Designing Experiments for the Social Sciences

Preface Acknowledgments About the Author 1. Discovering Cause and Effect Causation Experiments Compared to Other Methods Basic Criteria for Experiments Elements of Experiments Starting a Study of Your Own 2. Ethics and Famous Experiments in History The Scurvy Studies The Contributions of Charles Peirce Ronald Fisher's Plots and Tea B. F. Skinner: Small Samples, High Tech Stanley Milgram Shocks the World Philip Zimbardo: Raising Consciences in a Stanford Basement Conclusion 3. Theory, Literature, and Hypotheses The Literature Review Hypotheses and Research Questions 4. Types of Experiments Campbell and Stanley's Typology of Experiments Quasi Experiments Natural Experiments Field Experiments 5. Internal and External Validity Ecological and External Validity Generalizability Cause and Effect Logical Inference Replication Internal Validity 6. Factorial Designs Single-Factor Designs Factorial Designs How Subjects Are Used in Designs Control Groups 7. Random Assignment The Purpose of Random Assignment Operationalizing Random Assignment Reporting Random Assignment Balanced and Unbalanced Designs Checking That Random Assignment Was Effective Blocking, Matching, and Other Strategies Random Assignment of Other Things Random Assignment Resistance 8. Sampling and Effect Sizes Student Samples Amazon's Mechanical Turk Other Subject Sources Recruiting Incentives Sample Size and Power 9. Stimuli and Manipulation Checks Examples of Stimuli Advice on Creating Stimuli Manipulation Checks Reporting the Stimuli and Manipulation Checks 10. Instruments and Measures Instruments Measurement Issues 11. The Institutional Review Board and Conducting Ethical Experiments Institutional Review Boards Ethical Issues in Experiments Protecting Subjects Researcher Issues Pilot Studies Glossary Index