Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference
EXPERIMENTS AND GENERALIZED CAUSAL INFERENCE
Experiments and Causation
The key feature common to all experiments is to deliberately vary something so as to discover what happens to something else later-to discover the effects of presumed causes.
Defining Cause, Effect, and Causal Relationships
A cause is that which makes any other thing, either simple idea, substance, or mode, begin to be; and an effect is that, which had its beginning from some other thing
A causal relationship exists if (1) the cause preceded the effect, (2) the cause was related to the effect, and (3) we can find no plausible alternative explanation for the effect other than the cause. (J.S. Mill)
Hence experiments are well-suited to studying causal relationships. No other scientific method regularly matches the characteristics of causal relationships so well. Mill's analysis also points to the weakness of other methods. In many correlational studies, for example, it is impossible to know which of two variables came first, so defending a causal relationship between them is precarious. Understanding this logic of causal relationships and how its key terms, such as cause and effect, are defined helps researchers to critique cause-probing studies.
Causation, Correlation, and Confounds
Manipulable and Nonmanipulable
Causes Causal Description and Causal Explanation
Modern Descriptions of Experiments
Randomized Experiment Quasi-Experiment Natural Experiment Nonexperimental Designs
Experiments and the Generalization of Causal Connections
Most Experiments Aie Highly Local But Have General Aspirations Construct Validity: Causal Generalization as Representation External Validity: Causal Generalization as Extrapolation Approaches to Making Causal Generalizations
Experiments and Metascience
.. The Kuhnian Critique Modern Social Psychological Critiques Science and Trust Implications for Experiments
A World Without Experiments or Causes?
STATISTICAL CONCLUSION VALIDITY AND INTERNAL VALIDITY
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY AND EXTERNAL VALIDITY
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS THAT EITHER LACK A CONTROL GROUP OR LACK PRETEST OBSERVATIONS ON THE OUTCOME
QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS THAT USE BOTH CONTROL GROUPS AND PRETESTS
QUASI-EXPERIMENTS: INTERRUPTED TIME-SERIES DESIGNS
REGRESSION DISCONTINUITY DESIGNS
RANDOMIZED EXPERIMENTS: RATIONALE, DESIGNS, AND CONDITIONS CONDUCIVE TO DOING THEM
GENERALIZED CAUSAL INFERENCE: A GROUNDED THEORY
GENERALIZED CAUSALJNFERENCE: METHODS FOR SINGLE STUDIES
GENERALIZED CAUSAL INFERENCE: METHODS FOR MULTIPLE STUDIES
A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF OUR ASSUMPTIONS
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