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	Experimental Design for Social Scientists

Summer School in Social Sciences Methods

18-22 August 2025 (in-person)


	Do you want to rigorously test your hypotheses and explore counterfactuals? This hands-on workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to designing experiments in sociology, political science, and economics. Learn how to develop, implement, and analyse your own experimental research!

👨‍🏫 Lecturer: Bernhard Kittel, Professor of Economic Sociology at the Institute of Economic Sociology at the University of Vienna in Austria

➡️ In this practical course, you will:
💡 Understand the principles of experimental design, including manipulation, control, and randomisation.
🔬 Learn to design laboratory, field, and survey experiments tailored to your research questions.
🛠️ Go through the full cycle of developing a research question, formulating a testable hypothesis, and designing an experiment.
📊 Explore the considerations relevant to each stage of the experimental process.
🤔 Delve into crucial issues such as validity, the role of incentives, and ethical considerations in experimental research.
💻 Get a brief introduction to available software options for experiment programming (though programming itself isn't the focus).
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Participate in implementing and analysing real experiments with fellow participants.

Through a mix of lectures, discussions, and individual exercises, you'll gain the practical skills needed to design and implement your own impactful social science experiments.

📚 Key topics include: Introduction to experiments, causality, experimental design, laboratory experiments, field experiments, survey experiments, validity, statistical analysis of experimental data, incentives, ethics, and natural experiments.

⚠️ Prerequisites: A basic understanding of statistics is required.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable skills in experimental design and elevate your research!

➡️ Learn more and register today!