Experiments in the Social Sciences

Description du service

In this workshop, we will discuss the logic of experimentation, its strengths and weaknesses compared to other methodologies, and the ways in which experimentation has been -- and could be -- used to investigate political, social, and economic phenomena. Examples of field, lab, and survey experiments will be drawn from a broad array of political science subfields, as well as from other social science disciplines. After describing the attractive statistical properties of experiments, we consider a variety of potential threats to core assumptions. In particular, we consider the complications that arise when (1) treatment and control conditions different in systematic ways other than the intended treatment, (2) treatments are not administered according to the randomly assigned plan, (3) subjects are affected by the treatments assigned or administered to others, and (4) outcome measures are not obtained for all subjects. In each case, we discuss possible statistical and design solutions. We conclude by discussing the practical and ethical issues that arise when conducting experiments in field settings. Access more details about this workshop here: https://www.kindinstitute.net/workshop-outlines/green---january-2026