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3 - Evaluating Experiments

Realism, Validity, and Samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 May 2022

James N. Druckman
James N. Druckman
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
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Summary

Chapter 3 focuses on how to think when evaluating experiments. This includes a discussion of realism, particularly why mundane realism or resemblance to the “real world” receives far too much attention, as well as an overview of how to design experimental treatments. The chapter then turns to validity issues, offering a new way to think about external validity in assessing experiments. This includes a detailed discussion of sampling and why the onus should be more on critics of an experimental sample than on the experimentalist him/herself (i.e., to justify a sample).

Keywords

Internal validityexternal validityexperimental generalizationmundane realismexperimental treatmentsmanipulation checks
Type
Chapter
Information
Experimental Thinking
A Primer on Social Science Experiments
 , pp. 51 - 84
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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