This book is designed for an undergraduate, one-semester course in experimental research, primarily targeting programs in sociology, political science, environmental studies, psychology, and communications. Aimed at those with limited technical background, this introduction to social science experiments takes a practical, hands-on approach. After explaining key features of experimental designs, Green takes students through exercises designed to build appreciation for the nuances of design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation. Using applications and statistical examples from many social science fields, the textbook illustrates the breadth of what may be learned through experimental inquiry. A chapter devoted to research ethics introduces broader ethical considerations, including research transparency. The culminating chapter prepares readers for their own social science experiments, offering examples of studies that can be conducted ethically, inexpensively, and quickly. Replication datasets and R code for all examples and exercises are available online.

Experimental political science has changed. In two short decades, it evolved from an emergent method to an accepted method to a primary method. The challenge now is to ensure that experimentalists design sound studies and implement them in ways that illuminate cause and effect. Ethical boundaries must also be respected, results interpreted in a transparent manner, and data and research materials must be shared to ensure others can build on what has been learned. This book explores the application of new designs; the introduction of novel data sources, measurement approaches, and statistical methods; the use of experiments in more substantive domains; and discipline-wide discussions about the robustness, generalizability, and ethics of experiments in political science. By exploring these novel opportunities while also highlighting the concomitant challenges, this volume enables scholars and practitioners to conduct high-quality experiments that will make key contributions to knowledge.

Written by two leading experts on experimental methods, this concise text covers the major aspects of experiment design, analysis, and interpretation in clear language. Students learn how to design randomized experiments, analyze the data, and interpret the findings. Beyond the authoritative coverage of the basic methodology, the authors include numerous features to help students achieve a deeper understanding of field experimentation, including rich examples from the social science literature, problem sets and discussions, data sets, and further readings.

This book is designed for an undergraduate, one-semester course in experimental research, primarily targeting programs in sociology, political science, environmental studies, psychology, and communications. Aimed at those with limited technical background, this introduction to social science experiments takes a practical, hands-on approach. After explaining key features of experimental designs, Green takes students through exercises designed to build appreciation for the nuances of design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation. Using applications and statistical examples from many social science fields, the textbook illustrates the breadth of what may be learned through experimental inquiry. A chapter devoted to research ethics introduces broader ethical considerations, including research transparency. The culminating chapter prepares readers for their own social science experiments, offering examples of studies that can be conducted ethically, inexpensively, and quickly. Replication datasets and R code for all examples and exercises are available online.

Laboratory experiments, survey experiments, and field experiments occupy a central and growing place in the discipline of political science. The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science is the first text to provide a comprehensive overview of how experimental research is transforming the field. Some chapters explain and define core concepts in experimental design and analysis. Other chapters provide an intellectual history of the experimental movement. Throughout the book, leading scholars review groundbreaking research and explain, in personal terms, the growing influence of experimental political science. The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science provides a collection of insights that can be found nowhere else. Its topics are of interest not just to researchers who are conducting experiments today, but also to researchers who think that experiments can help them make new and important discoveries in political science and beyond.

Laboratory experiments, survey experiments, and field experiments occupy a central and growing place in the discipline of political science. The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science is the first text to provide a comprehensive overview of how experimental research is transforming the field. Some chapters explain and define core concepts in experimental design and analysis. Other chapters provide an intellectual history of the experimental movement. Throughout the book, leading scholars review groundbreaking research and explain, in personal terms, the growing influence of experimental political science. The Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science provides a collection of insights that can be found nowhere else. Its topics are of interest not just to researchers who are conducting experiments today, but also to researchers who think that experiments can help them make new and important discoveries in political science and beyond.

Experimental political science has changed. In two short decades, it evolved from an emergent method to an accepted method to a primary method. The challenge now is to ensure that experimentalists design sound studies and implement them in ways that illuminate cause and effect. Ethical boundaries must also be respected, results interpreted in a transparent manner, and data and research materials must be shared to ensure others can build on what has been learned. This book explores the application of new designs; the introduction of novel data sources, measurement approaches, and statistical methods; the use of experiments in more substantive domains; and discipline-wide discussions about the robustness, generalizability, and ethics of experiments in political science. By exploring these novel opportunities while also highlighting the concomitant challenges, this volume enables scholars and practitioners to conduct high-quality experiments that will make key contributions to knowledge.

The most important element in every election is getting voters to the polls-these get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts make the difference between winning and losing office. With the first three editions of Get Out the Vote, Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber broke ground by introducing a new scientific approach to the challenge of voter mobilization and profoundly transformed how campaigns operate. Get Out the Vote has become the reference text for those who manage campaigns and study voter mobilization. In this expanded and updated edition, Green and Gerber incorporate data from a trove of recent studies that shed new light on the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, e-mail, direct mail, and telephone calls. The new edition gives special attention to "relational organizing" through friend-to-friend communication and events. Available in time for the 2020 presidential campaign, this practical guide to voter mobilization will again be a must-read for consultants, candidates, and grassroots organizations.

Standing on the methodological frontier of field experimentation, researchers studying politics face a unique set of challenges. How do field researchers interact with policymakers, public officials, and funding agencies? How do they ensure high standards in the generation and reporting of empirical results? How can they redefine the role that experimental methodology plays in the study of politics today? This volume of The ANNALS addresses these questions, examining the use and application of the field experiment method in political science and presenting the state of the art in this important field.By the 1980s, students of political behavior had abandoned field experiments for analysis of large-scale surveys. Then with the first voting experiments conducted in 1998 u examining the impact of mail, telephoning, and canvassing strategies on turnout u a resurgence of field experiments in politics was set in motion. This new wave of methodology led to important changes in the discipline: a growing significance on research design and the acquisition of new research methods and skills. Since the 1998 voter experiments, the domain of research and experimental settings topics has expanded notably, with a vigorous field experiment agenda in a variety of social, economic, and cultural contexts. There has been a profusion of experiments in real-world settings with a diversity of interventions and experimental contexts that have come to characterize field experimental political science. These compelling essays, derived from the 2008 Conference of Field Experiments in Comparative Politics and Policy, held at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, represent new developments in the field, recent trends in statistical analysis and in dealing with problems of measurement and validity. These creative scholars offer valuable insight into this developing style of research and the role that experimental methodology can play in the study of politics. This important volume of The ANNALS features provocative and insightful contributions that reflect the ways that field researchers, in an international context, use the method in novel ways and tackle more subtle challenges of design and analysis. This volume is a must-read for researchers of politics and policy u especially those ready to expand the substantive and methodological frontiers of field experimentation. It is also a valuable resource for political scholars and policymakers.