Lab Experiments Are a Major Source of Knowledge in the Social Sciences
Armin Falk1 and
James J. Heckman2
Laboratory experiments are a widely used methodology for advancing
causal knowledge in the physical and life sciences. With the
exception of psychology, the adoption of laboratory experiments
has been much slower in the social sciences, although during
the past two decades the use of lab experiments has accelerated.
Nonetheless, there remains considerable resistance among social
scientists who argue that lab experiments lack "realism" and
generalizability. In this article, we discuss the advantages
and limitations of laboratory social science experiments by
comparing them to research based on nonexperimental data and
to field experiments. We argue that many recent objections against
lab experiments are misguided and that even more lab experiments
should be conducted.
2 University College Dublin, Cowles Foundation, Yale University, and University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
