Book contents
- Experimental Sociology
- Methodological Tools in the Social Sciences
- Experimental Sociology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Tables, and Boxes
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Philosophy and Methodology of Experimentation in Sociology
- Part II The Practice of Experimentation in Sociology
- 6 Laboratory Experiments
- 7 Field Experiments
- 8 Vignette Experiments
- 9 Natural Experiments and Quasi-experiments
- Part III Methodological Challenges of Experimentation in Sociology
- References
- Index
6 - Laboratory Experiments
from Part II - The Practice of Experimentation in Sociology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2024
- Experimental Sociology
- Methodological Tools in the Social Sciences
- Experimental Sociology
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Tables, and Boxes
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I The Philosophy and Methodology of Experimentation in Sociology
- Part II The Practice of Experimentation in Sociology
- 6 Laboratory Experiments
- 7 Field Experiments
- 8 Vignette Experiments
- 9 Natural Experiments and Quasi-experiments
- Part III Methodological Challenges of Experimentation in Sociology
- References
- Index
Summary
Laboratory experiments are the type of study that most people have in mind when talking about experiments. In this chapter, we first discuss the strengths of laboratory experiments, which offer the highest degree of experimental control as compared to other types of experiments. Single factors can be manipulated according to the requirements of theories under highly controlled conditions. As such, laboratory experiments are well-placed to test theories. We then introduce a sociological laboratory experiment as a leading example, which we use as a reference for a discussion of several principles of laboratory research. Furthermore, we discuss a second goal of laboratory experiments, which is the establishment of empirical regularities in situations where theory does not provide sufficient guidance for deriving behavioral expectations. The chapter concludes with a short discussion of caveats for the analysis of sociological data generated in laboratory experiments.
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- Experimental SociologyOutline of a Scientific Field, pp. 69 - 80Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024