Not sure why the word rationality appears in your post.
I can't tell how much of your problem is designing the study, and how much is analyzing data someone already collected. Can't you talk to a statistician at your Uni?
Well of course if I wanted real contribution I would have written a far more specific research proposal, but in our institute there are no statisticians I know of:)
I was wondering, actually, what difference is there between posing a problem to a statistician and to a broadly educated 'rationalist'. If rationalists think they should win, then why do they only win in some narrow lanes of life? There's plenty about fighting akrasia on LW, which is, however much impact it might have in one's life, a small-scale issue. There's plenty of AI discussion, which is ...
This is a place for matchmaking researchers with research ideas in applied sciences that have a sizeable impact on human condition.
Edit: let there be janitors.
What are the so-called adult problems in your field and who, in your opinion, is needed most to solve them?
Add reasons why you are not working on them yourself. (I, for example, am in a PhD program very remote from practical applications and might have a chance to do some research on useful stuff if I survive that long.)