Pop Up Labs

In addition to our Loop and Hyde Park locations, we also host pop up labs in the Chicago Park District, the Museum of Science and Industry, The Second City, and other locations in the Chicago area and beyond.

The Pop Up Labs move data collection and research out of the "ivory tower" and into the spaces where people live, work and play. 

From June to December 2019, through pop up labs we have:

• Engaged 3,886 participants 
• Conducted research in 12 locations throughout Chicago
• Hosted pop up studies in London, England and Newport Beach, California

If you spot CDR researchers in your local coffee shop, park or neighborhood, come say hi and participate in our latest research projects.

Join Our Team

We're looking for curious and hard-working research assistants to join our team. Interested? Submit an application.

Pop Up Lab Research in the News

• "The Surprising Benefits of Talking to Strangers" (BBC) - CDR Faculty Director Nicholas Epley and Professor Juliana Schroeder (UC Berkeley) conducted field studies in Chicago and London to study the benefits of and barriers to striking up conversations on public transit. Their paper "Mistakenly Seeking Solitude" was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. 
  
  
• “The Perfect Gift? It’s the One They Asked For” (New York Times) - Data collected from pop up labs at the Museum of Science and Industry informed research on gift-giving by CDR Faculty Director Nicholas Epley and Yan Zhang (National University of Singapore). Their article "Exaggerated, Mispredicted, and Misplaced: When 'It's the Thought That Counts' in Gift Exchanges" was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.