A synoptic history and typology of experimental research in political science

Bositis, David A.; Steinel, Douglas

doi:10.1007/bf00988616

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…For a more in-depth treatment of experimentation in social science application, see McDermott (2002b). See also, Bositis and Steinel (1987). 2 For a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of different types of experiments, see Pruitt (2005).…”

Section: Experimental Ir In Briefmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The State of Experimental Research in IR: An Analytical Survey

Hudson

Butler

2010

International Studies Review

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The purpose of this review essay is to examine the use of experimental methods and its contributions to international studies research. Following a general discussion of the experimental approach, including the advantages and disadvantages of experimentation in International Relations (IR), this review moves to a categorized discussion of the ways in which experimental methods have contributed to the field of international studies. By invoking economist Alvin Roth’s three purposes of experiments—searching for facts, speaking to theorists, and influencing policy debates—this classification scheme helps to identify the overarching purposes of a wide variety of experiments in the field. However, this review seeks to move beyond merely presenting a basic review of the copious experimental literature by also providing an analytical assessment of the function that experimentation serves in IR; that is, to identify and elaborate on experimental research that serves an integrative function, as a bridge across the multiple divides in the landscape of IR. To this end, we introduce a second and original classification framework that allows us to profile in detail a number of singularly significant experimental studies. We then conclude the analysis by highlighting a set of “growth areas” for experimental research that can maintain and expand the already significant contributions of experimental methods to our field.

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Section: Experimental Ir In Briefmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For a more in‐depth treatment of experimentation in social science application, see McDermott (2002b). See also, Bositis and Steinel (1987).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The State of Experimental Research in IR: An Analytical Survey

Hudson

Butler

2010

International Studies Review

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“…Although some experimental studies on voting intentions and behavior have been conducted (Eldersveld, 1951(Eldersveld, , 1956Gerber, Green, & Shachar 2003;Gonsell & Gill, 1935), the effects of different modalities have not been explored extensively (Bositis & Steinel, 1987). Furthermore, most experimental studies have focused on short-term effect of exposure to content in different modalities, and hence cannot tell much about the potential long-term impact on people's political attitudes and behavior.…”

Section: Experimental Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Podcasting and Politics in Singapore: An Experimental Study of Medium Effects

Škorić¹,

Sim²,

Juan³

et al. 2009

J. Contemp. East. Asia

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A ban on political podcasting during the General Elections 2006 in Singapore was justified by the Singaporean government on the grounds that the new medium had a greater power to influence voters than traditional modes of political discourse.A between-subjects controlled experiment was conducted to test whether podcasts of political speeches had a greater power to influence voters' evaluations of political candidates and likelihood of voting for them than online text-based transcripts of the same speeches. The study also examined whether mere exposure to political speeches online, irrespective of the modality, had an effect on voters' more general political preferences, i.e. the likelihood of support and voting for the opposition. The findings suggest that political podcasts were no more persuasive than text-based websites and that the effects on political preferences, if any, were likely due the exposure to political content online, not because of the nature of the medium. The implications of the findings are discussed.

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“…Even though experimentation was the sine qua non of research in the hard sciences and in psychology, the method remained a mere curiosity among political scientists. For behavioralists interested in individual-level political behavior, survey research was the methodology of choice on the grounds that experimentation could not be used to investigate real-world politics (for more detailed accounts of the history of experimental methods in political science, see Bositis and Steinel 1987;Kinder and Palfrey 1993;Green and Gerber 2003).The consensus view was that laboratory settings were too artificial and that experimental subjects were too unrepresentative of any meaningful target population for experimental studies to be valid. Further, many political scientists viewed experiments --which typically necessitate the deception of research subjects --as an inherently unethical methodology.…”

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confidence: 99%

Laboratory Experiments in Political Science

Iyengar¹

2011

Cambridge Handbook of Experimental Political Science

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Revised Version -2 -Until the middle of the twentieth century, the discipline of political science was primarily qualitative -philosophical, descriptive, legalistic, and typically reliant on case studies that failed to probe causation in any measurable way. The word "science" was not entirely apt.In the 1950s, the discipline was transformed by the behavioral revolution, spearheaded by advocates of a more social scientific, empirical approach. Even though experimentation was the sine qua non of research in the hard sciences and in psychology, the method remained a mere curiosity among political scientists. For behavioralists interested in individual-level political behavior, survey research was the methodology of choice on the grounds that experimentation could not be used to investigate real-world politics (for more detailed accounts of the history of experimental methods in political science, see Bositis and Steinel 1987;Kinder and Palfrey 1993;Green and Gerber 2003).The consensus view was that laboratory settings were too artificial and that experimental subjects were too unrepresentative of any meaningful target population for experimental studies to be valid. Further, many political scientists viewed experiments --which typically necessitate the deception of research subjects --as an inherently unethical methodology.The bias against experimentation began to weaken in the 1970s when the emerging field of political psychology attracted a new constituency for interdisciplinary research. Laboratory experiments gradually acquired the aura of legitimacy for a small band of scholars working at the intersection of the two disciplines.1 Most of these 1 An important impetus to the development of political psychology was provided by the Psychology and Politics Program at Yale University. Developed by Robert Lane, the program provided formal training in psychology to political science graduate students -3 -scholars focused on the areas of political behavior, public opinion and mass communication, but there were also experimental forays into the fields of international relations and public choice (Hermann and Herman 1967;Riker 1967). Initially, these researchers faced significant disincentives to applying experimental methods --most importantly, research based on experiments was unlikely to see the light of day simply because there were no journals or conference venues that took this kind of work seriously.The first major breakthrough for political scientists interested in applying the experimental method occurred with the founding of the journal The unavailability of suitable laboratory facilities was but one of several obstacles facing the early experimentalists. An equally important challenge was the recruitment of experimental subjects. Unlike the field of psychology, where researchers could draw on a virtually unlimited captive pool of student subjects, experimentalists in political science had to recruit volunteer (and typically unpaid) subjects on their own initiative. Not only did this add to the costs of conduc...

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A synoptic history and typology of experimental research in political science

Cited by 9 publications

References 47 publications

The State of Experimental Research in IR: An Analytical Survey

The State of Experimental Research in IR: An Analytical Survey

Podcasting and Politics in Singapore: An Experimental Study of Medium Effects

Laboratory Experiments in Political Science

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