Introduction to Experiments in Social Science

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The ethics of experiments, experimental design, different types of experiments (field, lab, survey, natural experiments, quasi-experiments), experimental analysis, and data visualization.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Design, implement and analyse basic field, laboratory, and survey experiments.
• To navigate an ethics application at Southampton and a preregistration process for an experimental design.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Use the basic functions of various software packages aimed at creating survey experiments (Qualtrics), different types of manual randomization (Excel), data analysis and visualization (Excel, R, Stata or SPSS).

The module will be divided in 4 main parts:

part 1 will provide the basic knowledge to design, analyse and present experiments such as randomised controlled trials (RCTs),

part 2 will discuss the ethics of experiments and the importance of open science and preregistration techniques for experimental analysis.

part 3 will focus on field experiments,

part 4 will focus on laboratory experiments,

part 5 will focus on survey experiments, including conjoint experiments

part 6 will discuss other types of experiments such as list experiments, natural experiments, and quasi experimental techniques (regression discontinuity, propensity score matching)

The module will be divided in theoretical lessons and laboratory sessions that will teach the students to use software to analyse and present experimental data.

Teaching and learning methods

1) Lectures

2) laboratory using statistical software

Assessment strategy

The assessment strategy will combine:

10% class participation including attendance and presentations

30% a take home midterm consisting in open questions and exercises

60% an essay presenting the design, implementation and analysis of a novel experiment

Referrall

100% an essay presenting the design, implementation and analysis of a novel experiment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.