empirical-methods

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L11: Experimental Design Part I - Causal Relationships (pdf, video)

Lecture11-Experiments

This lecture is the first part of a series on designing experiments. We discussed what it means for something to be a “cause” or an “effect,” the three ingredients needed for establishing a causal relationship, and how experiments as a research method match the characteristics of causal relationships very well.

We also discussed within-vs-between subjects designs and their trade-offs.

Lecture Readings

Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Wadsworth Publishing.

The discussion of cause as an inus condition – “insufficient but nonredundant part of an unnecessary but sufficient condition” – follows Chapter 1 from the book (Experiments and generalized causal inference).