🔎 What the article covers
The article provides a comprehensive overview of how survey experiments have been used in political research over the last two decades. It synthesizes available examples, bibliographic data, and a content analysis of experimental manuscripts published in leading academic journals to map the development, applications, and limits of survey experimentation.
🧭 A Two-Decade Review of Published Experiments
- Bibliographic data and content analysis of experimental manuscripts appearing in leading journals across the past twenty years
- Catalogues common uses, trends, and shifts in the application of survey experiments in political science
🧪 A Short Primer on the Experimental Approach
Provides a concise introduction to experimental logic and design so readers can interpret the subsequent review and examples. The primer explains core choices researchers face when moving from lab-style experiments to survey settings.
🔬 Concrete Examples: Factorial Versus Conjoint Designs
Presents original, contrasting examples to demonstrate how different designs test theory on political topics:
- A traditional factorial design example
- A more innovative conjoint design example
These examples illustrate practical trade-offs in design choices and how each approach can be used to answer substantive questions in politics.
⚠️ Validity Concerns and Implementation Challenges
Discusses potential threats to both internal and external validity specific to survey experimentation and examines the main challenges and possibilities researchers encounter when designing and running these studies. Topics include measurement choices, realistic stimulus construction, sampling and generalizability, and interpretation of causal estimates.
🔗 Merits, Limits, and Implications for Political Research
Outlines the strengths and boundaries of the experimental method in political science and highlights implications for theory testing and future research. The article identifies practical guidance for envisaging, planning, and implementing survey experiments while cautioning about common pitfalls.
