Integrating Open Science Principles into Quasi-Experimental Social Science Research

Blake H. Heller () and Carly D. Robinson
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Blake H. Heller: Hobby School of Public Affairs, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, USA
Carly D. Robinson: Graduate School of Education, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 8, 1-26

Abstract: Quasi-experimental methods are a cornerstone of applied social science, answering causal questions to inform policy and practice. Although open science principles have influenced experimental research norms across the social sciences, related practices are rarely implemented in quasi-experimental scholarship. In this perspective article, we describe open science research practices and discuss practical strategies for quasi-experimental researchers to implement or adapt these practices. We also emphasize the shared responsibility of external stakeholders, including data providers, journals, and funders, to create the circumstances and incentives for open science practices to proliferate. While individual quasi-experimental studies may be incompatible with some or most practices, we argue that all quasi-experimental work can benefit from an open science mentality and that shifting research norms toward open science principles will ultimately enhance the transparency, accessibility, replicability, unbiasedness, and credibility of quasi-experimental social science research.

Keywords: open science; quasi-experimental research; quasi-experiments; natural experiments; research methods; preregistration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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