Lab Experiments are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences

James J Heckman and Armin Falk

No 7620, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: Laboratory experiments are a widely used methodology for advancing causal knowledge in the physical and life sciences. With the exception of psychology, the adoption of laboratory experiments has been much slower in the social sciences, although during the last two decades, the use of lab experiments has accelerated. Nonetheless, there remains considerable resistance among social scientists who argue that lab experiments lack "realism" and "generalizability". In this article we discuss the advantages and limitations of laboratory social science experiments by comparing them to research based on nonexperimental data and to field experiments. We argue that many recent objections against lab experiments are misguided and that even more lab experiments should be conducted.

Keywords: Controlled variation; Field experiments; Laboratory experiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C90 C91 C92 C93 D00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP7620 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: Lab Experiments are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences (2009)
Working Paper: Lab Experiments Are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences (2009)
Working Paper: Lab Experiments are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences (2009)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:7620

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP7620

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().