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Reporting Guidelines for Experimental Research: A Report from the Experimental Research Section Standards Committee

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2014

Alan Gerber*
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Kevin Arceneaux
Affiliation:
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Cheryl Boudreau
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Conor Dowling
Affiliation:
University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA
Sunshine Hillygus
Affiliation:
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Thomas Palfrey
Affiliation:
Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA
Daniel R. Biggers
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
David J. Hendry
Affiliation:
Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

Abstract

The Standards Committee of the Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association has produced reporting guidelines that aim to increase the clarity of experimental research reports. This paper describes the Committee's rationale for the guidelines it developed and includes our Recommended Reporting Standards for Experiments (Laboratory, Field, Survey). It begins with a content analysis of current reporting practices in published experimental research. Although researchers report most important aspects of their experimental designs and data, we find substantial omissions that could undermine the clarity of research practices and the ability of researchers to assess the validity of study conclusions. With the need for reporting guidelines established, the report describes the process the Committee used to develop the guidelines, the feedback received during the comment period, and the rationale for the final version of the guidelines.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2014 

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References

REFERENCES

APA Publications and Communications Board Working Group on Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS). (2008). Reporting standards for research in psychology: why do we need them? What might they be? American Psychologist, 63 (9), 839851.Google Scholar
Mutz, D. C. and Pemantle, R. (2013). The perils of randomization checks in the analysis of experiments. Typescript. University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Palfrey, T. and Porter, R. (1991) Guidelines for submission of manuscripts on experimental economics. Econometrica, 59 (4), 11971198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Gerber Supplementary Material

Appendix

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