Event Phone: 1-610-715-0115

Cancellation Policy: If you cancel your registration at least two weeks before the course is scheduled to begin, you are entitled to a full refund (minus a processing fee of $50).

In the unlikely event that Statistical Horizons LLC must cancel a seminar, we will do our best to inform you as soon as possible of the cancellation. You would then have the option of receiving a full refund of the seminar fee or a credit towards another seminar. In no event shall Statistical Horizons LLC be liable for any incidental or consequential damages that you may incur because of the cancellation.

A 2-Day Seminar Taught by Michael Gaddis, Ph.D.

Experiments in the social and behavioral sciences have become more popular as the Internet has made implementing experiments easier, cheaper, and faster. Although researchers may have a conceptual knowledge of how experiments work, the actual experience of implementing an experiment for the first time is often frustrating and time consuming. The initial learning curve may be steep, but the rewards are plentiful as experiments produce highly valued original data, lend themselves to causal analysis in ways that traditional survey data cannot, and become easier to implement as a researcher’s experience level increases.

This seminar is a moderately-paced introduction to experimental methods that will leave researchers able to begin designing their own experiments and embarking on data collection. We begin by focusing on the what, when, and why of experiments in the social sciences, with a comprehensive introduction to vocabulary, diagramming, and the theoretical basis of conducting experiments. We then walk through the specific steps required in experimental design, from ethical issues to power analysis to the universe of validity concerns. We conclude with two sections on practical design issues of survey and field experiments, drawing on recent published cases and the instructor’s own experiences. These sections incorporate hands-on practice using online resources to give students the confidence to begin designing their own experiments.

By the end of the seminar, participants should understand the basic terminology of experiments, when experiments can and should be implemented, the causal advantages of experiments, the ethical issues surrounding experiments, the major aspects of randomization, blocking, matching, and sampling, and the major issues regarding different types of validity. Participants will also gain practical knowledge of MTurk, Qualtrics, and SurveyMonkey for use with survey experiments, along with a variety of programming scripts and tools for use with field experiments. Overall, participants will gain the knowledge to immediately begin designing valid and robust experiments to address a variety of research questions.