Methods matter : improving causal inference in educational and social science research - Murnane, Richard J.; Willett, John B. (Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2011)
The challenge for educational research -- The importance of theory -- Designing research to address causal questions -- Investigator-designed randomized experiments -- Challenges in designing, implementing, and learning from randomized experiments -- Statistical power and sample size -- Experimental research when participants are clustered within intact groups -- Using natural experiments to provide "arguably exogenous" treatment variability -- Estimating causal effects using a regression-discontinuity approach -- Introducing instrumental-variables estimation -- Using IVE to recover the treatment effect in a quasi-experiment -- Dealing with bias in treatment effects estimated from nonexperimental data -- Methodological lessons from the long quest -- Substantive lessons and new questions.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Keywords: Education -- Research -- Methodology; Quantitative research