The experimental method in Public Administration: lessons from replication in Psychology

Abstract

In recent years, an increasing number of studies adopting the experimental method have appeared in Public Administration journals. It has been argued that the advantage of experiments in behavioral sciences is that researchers can control contextual factors while investigating the effect of manipulations on a variable of interest. Another point is that experiments can be replicated and, thus, increase confidence in research results. However, replications are rarely undertaken, especially in the behavioral sciences. This article examines the results of the “Open Science Reproducibility Project: Psychology,” which replicated 100 experiments previously published in leading Psychology journals. Based on the findings of this project, we present seven recommendations to Public Administration scholars that can improve the quality of their experiments.

Keywords:
experimental method in the behavioral sciences; research methods in public administration; reproducibility