, use the exercise below to check the extent of your current knowledge of handling personal data processing in this type of study:

After finishing the exercise, click ‘Volgende’ in the bottom righthand corner to go to the next page.