Introduction to Social Science Experiments

This course offers an accessible introduction to social science experiments. The course is designed for students with a limited background in statistics or social science. Although such background is helpful, the lectures are intended for students who are encountering experimental social science for the first time. The course also makes a special point of drawing examples from all over the world and addressing topics from public health, political science, criminology, education, and other fields.


The lectures were prepared with four goals in mind. The first is to urge students to think critically about the causal claims they encounter in everyday life. What evidence supports or refutes a causal claim about the effectiveness of a touted product or policy? The second goal is to convey a sense of why experiments often provide convincing evidence about cause-and-effect. Why are experiments so often characterized as the “gold standard” for evaluating whether an intervention is effective? The third goal is to prepare students to read experiments that illuminate important cause-and-effect relationships in the social and biomedical sciences. The fourth goal is to appreciate the limitations of an experimental design or the way an experiment was implemented. What changes would have made the study more convincing or useful? The final goal is to inspire students to look at the world from an experimental vantage point. When the time comes to make an informed decision later in life, those taking this course may need to read or conduct an experiment, and this course will help them think critically about the ingredients that make for an informative experimental design.