Field Experiments: Design, Interpretation, and Impact

3 credits · Undergraduate

Field experiments allow researchers to conduct rigorous scientific research in natural, real-world settings. They help us answer questions like: Does buying students new textbooks improve their academic performance? Can intergroup contact build social cohesion after war? Is bystander intervention effective at reducing prejudiced behavior? nnIn this course, we will examine the logic of field experimentation - its strengths and weaknesses relative to other methodologies - and how it has been, and can be, used to study social phenomena. Through engagement with some of the most influential field studies in psychology, political science, economics, and related disciplines, students will learn to design, interpret, and critique experimental research, and to evaluate its implications for theory, policy, and practice.