Research Design
Have you heard of the Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy? The name comes from a joke about a Texan who fires some gunshots at the side of a barn, then paints a target centered on the tightest cluster of hits and claims to be a sharpshooter.[2][3][4] -- wikipedia
In this class we cover three basic topics: types of research designs, the qual/quant distinction, and the fundamental notions of validity and reliability. Please come to class ready to discuss the following issues:
strengths and weaknesses of different kinds of studies -- when to use which?
especially explain why true experiments are prized so much
When should you use simulation?
articulate the differences between qual and quant, as well as strengths and weaknesses
what are the different kinds of validity? how do you establish validity?
what is the relationship between reliability and validity?
why is it so difficult to establish causality?
please look up and get a handle on endogeneity. Bring your definition, and an example, to class.
Primary Readings (should be read very carefully)
types of studies [html]
design elements [html]
design notation [html]
types of validity [html]
validity and reliability [html]
causality [html]
Sutton, R.I. and A. Rafaeli. 1988. "Untangling the relationship between displayed emotions and organizational sales: The case of convenience stores." Academy of Management Journal. 31(3):461-487. [^pdf]
Borgatti - theorizing from a regression result
Baldassarri, D., & Abascal, M. (2017). Field experiments across the social sciences. Annual review of sociology, 43, 41-73.
Secondary Readings
Kendall, M. G. (1959). Hiawatha designs an experiment. The American Statistician, 13(5), 23-24. [pdf]
Polanyi, Michael. "The Potential Theory of Adsorption." Science141, no. 3585 (1963): 1010-013. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uky.edu/stable/1712330. [^pdf] (this paper quoted from in the March piece)
the qualquant distinction [pdf]
endogeneity - sorenson [^pdf]
harking - harking.pdf
moving to a world beyond [pdf]