scholarly journals Ethics of Field Experiments

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Trisha Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Present Complex ◽  
Current Guidance

Political scientists are increasingly conducting field experiments that raise ethical issues that standard review criteria and processes are ill equipped to address. Field experiments can answer important questions, but they can also present various harms to individuals, communities, and political processes; undermine autonomy; introduce partnerships that present complex questions of responsibility; and damage the public's trust in the discipline. This article reviews published empirical and theoretical research, professional guidelines, and media accounts, blog posts, and other sources when appropriate. It characterizes the state of the field regarding the identification of ethical problems, relevant normative guidance, proposed strategies for managing ethical concerns, and issues on the horizon. It concludes that the discipline is making good progress, with robust guidelines and strategies for conducting field experiments ethically. However, there is still much work to be done in refining and expanding current guidance, addressing remaining issues, and promoting norms. This review concludes with some general recommendations for researchers conducting political science field experiments. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

The Ethical Challenges of Political Science Field Experiments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Desposato
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Exponential Growth ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Experimental Designs ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Ethical Problems ◽  
New Challenges

Perhaps the most dramatic change in political science over the last since the 1990’s has been the sudden and exponential growth in experimental research. From an obscure methodology used only by a few subfields, experimental designs are now widely and frequently used in all parts of political science. This change has brought with it a new series of ethical challenges, some echoing earlier ethical problems but many new and unique to this discipline. In this chapter, the author identifies the new challenges and emerging debates involving experimental political science. The greatest current controversies involve field experiments that are conducted without the consent of subjects or affected bystanders. The author considers the ethical issues involved as well as the opinions of subjects and scholars about experiments conducted without consent.

Testing Causal Theories with Learned Proxies

2022 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dean Knox ◽  
Christopher Lucas ◽  
Wendy K. Tam Cho
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Point Estimates ◽  
Causal Diagrams ◽  
Causal Theories

Social scientists commonly use computational models to estimate proxies of unobserved concepts, then incorporate these proxies into subsequent tests of their theories. The consequences of this practice, which occurs in over two-thirds of recent computational work in political science, are underappreciated. Imperfect proxies can reflect noise and contamination from other concepts, producing biased point estimates and standard errors. We demonstrate how analysts can use causal diagrams to articulate theoretical concepts and their relationships to estimated proxies, then apply straightforward rules to assess which conclusions are rigorously supportable. We formalize and extend common heuristics for “signing the bias”—a technique for reasoning about unobserved confounding—to scenarios with imperfect proxies. Using these tools, we demonstrate how, in often-encountered research settings, proxy-based analyses allow for valid tests for the existence and direction of theorized effects. We conclude with best-practice recommendations for the rapidly growing literature using learned proxies to test causal theories. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Comparative Politics in Borderlands: Actors, Identities, and Strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Braun ◽  
Otto Kienitz
Keyword(s):  
Political Violence ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
Border Studies ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Border Regions ◽  
Local Identities ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Measurement Strategies

Comparativists are increasingly researching national border regions. Yet the distinct way in which proximity to borders independently shapes politics is rarely theorized explicitly. Drawing on the emerging subdiscipline of border studies, we identify three types of border effects: Borders involve specific actors, shape local identities, and provide distinct strategies, each of which directly affects key areas of comparative politics. An in-depth review of work on political violence and state formation shows that specifying these effects ( a) demands that comparativists consider the ways in which borderlands differ from other regions and be careful in attributing processes found there to nations as a whole, ( b) improves theories by elucidating scope conditions, and ( c) scrutinizes the validity of our research designs and measurement strategies. We end with a call to move from a comparative politics in border regions to a comparative politics of border regions that contextualizes how borders alter political processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Party and Ideology in American Local Government: An Appraisal

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah F. Anzia
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Online Publication ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
National Politics ◽  
National Governments

For decades, research on US local politics emphasized the distinctiveness of local government, but that has begun to change. In recent years, new data on partisanship and ideology have transformed the study of local politics. Much of the ensuing scholarship has concluded that local politics resembles politics in state and national governments: partisan and ideological. I argue that such a conclusion is premature. So far, this newer literature has been insufficiently attentive to the policies US local governments make—and to the fact that they are mostly different from the issues that dominate national politics. Going forward, scholars should prioritize measurement of preferences on these local government issues, develop theories of when and why local political divisions will mirror national partisanship and ideology, and investigate why there are links between some local policies and national partisanship and ideology—and whether those links also exist for core local government issues. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 11, 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Who Enters Politics and Why?

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad Gulzar
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Online Publication ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Institutional Determinants ◽  
Future Work

Despite the importance of politicians, empirical work rarely examines who decides to enter politics and why. This survey presents conceptual issues in measuring political entry; reviews work on individual, organizational, and institutional determinants of political entry; and summarizes the main findings and puzzles related to the representation/competence trade-off in recent microcensus studies on who runs for office. Fruitful directions for future work are highlighted throughout the article. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 24 is May 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

A Framework for the Study of Persuasion

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James N. Druckman
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Online Publication ◽  
Space Time ◽  
Science Volume ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Time Process ◽  
Vital Part ◽  
Enormous Number ◽  
Normative Implications

Persuasion is a vital part of politics—who wins elections and policy disputes often depends on which side can persuade more people. Given this centrality, the study of persuasion has a long history with an enormous number of theories and empirical inquiries. However, the literature is fragmented, with few generalizable findings. I unify previously disparate dimensions of this topic by presenting a framework focusing on actors (speakers and receivers), treatments (topics, content, media), outcomes (attitudes, behaviors, emotions, identities), and settings (competition, space, time, process, culture). This Generalizing Persuasion (GP) Framework organizes distinct findings and offers researchers a structure in which to situate their work. I conclude with a discussion of the normative implications of persuasion. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Historical Persistence

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Cirone ◽  
Thomas B. Pepinsky
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
New Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Political Economic

This article reviews the literature on historical persistence in political science and the related social sciences. Historical persistence refers to causal effects that ( a) operate over time scales of a decade or more and ( b) explain spatial variation in political, economic, or social outcomes. Although political scientists have always drawn from history, the historical persistence literature represents a new approach to historical research in the social sciences that places a premium on credible research designs for causal inference. We discuss regional and national coverage, state-of-the-art research designs, analytical and inferential challenges, and mechanisms and theories of persistence, drawing broadly from the contemporary literature in political science and economics. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Subjects and Scholars’ Views on the Ethics of Political Science Field Experiments

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 739-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Desposato
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
Science Field ◽  
Public Opinion Survey

Recent controversies raise questions regarding the ethics of political science field experiments. I present here results from a public opinion survey in which subjects and scholars evaluated the acceptability of two hypothetical field experiments. In the survey, the designs were randomly varied to identify the most controversial features. Both scholars and subjects reacted negatively to deception and to experiments without informed consent, especially when the research aims were normatively ambiguous. In some cases, half of the respondents reported that they would rather not be in a typical field experiment without their consent.

Education and Political Participation

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Willeck ◽  
Tali Mendelberg
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Civic Education ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Causal Pathways ◽  
Causal Impact ◽  
Clear Support

Whether education affects political participation is a long-standing and central question in political philosophy and political science. In this review, we provide an overview of the three main theoretical models that explain different causal pathways. We then synthesize the surge in research using causal inference strategies and show that this literature has generated mixed results about the causal impact of education, even when using similar methods and data. These findings do not provide clear support for any of the three theories. Our next section covers research on civic education and political participation. The quantity of civic education matters little for political participation, but how civic education is taught does matter. Namely, strategies falling under the rubric of active learning show promise. These strategies seem especially effective for historically marginalized students. Our final section calls for more research on how civic education is taught. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Political Science, Volume 25 is May 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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