It’s not a study that a legitimate organization is going to do. Yelling fire these days in a movie theater could have no effect. On the off chance it does have an effect, what are you supposed to do if someone gets injured? Claim ‘I was just doing a study’?
You can poll people asking what they would do if someone yelled fire.
Putting unknowing people at risk is a super bad idea for any study.
I’ve never tried that one - I can guess you’d be looked at funny. I have yelled “movie theater” in several fires before. You get a chuckle from the more educated firefighters, everyone else just looks at you, and there is quiet muttering about you afterwards. That’s about it.
Oh no! what are we going to do?! Someone is asking what a fake panic is! RUUUUN! RUUUUUN!
I believe this is the sort of panic we’re talking about.
21 people dead, solely due to panic.
The Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire
This took place six miles outside of Cincinnati in 1977.
At the bottom of the page is a list of other fires with links. Don’t kid yourself that these things can’t happen. I recently spent an evening in a nightclub that I will not return to because of overcrowding and insufficient exits. There is just no way that this place is not violating codes.