Reclaiming the Experimental Tradition in Political Science

Abstract

Discusses the value of field experimentation in political science. The key features of experiments are elaborated, demonstrating why well-conducted experiments are more persuasive arbiters of causality than comparable nonexperimental research. Issues arising in the design & analysis of experiments in the field & laboratory are addressed, scrutinizing literature featuring both types of investigation. Applications for field experimentation are considered before attending to the leading criticisms against experimentation centered on the inability to manipulate key political variables, cost & logistics, external & internal validity, generation of contradictory results, production of no clear-cut sense of causality in some cases, the capacity to narrow the scope of inquiry, & ethics. These criticisms are found wanting, & it is argued that randomized intervention into real-world settings should be a prominent methodology. J. Zendejas