Quasi-Experiments and Environmental Policy
In: Policy sciences: integrating knowledge and practice to advance human dignity ; the journal of the Society of Policy Scientists, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 249-265
ISSN: 0032-2687
The application of experimental & quasi-experimental methods to the study of environmental problems is recommended. Issues which must be taken into account in quasi-experimental studies are reviewed. Research possibilities in collective goods situations include investigation of demand for underpriced goods & of programs for changing usage of collective goods. Problems of causal analysis in time-series data reviews include determination of whether trends before & after a treatment fit the same or different patterns, & avoidance of spurious causal inferences. Outlined is a new causal interpretative procedure, the event-causing analysis, typical of historical analysis, which infers events from prior variables. Site selection procedures are problematic for both types of quasi-experimental research. New possible research techniques are discussed. 3 Figures. Modified HA.