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The Growth and Development of Experimental Research in Political Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2006

JAMES N. DRUCKMAN ,
DONALD P. GREEN ,
JAMES H. KUKLINSKI  and
ARTHUR LUPIA
JAMES N. DRUCKMAN
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
DONALD P. GREEN
Affiliation:
Yale University
JAMES H. KUKLINSKI
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ARTHUR LUPIA
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Abstract

Although political scientists have long expressed skepticism about the prospects for experimental science, an analysis of the first hundred volumes of the American Political Science Review reveals that randomized experiments have grown in impact and prominence. We document how thinking about experimentation has evolved over the century, and demonstrate the growing influence of laboratory, survey, and field experiments. A number of experiments have transformed how political scientists think about causal relationships in specific substantive areas. There are limits to the kinds of questions that experiments can address, but experiments have made important contributions in an array of political science subfields.

Type
“THE EVOLUTION OF POLITICAL SCIENCE” ESSAYS
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 100 , Issue 4 , November 2006 , pp. 627 - 635
Copyright
© 2006 by the American Political Science Association

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