Building Experiments: Testing Social Theory

Building Experiments is the essential text for understanding experimental methods. In engaging style, the book shows how theory is employed in experimental design, how experiments test theory, and how proper design and use of experiments can advance the social sciences as explanatory sciences. The interactive nature of the text encourages students to hone their skills, building and running experiments while learning the underlying principles of theory and experimentation. The book addresses practical issues, ranging from the critical analysis of historically important experiments to understanding how to recruit subjects properly and protect their rights. Founding experiments in sociology are compared to founding experiments in physics to demonstrate fundamental cross-disciplinary similarities of theory, experiment, and scientific method. Finally, the book explains how experimental research and theory can be applied in historical and institutional studies. This book will be a key resource in social science methodology courses at all levels.

Author: David Willer, Henry A. Walker
Publisher: Stanford Social Sciences
Published: 06/05/2007
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.94h x 6.60w x 0.55d
ISBN: 9780804752466

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 11/01/2007 pg. 138

About the Author
David Willer is the Scudder Professor of Sociology at the University of South Carolina. Henry A. Walker is Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona.