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

Abstract

Experimental Economics The disciplines of social science, with the notable exception of psychology, have traditionally steered clear of laboratory. The field of economics, and in particular econometrics, has amassed an imposing arsenal of quantitative and statistical methods for analyzing observational data in assessing economic theory and in making causal inferences. More recently, laboratory experiments carried out under controlled conditions and randomized field experiments carried out under natural conditions have gained some currency as complementary approaches. Falk and Heckman (p. 535 ) review the strengths and shortfalls of these recent developments.