Lab and Field Experiments in Comparative Politics and Policy

Undergraduate / Graduate

Over the last several decades in what has become known as an "experimental revolution," social scientists have used experimental designs to study the effects of interventions and policies. The growing popularity of experimental methodology gives researchers leverage on causal questions, and bringing these designs to the field helps to bring their research designs closer to the real social phenomena they seek to understand. In this course, we will study how these methods have been used to study politics and policy, with examples from Africa, Latin America, and India. We will ask what types of questions experiments can answer, and what types of things we can manipulate and measure. We will review design considerations, such as methods to account for treatment spillover, and randomization procedures. We will also read critiques of experimental methods and field experiments; students will discuss ethical considerations, and will consider tradeoffs to limitations of experimental designs in field settings. Undergraduates should have taken PLSC 26969 or obtain instructor consent.